Monthly Archives: February 2008

Feb 4 2008

The Wife

B commented the other night that you wouldn’t know she exists by reading my blog. I think she must have missed the 51 previous posts that include at least some mention of her, but in any case, I thought I should devote an entire post to her to make up for any perceived shortcomings on my end.

You know those long-running sitcoms that have two characters who drive you crazy by taking years to finally get together? That was us. We both liked each other for a long time, but circumstances (i.e. other relationships) stood in the way. Eventually we were single, and I started to find ways of getting to spend time with her, including signing up to play in an amateur production of The Music Man (the infamous farting flutist version [EDIT: B asked me to clarify that it wasn't her who farted. She doesn't do that.]). After six months of chickening out, I finally found the nerve to kiss her, and that was all she wrote.

Just six short years later we got married. I wanted to do it much sooner, but B wanted to wait until she was 28, which she considered to be the perfect marrying age.

Over the past few years, our duo became a trio and then a quartet. B was amazing during labour and delivery – you should have seen her in action. Actually, that probably wouldn’t have been good for anyone, but take my word for it, she has the birthing thing down. How many women have woken up at midnight, gone to the hospital to have a baby, and then been back at home by 8:00 am with a new baby and take-out from McDonald’s?

I could go on and on, but my battery is running low. I’ll leave you with a photo I took of B at Winterlude on Sunday morning. She always looks good in pictures, but this is one of those really good ones. Ciao.

B Winterlude

Feb 3 2008

Daddy, Can I Ask You A Question?

With two boys under the age of five, I probably spend about thirty hours a week answering questions. Some days, it seems like I’m faced with a constant stream of queries about totally unrelated topics. One minute K’s asking me if I know where his puppy is, the next second A is asking me how God created the Earth.

A seems to be picking up a lot of information from his friends at school, which has resulted in some interesting questions at the dinner table lately.

“Dad, have you heard of Punta Cana?”

“Dad, have you heard of the Nintendo Wii?”

“Dad, have you ever seen R2-D2?”

“Dad, can we buy a Mercedes?”

“Dad, what’s a bikini?”

This morning, with no prompting whatsoever, he said “Dad, boys don’t have boobs.”. I almost choked on my Cheerios.

It’s hard to keep a straight face at some of his comments. The other night, in the middle of a huge temper tantrum, A repeatedly yelled “This is the worst night of my life!”. B and I both got the giggles, which was not the reaction A was hoping for.

K has his moments, too. The other day, as he was sitting on the toilet, he looked me in the eye and said “Poop is my friend”. I was left speechless.

In all seriousness, I love how inquisitive children are at this age.  They are just so curious about how everything works, and you can see their little brains working overtime to figure things out.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the boys that was taken earlier today at Winterlude.

A & K Through Ice

Feb 1 2008

Bye Bye Student Loan

As of today, I no longer have a student loan.

I know, it’s shocking that someone of my advanced age could still owe money for an education earned in the last century. My debt wasn’t even that big –I only incurred it during my post-graduate years in Toronto, and it was much smaller than the loans some of my friends took out.

I suppose I could have paid it off sooner, but I decided to do other things with my money, like buy a marimba and bet on the ponies. The truth is, some part of me liked having an outstanding student loan. As I accumulated the trappings of a middle-class lifestyle – a mortgage, pension, children, an expanding waistline – the loan was one of the last connections I had to the younger me. It was a way for me to empathize with today’s youth – “hey bro, I feel your pain, as I, too, have mortgaged my future in pursuit of personal growth and enlightenment.”

Without that student loan, I worry about losing touch with youth culture and slipping further into middle age. What if I start buying pants with the expandable comfort waist? Who will save me if I begin to enjoy Celine Dion albums?

Thankfully, I still have a mortgage to keep me grounded. I won’t have to worry about being truly old until May 1, 2027, which is the day our current mortgage will be retired. There’s nothing like crushing debt to keep you feeling young.