Babies take time. A whole lot of time.

Once again, I'm horribly late with an update. Sorry about that, guys.

Life's been full, though! First things first: I have to advise you to NOT try to take MBA classes when you've got a one-month-old. I've found that after your wife has spent 14 consecutive hours with a newborn all by herself, her sanity is fragile and often already a little cracked. Like that little squirrel from the Ice Age trailer, all it takes is one more little nudge before she goes over the edge. Lucky for me, mine is a trooper, but not so much of a trooper that I'm going to push my luck. I dropped next semester's classes, and figure I'll resume when Ms. Screamy McScreamsen has settled into the more-or-less promised 3-month plateau.

I figure if time is like a bank account I have with my wife, I'm probably a bit overdrawn. For example, I might could get away with MBA classes, maybe, if I wasn't also doing stupid things like agreeing to fix peoples' cars. I know, I know, it's stupid- but I've got a friend who is not so well-to-do because she dedicated her life to helping disabled kids... so when her engine blew, I felt like I had to help her. And the wife agreed. But- now I'm taking classes two nights a week, doing group work another night a week, studying in some of the remaining free time, AND I'm supposed to be replacing an engine? That means more manditory face time between mom and Princess Saggypants, which in turn means crazier mom. And not the good, sexy kind of crazy. Nooo, no no.

But as you can see, with the help of my buddy Chris (who also had to abandon his wife and baby to help me out) we got the old engine out, and the new one's going in this weekend, and my friend will get out the door paying under $1000 for an engine replacement. Not bad. I just hope the good karma of helping her out and the bad karma of abandoning the wife and kiddo net out.

In other news, I also just accepted a new job. I'll be doing basically the same thing, but in a more upwardly mobile position, and for a lot more money, which is always nice. Although in this case, I determined that my net change in take-home pay will pretty much be a wash with what we're going to be paying for daycare when my wife goes back to work. Well hey, that's better than being at a negative.

Best for last: aside from the occasional unconsolable crying, little Tori is doing very well. She seems almost impossibly cute (again, when she's not screaming) and I'm at least occasionally good at making her happy. And that is an incredible feeling. You probably won't believe it until you feel it, but it is.

But anyway, the bottom line is that life is full but good for this dad right now. With a baby, you just can't ask for more than that.

Hanging in there

So, I just started back on my MBA.

I'll admit, this seems a bit crazy, since we just had our first kid a month ago. As I learned when I first started the MBA classes, this'll mean even less free time, more stress, less money, and more to do. But ultimately, the cost of not going ahead and finishing this degree is fairly significant, too. So we agreed that I should go for it.

So far it's been... interesting. I feel a bit like a guy whose day has magically shrunk to about 18 hours. Not just on class days, but every day. But there are benefits, too, actually- I get myself a little break from all things baby. Don't get me wrong, I love my little girl, but sometimes there can be a bit of overexposure, if you know what I mean.

But alas, I know the blog has suffered. Work continues to be more than a little busy, and the breakneck pace of summer classes leave little room for writing. I'll make up for it later, guys, I promise. :)

On Poo.

If there's one subject that magically stops being taboo among otherwise civil adults once a kid arrives, that subject is poo.

Yeah, I don't know why, either.

The best I can figure is that it's gallows humor. After all, as parents, we're actively having to deal with one of the foulest, most disgusting substances on earth, multiple times per day. There's just no getting around that sad fact. In many cases, you're actually getting sprayed with said substance during a diaper change. It might end up on the walls, or the furniture, or god-knows-where. But it's something that has to be done, so what else is there to do but joke about it?

There is a line, though. A few months ago the wife and I were at a nice seafood restaurant in Charleston with four other couples - all either parents or expectant parents. There were no kids present; we were all getting some much-needed adult time.

And yet, while enjoying this fantastic meal of fresh seafood, what did we talk about? Yeah. Poo. Yellow poo vs brown poo. Smooth poo vs. 'seedy' poo. Eventually, I sort of nervously laughed and said, "Guys. We've been talking about poo for the last five minutes. NEW SUBJECT!"

Everyone else laughed... though I never quite worked out whether they were laughing at me being squeamish, or laughing because they realized what, exactly, they had been doing.

Alright, I'll admit, I have issues. I still retch sometimes when changing dirty diapers, and my angel of a wife does most of them for me. But still, even when we're parents, there are some standards of decorum that really should maintained, yes?

Poo or no poo, there are still plenty of moments when it's all worth it. Like this one: