Ten Years Later....

It's been ten years since Lisa and I got married. Ten years since we shuddered in fear at the thought of bringing a little boy into this world. Ten years since we took those first few brave steps, side-by-side, into a world of worries & reliefs, failures & triumphs.

TEN DAMN YEARS.

And since that fateful day on 4-28-1999 in Raleigh NC, my life has been a constant game of catch-up, frustration, worry and ordeal. Every week brings a new challenge to our lives. Bills to pay. Papers to write. Exams to take. Amy always needs a nap and Vince is always one step behind. One great big game of catch-up.

And through it all, there's always been Lisa.
In this experiment that is our marriage, Lis' and I have ran the gambit of emotions.
We've loved, we've laughed, we've cried and we've fought....a lot.

I suppose it's nothing any other couple doesn't go through.
Sometimes problems will pop up and we'll form up like Voltron to knock 'em out.
And sometimes both of us will smell Amy's dirty diaper and we'll stare each other down like the O.K. Corral.

Our relationship is a constant negotiation; a constant play of give and take.

But you know what?
I think that's how great relationships should be.
Life is always a chain of problems broken up by fleeting moments of joy and bliss.
There is no comfortable plateau and great couples are always mediating, negotiating and most importantly, communicating.

To get a lot, you've got to give a lot. That's the only way.

The great part is, eventually life's obstacles and the encompassing negotiations and compromises become an old comfortable routine. That's when you know that you've made it.

Readers, I've been damn frustrated with Lisa plenty of times.
But in retrospect, I'd be miserable and lonely without her. I'd miss her laughter, her cuddling, her beautiful blue eyes. But most of all, I'd miss her wisdom.

It is because of Lisa that I went to college. Now I'm lined up to receive an advanced degree.
It is because of Lisa that we moved to Utah. Now my son's development has improved exponentially.
It is because of Lisa that we had Amelia. Now my life is richer than it ever was before.
It is because of Lisa that we're a stronger family.

That's why we've made it for ten years.
That, and the fact that Lisa is still willing to play make-believe with me.

To my darling wife, you are and always will be my Muse.

Happy 10th Anniversary, baby!

Take that, Spammers!

I've had some problems with comment spammers junking up my beautiful blog.

Normally, these guys aren't too big of a problem.

But lately, ST's been bombarded by unidentifiable knuckleheads botting vague posts about my entries just before offering me a "miraculous way" to pay off my debt, regrow my hair, vacation in Cancun, make my wiener bigger or whatever.

Anyhow, this junk's gone on long enough and I'm not gonna take it anymore.

As of today, people leaving comments will have to key in a randomly generated word to verify that they're a real person at a real keyboard and not some random BS spam code floating about on the Aether.

I hope this won't discourage comments because I love to read 'em and reply to them.
Honestly.

And for you spammers that insist on actually typing out how you can help my dingle dangle deeper, well I promise to read your comment and laugh at your efforts before deleting your junk.

Hey. It's the least I can do.

Start your engines!

Every now and then, our family allows itself the occasional "calculated extravagance" to help enjoy life's long journey.

For 2009, we busted open our penny jars and got ourselves a Nintendo Wii. It's great fun. No regrets.

Anyhow, one of the games we acquired (at my insistence) was Mario Kart. As an original Nintendo junkie, I had played this game all through the years since its inception with the Super NES. And in every incarnation, this game has always hit it out of the park. Yeah, it's that damn good.

But I digress. I had originally bought this game to play by myself and hopefully hook Lisa in the process. However, I had no idea how addicted my Muse would get when the bug finally bit. As it turns out, Lisa's got very little to do at home once Vince is at school and her lofty list of chores are done. So when these precious periods of free time pop up, Lis fires up the Wii and tears around the many racetracks of Marioworld making her mark on the kart racing scene.

(Woah, there. Before you concerned moms start crying in anguish about Amy's neglect, let me just say that baby-girl love's to watch Mommy race. She can't get enough of it. It's an activity they enjoy doing together as she'll sit on her lap and cheer the whole time. So cut my Mrs some slack, check?)

So now it has come to my attention that our sleepy little quasi-family housing area is holding a Mario Kart tournament with prizes for the best drivers. Naturally, I want Lis to test her skills against all the single student wannabe "Tony Stewarts" to hopefully crack 'em in half and score herself some keen prizes! It'd be a great ego boost for her, I'm sure!

Now comes the tricky part of convincing her to compete....

I can't have anything nice. :-(

It's a sad, sad time.
The mug you see on the left was a keepsake of the time Lisa and I went to the Sterling Renaissance Festival in upstate New York.

The year was 1997. A newly acquainted Lisa and I traveled to her old stomping grounds of Ithaca, NY to partake of the beauty of Lake Cayuga and the Finger Lakes region.

It was a giddy and carefree time. Lis and I had been dating for a couple of months, I had just been hired with the fire dept and neither of us knew anything about children, debt or autism.

Once there, Lis convinced me to shuck my machismo and rent a ren costume along with her. It was a little awkward at first, but by the end of the day I had been swept up in the spirit of faire; I was singing old sea shanties and parlaying with the locals in the Queen's English. (Something tells me the four hard ciders and two shots of mead had something to do with it, too.)

Lis and I gelled like never before. By the day's end, I knew that this was the eccentric little dreamer that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. As we walked towards the exit, I had the sudden impulse purchase a momento to help me remember one of the greatest days of my existence. The cup in the image above was that momento.

Sadly, Old Cuppy met its match while being chilled in a freezer.
(Yes, yes. NOW I know it was a big mistake. Gimme a break. I'm not a ceramics guy.)

But when I expressed my forlorn lament to my Mrs, she took the whole thing in stride.
For her, the most important keepsakes were the memories we made that day and all the other days we went to faire after that. (8 different faires, over two dozen visits.)

As usual, I felt better after talking to her. She's pretty smart about this kind of stuff.

Still, I am a little bummed about Cuppy's demise.
HA! I know what to do!
I'll just glue it back together and use it for a pencil/pen jar at my TA desk next semester.

Hoo-ha! Everything old is new again!
(Until it breaks.) ^_^;;;

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Some Videos of the Kids...

Flickr won't let me upload more than 2 videos per month. (Grumble, grumble.)

In that case, I'll just upload the vids on Blogger and link Flickr for the pics.

Ta-da!

And then there was one...(Grad School Update)

ALEA IACTA EST.

I've accepted a graduate position with the University of Utah's Geography Department as a Masters Student.

Why? The answer is pretty simple.

Here are the results for all the grad apps I sent out:

Princeton: Gave me the "nah."

UNC: Also gave me the "nah."

Texas A&M: Has placed me on a wait-list. (No $)

Geogretown: Accepted me, but did not offer any $. Not one single dime. :-(

Utah Poli-Sci: (My home department) Accepted, but without financial aid. C'mon guys. :-(

Utah Geography: Accepted...with a tuition waiver...and a TA job...and a $5500 scholarship to boot. (That they recommended me for! Is that love or what?)

It's easy to say that I sided with the money.
But the fact is, the vibe that I get from the staff and faculty in that department is one of faith, belonging and encouragement. From the Admin Staff all the way to the Department Head, there is one message that resonates throughout the office:

"Tom, we want you to stay."

I didn't choose Geography at first, but it looks like Geography chose me.

Somewhere, Paul Torrens is laughing.

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New place for pics...

Howdy Readers!

I got a little tired of Blogger's maple-syrup speed image uploading.

To remedy this, I've set up a Flickr account for all my family pictures!

Check it out and enjoy the memories!!!

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/simplythomasblog/)


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