Eight years ago today approximately 500 (yeah, for real) of our friends and family gathered at University Place Presbyterian Church to witness Sarah and me get married. It was one of the craziest, happiest, busiest, most overwheleming and awesome days of my life… of course I wasn’t a parent yet.

We’re pretty different in many ways, but I think it may just seem that way because of how well well suited we are for each other. With so much coming so easy, the hard spots seem perhaps bigger. Our relationship defies many of the typical gender roles associated with married couples. Sarah is practical. She’s a solver of problems. She likes to see it all written down, explore all options. I’m emotional, I need to talk thru things (if only for the sake of talking thru them). I make decisions spontaneously. In Meyers-Briggs speak: she’s the ENFJ to my INFP.

After 8 years, I think I’m starting to feel at home with that. Little things that used to cause a bit of friction don’t seem quite so abrasive anymore… and in fact when we find ourselves in the middle of one of those moments there’s a part of me that kind of smiles inside and says, “This is just so… us.”

It’s unique and beautiful and challenging…

…and ours.

Happy Anniversary Love. I’d do it all again in a minute (with only 1 or 2 minor edits).

 

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Last weekend Sarah, her sisters & her mom all travelled to Portland for a little “Girl’s Getaway”. The corresponding event at home of course was “Boy’s Weekend” as I wrangled the 2 kids. Nap-times and bed-times were managed with relative ease and Isaac was even pretty gentle on me in the mornings (7am on morning, 6:20am the next). I found I rather enjoyed the window between when Isaac and I got up and when Joel was ready to start his day. He’d play, uninterrupted, with all of his brother’s toys while I sipped my morning coffee and perused the overnight news on my iPad. It was like a flippin’ Apple commercial I’m tellin’ ya.Fortunately for all of us, the weather was amazing and we were able to spend most of our weekend outside, which Isaac just LOVED! Everyone stayed fed and relatively clean, but I will confess there was more than one trip to Dick’s as well as a stop at the “Cupcake Store”. I figured, hey the ladies are all indulging themselves so we should feel free to do the same. Saturday afternoon found us at the Ballard Water Park and then that evening Uncle Sean & Aunt Kaci came over for a little BBQ. On Sunday Gpa Scott came up and hung out with the kids while I got out for a little Daddy time.

By the end of the weekend, I’d become aware of a couple things.

Firstly I’ve got an awesome extended family. I’m so grateful that my boys are connected to their aunts & uncles as well as their grandparents (and great grandparents). These people are a part of their lives, not simply far flung acquaintances.

Secondly, my kids are pretty darn fun. Oh sure, they’re stubborn, illogical, mind numbingly persistent and insufferable when they don’t get their way, but aren’t we all from time to time? As they get older I’m sure the our adventures together will get more grand but for now I’m content with tricycles, sandboxes & sidewalk chalk.

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When Isaac arrived on the scene, his big brother was more or less nonplussed. He didn’t really freak out, but it was clear he wasn’t super hot on the idea either. There may have even been an occasion or two where he wanted “baby Isaac to go back in Mommy’s tummy.” (Yeah, that ain’t happening kid).As Isaac got older and more mobile Joel seemed somewhat more tolerant of him, that was until Isaac got it in his mind to play with one of Joel’s favorite (and by favorite I mean anything within visual range) toys, at which point the usual reaction was “NOOOOO BABY ISAAAAAC!!!” or something similar.

I suppose that’s pretty normal for an oldest child who’s had his or her world split open by the introduction of a sibling, however I have to admit I’ve been finding it a bit unnerving. The little voice in the back of my head starts chattering away, “What if they never get along?” “What if they never develop a positive relationship, and our family is marred by their rivalry forever?” “WHAT HAVE WE DONE?!?”

Happily there have been, in recent weeks, a few fleeting moments where the boys actually have been playing together and, as far as we can tell, enjoying it. I sure get a kick out of listening to them laugh (while remaining poised to intervene when the inevitable CRASH – BANG – WAAAAA starts).

I mean honestly… would you trust these two alone in a room for very long?

Me neither.

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Doesn’t quite have the same ring as “Summer of ‘69” but you get the idea.

So, when I graduated high school and was trying to decide what to do with myself next, I got this this crazy idea that instead of going to college and studying for yet another four long, hard years I could trick my parents into letting me move all the way across the country, hang out with a bunch of weird musicians, drink beer and play my guitar. In other words, go to MUSIC college. We weren’t exactly rolling in cash and the place I got accepted to was pretty expensive so I applied for a merit based scholarship. Basically I had to submit a tape of my playing to earn a shot at a live audition which could ultimately result in some financial assistance.

Also, at the time there was no such thing as Garage Band for your Mac. Heck, when I took typing in high school we were still using Apple //e’s. Anyway, I set about making my recording using a Tascam cassette tape based 4 track, a sequencing Ensoniq ASR-10 keyboard that I borrowed from a friend, my guitar rig, and 1 microphone.

Anyway here are the tunes. I’m sure I gave them quite ridiculous and appropriate titles, none of which I can remember now:

Song the first – Typical mid 90’s guitar gunslinger fare. I think I was trying to channel Joe Satriani or Steve Vai w/ a little Eddie Van Halen finger tapping and dual melody lines thrown in there while playing as many notes as possible in 4 minutes.

Song the second – I knew I needed at least one song without distortion, so what do you do if you can’t use distortion… why delay of course! This is a white kid from Montana’s attempt at playing Latin.

Song the third – So cheesy but SO AWESOME. The first 2 minutes are kind of a snooze but it sets you up for the STADIUM ROCK GUITAR SOLO complete with PIPE ORGAN at the end! Strong Bad would have been so proud.

The thing I remember most about recording these songs is how FRACKING picky I was. I would play the solo sections over and over and OVER until I felt I had nailed every note. There was really no way to splice or edit the tracks so you had to get it all in one take. I’m sure it drove my poor parents out of their minds hearing me play the same part repeatedly for hours on end (without the context of the rest of the song since I had the playback in my headphones). I can only hope I’m as patient and supportive with my kids’ creative endeavors.

Tune in next week for the story of my live audition in Anaheim, CA and the rainiest day in the history of Disneyland.

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