Changes

Since my first child was born, I've been the primary at home parent.  I worked on the weekends and stay home with the kids during the week while my wife worked.  That's changed with the birth of my third child two months ago.  I am now officially the "stay-at-home dad".

I'm adjusting.  Being the homemaker is not natural to me.  I get a short break from full scale assault on home duties because of two things.  First, it takes a few weeks to get a routine worked out after a baby is born.  In my case, that few weeks is after mom goes back to the office to work.  Second, I broke my dominant hand.  That really makes it hard to get certain things done, like washing the dishes, when the cast has to stay dry.  When the other kids were born, I could usually do stuff with my free hand while holding them.  Not the case at the moment.

There are certain things I've never had much problem doing such as cleaning a bathroom (plus toilet) but now I've got to get in the habit of doing things that R has been asked to do.  I've always hated sorting and folding laundry.  Not that it is a bad job, just the tedium of it that gets me.  Meal planning and working on money matters has never worked out when I get involved, so I tend to stay clear.

As mentioned above, eventually I'll find my groove and things will get better.  The way it stands now, I'm juggling an awful lot with only one hand.

Period

When do you know that it's the end of an era? I'm sure most people can chart their lives based on events that have happened. We move, we start or end various relationships, graduate from school, etc.

I feel that a era of my life is coming to a close. My girlfriend and I moved down to Fort Lauderdale from Pittsburgh and so began what I call my Fort Lauderdale Period. It was a classic example of a young couple starting out. During this time, my wife got her Bachelor's Degree and we got our first cat together. We got married, had jobs, and paid bills. We didn't have much money, lived in an apartment my wife would like to forget, and didn't have a car (we did everything by walking or riding our bikes, a lifestyle most people couldn't do in South Florida). When I started a job as a security officer, it became necessary to get a better mode of transportation. After we looked at our finances, we decided a motorcycle was an option. I rode it to work until we got a car, then a truck. The motorcycle was put aside. Over the years, we got it fixed up a couple of times and I rode it to get to and from work for awhile. Most of it's time was spent in storage, not being ridden.

Two weeks ago, we finally sold it (gave it away). So this post is in memory of a motorcycle that embodied what I thought of my personality from that era. Farewell, Derbi.