Monthly Archives: February 2010

I meant to write this section earlier but Donovan has altered my timelines.  I also meant for this to be specifically about writing, but Donovan…  Anyhow, here are things I have learned this month:

• Some of the best things come in small packages (babies, visits, premade meals, and unexpected moments of silence)
• A quiet place is a luxury, not a necessity (in-laws are over – huge help, very noisy – but I did get to read and am going to try writing)
• I still need to work on “who” instead of “that” when speaking/writing of about people (man, I just keep saying, “Thanks to those that…”)
• Jump ahead on projects because time can escape without you, especially when you get those small packages (for a year I have wanted an anthology, for six months I have been prodding people to try and make one happen, now that I have them geared up, I’m behind on the deadlines – I might miss out on an anthology project that was my idea)
• Personal space? (babies, in-laws, close friends, and writing critiques)
• The most active in their pursuit of a dream have the best chance at achieving it (C. Michael Fontes is making worlds of opportunity for himself – I wish the world for him)

Can't they put me back?

With one week of sporadic sleep for the wife and me, we finally have reason to rejoice: our baby slept at night.  His normal sleep pattern has been to sleep in the mornings and evenings, not at night.  So, considering he has only ever slept as much as one hour and twenty minutes at a time during the night, it seemed like a miracle when he went down for four solid hours last night, fed, and then went down for three more.  Yeah! 

I might actually regain some shred of the little sanity I had before.  I might be able to write soon.  I know, I know… wishful thinking on both counts.

A long awaited day… I am a daddy.  Here is mom and baby.  Donovan was 7lbs 9oz, 21.25″, and a handful.  He’s doing great, mom is still recovering.  Overall, this has been/is a huge distraction from writing, and right now I don’t care.  He is beautiful.

According to the sonogram tech, the baby was due Feb 2nd – wrong.

I thought the baby would come Feb 4th – nope.  Then I had a fear, during the superbowl – thankfully no.

The secondary doctor that saw my wife said Feb 9th, but looked like the baby was coming early.  Safe bet to say the baby coming early was off, unless she meant a few hours early  - we were really taking it as a few weeks early since they put my wife on bed rest.  Any way you look at this, if the baby doesn’t decide to bless us with its arrival right now, this prediction is going to be totally wrong.

Now we are coming up on the last guess, the primary doctor (actually a nurse practitioner).  She says Feb 15th, but also said the baby looks to be coming a little early.

If I wrote non-fiction, I could do a whole book about the last two months.  As it is, I am thinking it might lend itself well to some SciFi story.

For some reason, my head has been popping with a billion different scenes lately.  Here’s some opening lines for any that want some story starters.

• My left hand held my mouth shut and I tried to control my breathing.  I know he was listening and my slow breaths seemed so loud.  “How long can I hide?  Where is he?”
• “Okay, if you’re so smart, you do it,” said the doctor as she stepped aside.  The woman lay there…
• My jaw and cheekbone exploded and the world went purple with little speckles of white and gold light.  “Is this what they mean when they talk about seeing stars?”  It was pretty, but my jaw hurt.  A dark shadow cast itself over the show and I realized…
• A cool breeze took the edge off the morning sun, carrying the scent of fresh mown grass with it.  Ah, the memories it brought.  I looked down at the empty spot on the porch swing.  I could feel the tears welling.  Damn it!  I promised myself not today, not this day.
• Two men in white scrubs ran into the conference center.  The first man stopped in the doorway of room three where he dropped the orange jump suit and straight jacket.  The second man looked over his shoulder and saw the thousands of Elvis Presley look-alikes.  He dropped the photo and his shoulders slouched.