Some Letters

Today was one of those days, like too many others, when I wish I had a transporter like the one in Star Trek (or an improved version of the one in Spaceballs). While I was able to get out of the office a little earlier than my usual departure time, I was still rushing to get through the evening. After all, I had to take a detour to the lodge to make sure the mail was up to date for our stated meeting later in the week.

As we have so much going on and so many different things that are in the works for the remaining months this year, I have had to pay particular attention to the communications situation. Not only are we in the midst of the annual dues influx but there are also the usual monthly invoices, charity requests, and notes of thanks. Adding to all of this are the letters from brethren stating that they would like to hold an elected office next year. Needless to say, the post office box was quite full and required some effort to remove the mail jammed into the confined space.

When I got home, and after my wife and son went to bed, I finally sat down and sorted through the pile of paper that I had retrieved earlier in the evening. There were a couple of checks, a couple of bills, and a nice group of letters mixed in with the junk. I enjoyed reading the letters as a couple of them were thanking the lodge for some generous gifts and support and the others were those from the brethren asking to have their name on the ballot. It is indeed a pleasure reading the kind words of others and it is reassuring to see so many brothers wanting to hold a leadership position in the coming year.

These letters are really what give me hope about the future of the lodge and reassure me that, while we may have had a few issues here and there over the past year, we have the masons and motivation to really make our lodge the best in the district if not the entire commonwealth. And these letters are not just from ambitious young members but also from those who have held elected offices for years as well as those wanting to do so for the first time. It has been a great mix and I am excited to see what comes about in December. Next year should be a great!

TMI Tuesday: My Remote!

Our son already has a bad habit. While we keep the television time to a minimum, he still insists on reaching for the remote every time that he thinks that he can grab it. It got to eh point that we had to order a toy remote so that he would stop trying to play with the real thing. We even turned the sound off on the toy to make it more realistic (a.k.a. keep us from throwing it out the window and running it over with the car nine or ten times). It works most of the time but, every once in a while, he still reaches for the real thing… he probably knows that the toy is simply a BS ploy.

It is also interesting to see what shows he enjoys watching. There are a few children’s programs that he tolerates (Chuggington and Mickey Mouse Club) but, overall, he likes more of the adult programs especially those that daddy like to watch too. For our son there is nothing more entertaining than a new episode of Deadliest Catch or watching the occasional appearances of Norm Abram on This Old House. There are plenty of other shows but the main thing that they all have in common is that he like the reality programs more than anything. Not the useless reality shows mind you but the ones where you can tell that he is storing some random knowledge that he will use later in life.

We have tried other shows but there is nothing that really holds his attention. Thankfully, he agrees with daddy that Elmo is probably the most annoying thing to fill the screen. Well, it is at least pretty close to the women on The View. Those are the faces that when they show up on the television he either squirms and looks away or he outright screams at the horror that he is now witness to. He is definitely smart beyond his years.

The funny thing is that when there is something on that he doesn’t want to watch he puts aside his ploy of a toy and does his best to reach for the real remote. And you better either give it to him or change that channel really fast or the frustration becomes evident in his mood change. Just hope that there isn’t a Joy Behar rant going on or you will see him go from calm to crazy at ludicrous speed. And no one wants to see a baby go plaid.

Half Year At Ludicrous Speed

 

When our son was first born people kept telling us to enjoy this time in our as it will go by faster than we could imagine. While there were some long days here and there that common sentiment holds true as the past six months have gone by at ludicrous speed. Things have certainly changed and it is hard to imagine that our growing boy was once so small trying to grasp my finger as the nurse bathed him for the first time.

Soon our son will be heading off to daycare as my wife returns to work and we hope to have a new (and permanent) place to live in the very near future. There are changes that are fast approaching and I can’t imagine that the next six month will move any slower than the last half year. I’m just glad that we heeded that early advice and done all that we could to take in each and every moment and spend as much time as we could with our son. A routine that we look forward to continuing as the days, weeks, and months slowly slip by.

While he has yet to speak a coherent word (he sounds like a drunk talking to his imaginary friend right now) he keeps trying and it is only a matter of time before he surprises us both with an as of yet unknown first word (hopefully not a Focker moment). It is one of those moments that will seem like it takes forever to happen but will actually go by so quickly that we will once again wonder where the time went. This seems to be the case with all of his milestones, major and minor.

It has already been six months and there are definitely things that we could have done differently and times when I wish I was able to be there but there is also a plethora of memories that I will cherish forever, those moments when I made sure I was there, the time during the daily routine that makes the day just a little bit better (and sometimes stinky). One would think that all of those smiles and laughs would begin running together by now but that is certainly not the case as each morning, each laugh, and each smile at his daddy, remains as vivid as the moment it happened. Six months later and I am more excited to be a dad with every new day that passes.