Christmas

I'm sitting in my living room, watching my crazy son play with some CDs. Don't worry, they're his - so he can really do what he wants with them (within reason). I've had a very difficult time getting into this season. I had a friend tell me I was the toffee in the box of assorted chocolates. Not exactly sure what she meant, but I think it has to do with being the last thing left in the box and the one that no one really wants to touch. Looks sweet on the outside, but really quite hard and it gets stuck in your teeth. I'm doing better now though. Getting into the spirit of things. All of my shopping is done and I think it'll be a lot of fun to see Beckett open his presents. We'll also do Christmas Eve service at the church here that we like. We're Christmas & Easter sort of people at church. It seems that every Sunday morning we have better things to do. Like sleep in and read the paper. I hope my family is well this year. Some of them may read this more than they'll actually talk to me. It does bother me to some extent, but it kept my Christmas shopping rather short this year. I haven't talked to my nephew in several months and his birthday is coming up shortly after Christmas. He may read this, so I'll have to be careful how I put this, but his mom turned a bit loony this year. I'm sure he feels completely abandoned, but I wish he'd realize that the rest of his family is still here for him. He's also at that age where I'm sure there are a lot cooler things to do than hang out with your 31-year old aunt, but his cousin would sure love to see him. He always was a very cool kid and I miss him. It's too bad his mother went nuts - I haven't talked to her in goodness knows how long. Then, I have 2 other sisters - 1 I haven't seen or talked to in over 2-years. I've e-mailed, but never gotten a response. I don't know what her deal is. Holding a grudge against me not talking to her I'm sure. Then there's the last one - haven't seen or talked to her in about six months. I love how when it's convenient for everyone else is when they want to see me, but God forbid I don't have time for them.

Then there's my true family. The family you choose. I can't tell you how alone I would feel without them. My beautiful wife, our son, our best friends, my mom, her parents. Christmas is a time to enjoy life and be happy. It truly is one of my favorite holidays. I'm starting to get out of my funk and just in time to give presents!! I love giving gifts. And I think we found some really good ones this year.

Merry Christmas All!!!

fall

watching the Seahawks. Fall is on it's way. The cool, crisp days - football, stew, sweaters and here in Seattle - rain. One of my favorite seasons.

I've been on vacation this past week and I feel like I've actually made a contribution to the household. We've been cleaning the backyard, hanging shelves & pictures, replacing sockets and a think there's a few other things too, but I can't think of them right now.

I also found out that I got a promotion at work. This is great news for me, I'm incredibly excited about it. and Katie gets to be the "boss' wife' again. A role she loves. For today, I will enjoy the rest of my vacation with my family & friends and be ready to work hard tomorrow.

My celebrity 'look alikes'

laughable

for the record, I don't think I look like Britney Spears and then to put Emma Watson in the same category... quite humorous

3 year anniversary

Originally posted on 8/21/2007
I have been married for 3 years today. I may not have everything that I always dreamed of materially, but I do have everything I've ever wanted. My life couldn't be in a better place. Well, it could in one way - but that's not important right now. What is important is that I'm sitting in my living room with the one person in the world that I love more than anything in the world. And the other person I love so very very much is safely asleep in his crib in the other room. The dogs are at my feet and the cats are sleeping on the couch. I am a blessed person. I want to put my thank you out to the universe. And my i love you out to my girl.

Beckett & The Apples

Beckett & Jack

Beckett & Jack
Originally uploaded by kabfamily

I love that we're raising a caring, kind little boy. Even at 18 months, his personality and his true nature are starting to develop and come out. I think that we have animals helps this process. He understands that he isn't the only creature in the world. We haven't specifically tried to raise him this way, but it seems to have just happened. I don't know if it's just in the way we live our life and he has learned that's how you treat people and animals. I'm so proud of my beautiful son.

and they say gays shouldn't raise children

We were walking into IHOP for breakfast this morning and we just had to laugh. Beckett was walking through the parking lot in his pink polo shirt carrying Abby's eyeglass case which strongly resembles a little purse. It was hilarious. Of course, if my son truly wants to carry a purse it's OK, it simply caught me off guard and I had to laugh.

Pride Protesters

DSC00185
Originally uploaded by poorboy1978

I was searching through Flickr for photos tagged with SeattlePride and came across a couple of these. My family didn't attend the parade last year. Look at what happens when we come off the hill. We start to march in the middle of downtown Seattle and suddenly people think it's OK to protest. I don't ever recall this happening on Cap HIll. Were they afraid of the hill?

growing up so fast...

Almost standing!
Originally uploaded by kabfamily

some days I can't believe how quickly time flies. This photo was taken on Beckett's birthday in January. Less than 6-months ago. It's hard for me to fathom how fast he's grown and how much. Our sweet little baby is quickly turning into a little man.

moving

Moving sucks! But I'm trying, really I am. So - goodbye computer - hello boxes.

Olympia Pride 2007

We decided that this year we wouldn't deal with Seattle Pride. Too much traffic, too many people and then that rare occasion when we run into people that we may not particularly ever want to see again anyway. So, Olympia Pride was our thing this year. My work didn't have a booth this year so we just got to enjoy it. A woman named Janice Langbehn spoke about her partner. Janice and her children had so much courage. Her partner died of a massive aneurysm exactly 4-months prior to her speaking at Pride. I can't imagine the hurt and pain she must be feeling. Her story hammers home that domestic partnerships, civil unions, marriages - whatever you want to call it - are way more than filing taxes jointly or marking that 'married' box on legal documents. Please check out her story or online at the Olympian.com

My thoughts and prayers are with the Langbehn-Pond family. This story serves to remind me that I need to get my life insurance and wills in place. When a very healthy, vibrant mother dies on her way to enjoy a vacation with her family, it shows that it can happen to anyone.

updates

Blogging is something that I can't seem to get my arms around. I read people's blogs and they are often so good at it, I feel inadequate. So, here I am - trying again. We'll see how it goes this time. To update everyone on the last 9 months of our lives. We have now lived in Olympia for a year and we finally decided to buy a house. We searched and searched, thank goodness our real estate agent had the patience of Job. We put an offer in on a gorgeous house in Chehalis and it just didn't feel right. As the fates would have it, it didn't pass inspection, so we continued to look and we lowered our wants list quite a bit. We decided square footage wasn't as important as being somewhere that our family is comfortable and respected. So, we finally found a house in West Olympia. Not far from where we're living now. It's a great neighborhood and a great house. I can see us raising Beckett there for some time to come. In other news, Beckett turned 1. He walks now. Katie is 3 quarters away from graduating from South Puget Sound Community College and she'll be applying to The Everegreen State College for Spring 2008. It seems so far way, but the way this last year has flown by, I know it'll be here before we know it. As for me, I still have no idea what I want to be when I grow up. I'm considering accounting (something I can do from home), teaching or just going to Evergreen and taking programs that interest me. They do have a Masters in Public Administration that is very interesting to me. However, I still am not sure exactly what I'll do with it. But of course, I'm not doing much with the degree I have now. I'm posting a picture of Beckett from the fountain here in Olympia. It was a beautiful day and the sun just lit his face so perfectly.