Sunday, June 19, 2011
Father’s Day today and boy am I sore from yesterday’s Tri! We live in a loft and the stairs and my quads are not getting along at all today.
It’s ok, though. I’m being well taken care of. We had breakfast at my favorite cafe downtown and all the kids have been in contact.
Tomorrow, we’re off to Kansas City to spend some time with my wife’s daughter, Rachel, who has recently become a part of our lives.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Speaking of graduation, we found ourselves at another graduation ceremony this past weekend.
We drove out to western Kansas because my daughter from a previous marriage graduated high school in a small town called Bucklin. She also had her baby about a month ago and we hadn’t seen him yet, so this was to be our first visit as grandparents.
It was definitely a trip of good times and bad times.
Let’s start with the bad. During the graduation ceremony, they did this thing that was really cool. Well, for some people, that is.
There were a bunch of roses on the stage and the graduates could go and get roses and present them to parents, grandparents, etc. out in the audience. It was a powerful moment during the ceremony, but there was no rose for me.
I shook it off and went to talk to her and see the baby afterward. My daughter did let me hold Carter, but otherwise pretty much blew me off and it hurt.
My ex wife came over and started trying to talk to me and Ceecee stepped in and told her to back off and leave me alone. It was pretty cool that she was so assertive in a protective way for me, since she obviously knew I was upset.
The cool part was when we had left Bucklin and were on our way to Dodge City, where my in-laws are. I was thinking about the time I went to Dodge City during our separation and I brought back a Mexican cake and these special marinated steaks that we used to love to eat when we lived there. Kasey, my wife’s youngest daughter was with us and she mentioned wanting to go to the Mexican store and I looked at Ceecee and she said, “It could be a little restoration.”
It was so amazingly great to be on the same page like that, and it turned out to be really cool for Kasey to be able to share it with us. Last time, I had gone there by myself and things hadn’t gone well when I had come back. This time, we were there together on the restoration tour and things couldn’t be better.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Today being Mother’s Day is another important step on the restoration tour. Not that Ceecee is my mother, of course, but she is the mother of our children and I’ve always tried to honor her on Mother’s Day and make it special for her.
Being empty nesters now means no kids to get up and get ready, so I made Ceecee breakfast in bed and just let her lounge around for the morning. Last year’s Mother’s Day was far from being a celebration, so this is another stop on the tour and it’s important to make the day special and meaningful.
Our oldest daughter Angie – on behalf of the kids, although it was really her – came by today and gave her a bracelet to match the ring I got her for our anniversary last year. I helped her pick it out and we had it all planned, and it was really a nice way to top off a terrific day!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
We spent the day in Jayhawk country today. Rachel, the daughter that my wife gave up for adoption and who recently came into our lives, lives in Lawrence, KS and is a student at KU.
Today, we drove up there and spent the day getting to know her a little better and seeing where she lives and the places that are a part of her life. Lawrence is a very cool college town and we had a great day walking and driving around, seeing the sights, and catching up on the last 20 years.
I’m so glad that this is all happening after we fixed our marriage, not while we were going through our mess.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Last night, we became Grandparents.
It definitely wasn’t the way we’d have planned it. It’s not our oldest, who has been married for a while now. It was the youngest, who is still in high school.
She called and told me she was pregnant around the time we got back together. I haven’t pretended to be happy about it, but it’s important that we be in the baby’s life regardless of the circumstances.
He was born last night in the same hospital his mother was born in, and they named him Carter. My wife made a baby blanket and we sent it, but we didn’t go out there to western Kansas for the birth.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Taylor graduated from tech school yesterday. We didn’t go down to visit, like we did when he finished basic, but it’s still kind of a big deal. It means he’ll be leaving the US soon and heading for Korea.
Today, my wife was taken by surprise when a group from the army ran by our parking lot and it brought her to tears thinking about Taylor. That was no April fool’s gag, it really hit her hard. They say it’s much harder on Moms that it is on Dads and I suppose that’s true.
It’s also true that a lot of marriages struggle when the nest becomes empty. I don’t know how much of a factor that was in our situation, but it definitely couldn’t have helped. I’m so thankful to be where we are now.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Really glad Spring break is next week! This school year has been exhausting!
Last year, Ceecee and I went to a resort in Branson over Spring break with Taylor and one of his friends. It was fun, but not the way it should have been. It was almost immediately after we got back home that our marriage fell apart and we split up.
That being the case, Spring break isn’t officially on the docket for restoration, but we certainly plan on enjoying our time off work this year a LOT more than we did last year! Now our hearts are one, so our thoughts and desires will be on spending a lot of fun and romantic time together. We will also be getting ready to move into our new loft, so it will be busy and we won’t be taking a trip away anywhere.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Last night, for the first time, we got to meet Rachel, Ceecee’s daughter that she gave up for adoption! Rachel and her boyfriend drove out and are staying at Angie and Ian’s. Angie had already met her, but we had only talked to Rachel over the phone and a little bit on Facebook.
We went out to their place last night and just sat and talked. It was pretty surreal, but very fulfilling. For almost as long as I’ve known Ceecee, she’s talked about this happening. We couldn’t do anything to bring it about. We’ve just had to wait.
Through the years, there have been times when we thought it would happen soon, and times when we wondered if it would ever happen at all.
They are going to be here for a few days, so tonight, it was just very casual. We didn’t stay very long and didn’t want there to be any pressure or expectations. We just wanted to get the initial meeting out of the way and then we’ll just play it by ear after this.
Today, I have to work at Macy’s and Ceecee is going with all of them to spend some time together in Branson.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Taylor got his orders today and he’s going to Korea. That was a bit of a shock. I mean, we had no idea, and he could have gone anywhere, but Korea? Wow! I guess it’s only for a year, and then he says they are going to let him go to Italy, so I guess I would have taken that deal if I was him.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Back home and not nearly the adventure on the drive back. That’s OK. There were parts of the drive where the roads were STILL extremely icy, but we made reasonable time and got home without any mishaps. Overall, it was a very successful trip, although I’m not sure we have any plans to go back anytime soon.
The Restoration Tour 