Mrs Tiny

Ages ago, I met a Tiny yet fierce twelve year old that had absolutely fallen in love with my one year old son and his dazzling blue eyes. She quickly latched onto me as a father figure, and I found myself inundated with questions about everything, stories about her hectic and constantly changing life, jokes that danced on the razors edge of appropriateness, and Spongebob references that I didn't get.

To this day, I still haven't watched a single episode of Spongebob, but I know every single character and get all the memes.

A year after this started is when I moved from Buffalo. She wasn't happy. But we kept up, the internet being the thing that it is. Over the years she leaned more and more on her friends, and my phone didn't blow up so much. We kept up as she started and then finished high school, with all the highs and lows she pushed through. I was thrilled when she got into my Alma Mater, starting classes at UB only a few years after I left.

She didn't tell me about her boyfriend right away. I didn't realize my approval was so important to her. I admit I was critical - I mean I didn't even know the guy. How am I supposed to offer up my parental wisdom if I don't know anything that didn't come through the rose tinted filter? I mean come on, teenagers aren't known for being that discerning in their relationships, are they?

It was the look on her face.

She posts a lot of pictures, and once he started showing up in them, she started to glow. 

Ok then. 👍

The day her father passed, I was glued to my phone - because she was. Her boyfriend (who lived in Maryland at the time) dropped everything to leave town and go be with her. I knew when he arrived because my phone suddenly went quiet. 

This man has his priorities straight.

They made the drive out to my house this past May to tell me about their engagement. Her brother had spoiled the surprise with a Facebook post, but I kept my mouth shut until it was funny. They had my approval before they even got here.

I walked her down the aisle three days ago. I was honored to have such a role in her wedding, and couldn't be more proud of who she's become.

And now I get to see her off on a whole new adventure - which oddly won't feel much different from the one she's already on, just with new paperwork. I won't tell her that, though. Gotta let the kids ride that high and come down on their own.

I love you my little Tiny One.

Partial success

My daughter, bless her eight year old heart, fell asleep at 10pm. My oldest, being 14, had the most stamina. He fell asleep shortly after him, and my wife reports just going to bed right afterward. 

My son, however, told me he woke up again around 11pm and powered through to midnight.

There's your role reversal. I gave myself a fake countdown and went to bed while the kids stayed up. Even my wife occupied herself by playing video games while I went to bed. Honestly I never saw that coming.

Role reversal

I'm not even going to try staying up this year. I've been getting up at 3:30 all year so I can get to the gym on time, and that means I've been ending my day just after 7pm. Not necessarily going to bed, just making sure I'm done with everything so I can.

It's been working.

But I stayed up until 9 the other night, and it wasn't easy. I was nodding off where I sat, so I decided that I just wouldn't bother. The party isn't a big draw for me any more. Meanwhile, my kids (some of them, anyway) are planning their own party.

My youngest son already fell asleep on the couch. His nearest brother didn't bother, he announced he was going to bed and settled down already. My oldest son, and my tiny daughter are both committed to making it to midnight. My wife, meanwhile, is going to give it a try.

I'll find out how everyone did in the morning. Good night.

Merry Sickmas

Two days ago, my youngest son came down with a case of pink eye. At the same time, his sister was throwing up. I instructed my kids in quarantine measures to avoid spreading pink eye, and kept watch over the nausea. That spread quickly, but didn't last more than a few days. Meanwhile, the pink eye has spread to only my daughter.

The older boys held tight to my instructions in avoiding contagion, but their sister (bless her 8 year old heart) wasn't so fortunate. 

What this means is that we're not going anywhere this Christmas. My parents are aware, albeit saddened by this development. My wife, always able to roll with the punches, expressed a bit of relief at having less to do. Meanwhile, the illnesses aren't debilitating. They don't require much extra care, just quaranting.

It's oddly relaxing.

Herbal hideaway

Just once I'd like to be in a hedge maze. Is that so weird? You know, walking around completely lost and unable to figure out where I am while surrounded by immense greenery. Is that so strange?

It's not, it's perfectly normal.

RainCember

Last year I bought a snowblower, and as Murphy's Law dictates, it barely snowed much at all.

Well this year, I still have it. I got it out, set it up, gassed it up, and it's been rainy all season. 

Rainy. Not snowy, like you'd expect in December. Rainy. Look, I don't mind *not* having to clear snow all the time. People tend to forget how to drive when it snows, so every other car becomes a hazard. It's just weird.

Necroplant and ivy

Back in the summer of 2003, I bought a small ivy plant. It was in a cheap plastic pot and had three leaves. It's moved with me five times. Meanwhile it's been in, if I remember correctly, three different pots. At its largest, it spread ten feet. It's always filled the space it's been given, so its only constraint has been, well, space. It occurred to me that I've had this one plant for over twenty years now.

I wonder how long a houseplant really lives for.

Meanwhile, my wife got herself another small plant. I honestly don't know what the species is, but that never mattered much to me. She tried to care for it, but it withered down to a mere stem, all leaves lost. She was going to get rid of it, but I took possession instead. A little soil nutrition and a fair amount of water, and the stem turned green and started to stand upright. Then a leaf pushed out of the dirt next to it. Right now it's about four inches tall and has eight leaves all reaching for the light.

Necroplancer.