(Listening to “Shape of You” by Ed Sheeran)
“Congrats, we made it around the sun one more time. Hope your path in 2018 is a bright one.”
That’s what my brother-in-law posted on Facebook about the new year. I laughed out loud when I read it because really, that’s all it is. It’s a trip around the sun, but we make it much more than that. We call the new year a “new beginning” and make resolutions and all that rigmarole. Some might even make good on their resolutions for a few weeks, the dedicated few might make it all year, but in the end, it’s just a trip around the sun.
The twelfth month of that trip, otherwise known as December, flies by for me. It’s a busy month with work, holiday parties, and visitors; and in 2017 it was no different. I didn’t write anything because of all the “stuff” going on. So, here are a few thoughts and a few things that happened in the month before the ball dropped.
The North Pole
We went to the North Pole! Yep, Santa was there and everything! We loaded up the family sleigh, our Honda Pilot, with the wife, Littles, Tiny, and Grandpa Paul and “Just DeDe” who were visiting from Minnesota. The North Pole is located in Cascade, CO. If you have never been there, I suggest going. It’s an amusement park with a Santa’s workshop theme. There are carnival rides, a magician, food, shops, and you can even meet the jolly fat man himself. We had a great time, and Littles got to give Santa her letter that asked for mer-ponies (mermaid ponies…yes they exist).
Littles and Tiny are growing up fast. The wife and I went through our storage room and donated all of our baby stuff. We gave away a crib, the car seat in which we took both our kids home from the hospital, a bath tub, a bassinet, and some other odds and ends. We packed up baby bottles from the cabinets and I even took down the baby gate from the top of the stairs. I said, “Are we sure we’re done with all this stuff?” The wife and I both gave each other a look and laughed. Our cackles said, “Yep, we’re done.” It was nice getting all of that stuff out of our house and into the hands of others that would use it, but on the other hand, it’s sad to know that phase of life is over (at least that’s our plan). I remember putting the baby gate up at the top of the stairs when Littles was just starting to walk and thinking, “Wow, this is going to be here for a while. I hope it doesn’t leave too big of holes in the wall.” In the blink of an eye I was patching the holes from where it was anchored. That was a quick three years. I hope I don’t blink too many more times, but it’s inevitable…I will.
No more baby gate!
Another sign the kids are growing up fast…Littles gets up in the middle of the night and goes potty by herself. I’ll be laying in bed and hear her. It’s like clockwork, between 12 and 1am. (She’s doing this as I type this). I hear the doorknob turn, the door open, and her sound machine get a little louder as the door cracks open. She shuffles down the hall into the bathroom. She turns on the light, shimmies onto the toilet, exhales, does her thing, and walks back to her room. I hear the door shut and she falls back into bed. Sometimes she calls out for “dadda” to tuck her back in, but she usually does this by herself. It’s funny to hear another person in our house, but that’s what she is, a little person…my little girl.
We received some snow this year and the girls love playing in it. They don’t care how cold it is. As we were bundling the girls up, Littles said, “The cold never bothered me anyway.” Whatever, Elsa. You still need to put on a coat. They love sledding and jumping on the trampoline. Tiny tags right along and does whatever her big sister does. I don’t think our youngest has a fearful bone in her body.
The cold never bothered them anyway.
Speaking of snow, despite the lack of it this season, I was able to make it to the hill a few times for some snowboarding, or as I like to call it, “therapy sessions.” The holidays are the busy time for me at work, so it’s great to get up to the mountain for a little introvert time.
Introvert time…sort of. Ha!
We celebrated Christmas as a family and a couple of days later, Grandpy and Grammy came to town. We’ve had a fun time showing them around, going to Buffalo Bill’s grave, Red Rocks, and spending time together.
Family Time
The new year came and went with a whimper. The wife was in bed before 10pm, but I stayed up to watch the ball drop with a couple of White Russians (the drink), Ryan Seacrest (I miss Dick Clark), and Mariah Carey, who did get her hot tea.
As far as resolutions go, I don’t have anything that’s groundbreaking, but they are meaningful. I turn 40 later this year. When I turned 39, I made it my goal to get into the best shape of my life. I’m not sure what shape that is yet (ba dum ch!). With that goal in mind, I want to do something active at least 3 times a week, drink more water, and go to bed earlier. Unrelated to health, I also want to get a hair cut. I haven’t had a haircut since January 15, 2017 and the wife keeps bringing it up, so I guess I could chalk that up to health…mental health.
The most important goal for me is to put down the phone. I’m on it enough during the day for work, so the last thing I want to do is be on it when I’m home. I don’t think I have a problem with it, but it’s just such a habit to pick it up when there’s a lull in the action. It’s a reflex. Oh, I’m bored, pick up the phone. I started thinking about this in the middle of December, when I took this picture.
Talk to each other.
I was stopped at a traffic light and saw these two people. They’re waiting at the bus stop and they were both locked into their phones with headphones on. They had no idea the other person was even there. They could be having a conversation. Who knows, they could be each other’s mate, but they’ll never know because they missed it.
What could I have missed because I was on my phone? As someone who met his wife on a plane, what if I had just put on my headphones and started watching Youtube videos instead of talking to my future wife? I could have missed out on the rest of my life! It doesn’t have to be that dramatic. What if I missed out on a great conversation with the wife because I was texting? What if I missed out on my kid telling me about something she did at school because I was paying attention to someone else 1,000 miles away on Facebook? What if I missed out on something as simple as giving my family the attention the deserve? I can’t imagine how much time I “kill” on my phone when I could be doing something productive. That’s picture reminds me of all of those things. I’m staring down 40, I don’t want to waste time. That doesn’t mean I won’t use my phone for those things, it just means I’ll be intentional about putting it down.
Wow. I can’t believe it’s 2018. Use it wisely.
Happy New Year!
Dad vs. Human 