Happy Birthday to me. I'm 29 today.
This last year has been remarkably boring, but not in a bad way. I was due for a boring year, and I was happy to have it.
I took a half-dozen or so trips back upstate so see my nephew. I wandered a line that bordered on OCD about that little baby, and people I know think that I'm a little weird for it. Here's the secret to all of that: I believe it is my obligation to give him everything that I never had. I'm not saying I'm going to spoil him or anything, but I'm going to make sure he goes to college if he wants, and that he eats on a regular basis, And teach him to play chess and smoke nice cigars. Least I can do.
They have another child on the way, due in December. I'm ready planning on blowing some considerable amount of vacation days to go out there around that time. Another excuse to go to New York. Another excuse to go and poke around at the nifty gadgets at the baby store. Another round of questions like, "If you like babies so much, why aren't you having any?" And then I'll meet my one diaper changed quota and come back home.
My wife continues to trudge along toward her doctorate in Sociology, and I have been working as hard as I can to make sure that we are able to eat, sleep, and pay tuition at the same time. I've been doing pretty well so far, but she has applied for some student loans in order to help take the pressure off. She will teach her first class at Loyola in the spring.
My dizzy spells have abated, and my chronic headaches are down to a manageable level. There were some medication adjustments neccessary to get things nice and level, and things are looking much better. For the first time in my life, am am largely without headaches. I didn't even know this was even possible.
Things are going really well. I'm looking forward to seeing (some of) you guys in in a few short weeks.