Happy Anniversary

Yesterday (Friday) was our anniversary (not looking for congrats from everyone, just saying). We've been married 16 years and have been together for 22 years. I got the little lady a nice set of pearl earings (5mm ball) which she hinted for me to get. She got me a panini maker. In case you don't know what that is, it's a grill, kind of like a Forman grill. You use it to make toasted sandwiches. It's the coolest gift ever. Back in my Navy days, I was hooked on something called a Smash Sandwich while in Toulon, France. Basically, it's grilled chuck steak, which is then placed in French bread with some veggies and spices, then flattened in the panini maker until it's about the width of a quarter, well, maybe 2 quarters on top of each other. Incredibly thin, and heaven on a bun. I must now perfect the recipe! Can't wait to try the thing out.

Today my older son tried out for the travel baseball team in our town. I was concerned he might not make it since many of the other kids are better players. There were 15 slots open, and 15 kids showed up, so he's on the team! I'm not sure what I'm in for but he's in for a lot of baseball. One of the other dad's at the tryouts was a person that lived on my street and whom I'd grown up with. We were friends as kids but stopped hanging out by high school. We both agreed that when we were growing up, our parents would never have gone in for something like this for us because it was too much bother for them (the parents that is). Just yesteday I mentioned to my parents that the older one was trying out and my dad tried to discourage me. He mentioned I'd spend all of my time running around taking him to games all over the county. You know what? Big fucking deal. When I was a kid, I didn't get to try a lot of the things I really wanted to do because it was too much bother for my parents. I don't want my kids to grow up and not at least had the opportunity to try new things. For all I know, next year my son will hate baseball. But at least he'll know that if he wants to try something different, my wife and I will support what he does.

For me, the important thing is that he has fun playing baseball. When he gets older, he'll remember that we showed up to see him play, not the score of the game or how he did that season.

On another note, my younger son that is diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, had a breakthrough moment of sorts today. He's been having "toileting issues". Today, he went to the bathroom on his own without prompting and sat long enough to use the toilet. We were very proud of him and gave him many accolades. He also earned a star. If he earns 10 stars (for using the toilet on his own), he'll get to go to Target and pick out a Star Wars lego set. He's been obsessing with Star Wars lately. Since he's only 6, we've let him see the original trilogy but I won't let him see the latest 3. Episodes 1 and 2 have some disturbing images, what with people getting cut in half and decaptiated. There's absolutely no way either of my boys are seeing Episode 3 until they're older. WAY to much violence for a kid their age.

More stories starting on Monday (hopefully). Since I've related a sad story in the death of my cousin, next one is going to be on the birth of my first son. There's much comedy now that 9 years have passed. Some of it wasn't so funny then (at least, not to my wife when I did it). Have a good Sunday out there.

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