Thoughts

Staying home with Jack, there's really not a whole lot that I can do. When I had free time to myself, I would use that time to go for a long run or go to the gym. Sometimes, I would just go for a ride on my motorcycle (when I was allowed) and see if there's anything new happening in the neighborhood. I did pretty much everything I could think of besides watch T.V. Guess what I do with my time now?

Don't get me wrong. I don't think of spending time with my son as a hindrance in my life. I love every second I spend with him. This entry is more about how I spend my time in between changing diapers, trying to stop Jack from crying and wiping spit-up off of me.

One thing many people may have already noticed, is that I change my Facebook status...A LOT. But who's counting? Seems like every thought that comes to my mind, I feel the need to post it. I came into the conclusion that the only reason why some people change their Facebook status so often is because they have absolutely nothing better to do. Just like me. I guess they're the same kind of people that write blogs and then change their Facebook status so people know they just wrote another uninteresting blog. Losers.

On a more serious note, I sometimes think about where I'm going with my life. I think about school and if getting extra education is really going to get me anywhere closer to my goal. I think about the bills and expenses that we have. Lindy and I are not poor, but we're not big timing and rollin' on dubs either. In other words, I don't have diamond teeth like Kanye West or a Big A$$ Chain like T-Pain.

I was just watching TLC and they had a show about an "8-limbed boy." Here's a very very brief summary: A 6-year-old kid from India has a parasitic twin growing out of his chest. The legs and arms of his twin were the only thing exposed from his body and the doctors removed it. The boy lived happily ever after.

TCL and Discovery have numerous shows like this, and none of them are terribly uplifting. As I watched this boy being operated on by several doctors and seeing his family falling apart because they feared the worst outcome, I just thought about how stupid some of my worries are. I agree, that in retrospect, this family's ordeal was unique. But it really doesn't change the fact that A family was going through with it. This family had nothing, but when they found out their son was going to be fine, they were elated.

Here I am, with a perfect little boy and lovely wife, watching this show on one of my 47" HDTV's, sitting on my sofa and writing a blog in my laptop, grumpy about going back to work tomorrow. My life is so hard. Seriously, though, I am truly blessed to have a life that I have now. Sometimes I feel like it was given to me and I never had to work for it. Will I stop worrying about silly things? Probably not. But I will definitely try harder to put things in perspective.

Hi, Jack!!

I've decided to write another blog a little sooner than I expected. This is mostly about an observation I made/make whenever people see Jack.

"Hi, Jack! Hi! How are you? Hi, Jack. Hi, Jack! You're so cute. Hi, Jack!"

This is about the extent of people's vocabularies whenever they're talking to Jack. I admit, I'm guilty of doing this too. I just finally thought about how ridiculous it really is. As I observed Lindy talking to her family on Skype, every single one of her family members (well, all 4 of them) took turns saying the "Hi, Jack!" line. You can't help but wonder where Jill went, or whether there's an actual hijacking in progress. Regardless, I thought about how often Lindy and I do the same thing, and I started to laugh about it. Really, I see this kid every day, how many times do I really need to say "hi" to him? Imagine doing that at work. "How's it going Jane? Hi, Jane! You're so cute, Jane. Look at your fat little cheeks, Jane!" Repeat that line a few more times and I'm sure some kind of harassment suit would be in order.

With that said, I'm sure people will continue to do that until Jack finally responds with a "Hi" of his own. In the mean time, I will continue to say "hi" to the little guy every 5 or so minutes. I may say "hey" just to mix it up a little.

A Jump Start

So I guess it's been a while since I've written a blog. I don't even remember what I wrote on the last one. Although, I think I mentioned I was going to update you guys about Lindy's pregnancy. So I'll start with that...

Lindy had the baby.

That was easy. I will now rededicate this blog to my brand-spankin-new-one-month-old-little-boy-Jack. At the rate I write blogs, however, you may be getting a highschool graduation announcement before I write any kind of update. But let me regress back to the beginning:

The Birth.

When Lindy started feeling contractions, it was a very exciting moment. We did all we could to make sure she started labor that very day. We tried many scientifically proven methods...from the internet...to get that baby out. My favorite method was eating spicy food. Lindy hates spicy food, but I convinced her to go to Wendy's to get a spicy chicken sandwich. I never admitted this until now, but I secretly wanted her to just take a couple bites and say, "this is too spicy! you eat it!" Unfortunately, she only left me with one bite. It didn't even have any chicken in it. Don't judge me. I've eaten fast food about 5 times in 5 years. Guys have cravings too. Anyway, eventually she was in active labor. (P.S. I think the spicy chicken only gave her heartburn.)

Whoever said/says that the birth of a baby is a beautiful thing, has never seen a birth of a baby. It is absolutely NOTHING remotely close to being beautiful. AFTER the birth, perhaps, but certainly not during. There were fluids here, there, on the top, bottom, left and right. Lindy's face turned apple red with every push she made. My hand swelled up to the size of a grapefruit as she gave me a death grip. I guess I can't complain since she was pushing an impossibly large baby. Although, I do have delicate hands. Just saying.

When our boy (Jack Thomas Martin) came out on November 4, 2010, I thought "That's my boy!!! What in the world is all over him???" My gag reflex went away in about 2 seconds. It was followed by disbelief, joy, awe, and more disbelief. I just couldn't believe that Lindy and I had become parents. As I watched the nurses clean up our little boy, I couldn't get a stupid grin off my face. Yes, I cried too. It was the strangest feeling. You know how in those stupid sappy movies where people say, "When I first laid eyes on you, I knew I loved you."? I say it's "stupid" because it almost never ever happens that way in real life. You have to get to know each other first, then you grow to love. In the case of having your very own baby, it truly IS love at first sight.

I am so blessed and thankful to have a wonderful wife that could create this beautiful little creature. In just one month, he has changed out lives. Now, I can't imagine a life without either of them. Though the birthing process may not be beautiful. Though births happens everyday, it really and truly is a miracle.

I'm not really much of a poem guy. But there was a poem by Maureen Hawkins in Jack's pediatrician's office that sums up probably what most parents feel.

"Before you were conceived
I wanted you
Before you were born
I loved you
Before you were here an hour
I would give my life for you
This is the miracle of life."

Remember when Tom Cruise was kinda cool? Risky Business, Top Gun and all the Mission Impossible movies were pretty sweet back in the day. However, every time I watch Top Gun on t.v., I keep wondering why I liked it so much in the first place. Sure, the opening scene with Kenny Loggins singing "Danger Zone" in the background can make you feel like you can take on anybody in a fight, but other than that, what is it about that movie that made it so popular? (Other than the manliest beach scene ever, of course.) Back when Top Gun was da bomb, I attempted to replicate the high-five, low-five-behind-the-back all the time. Unfortunately, I just ended up spanking my partner on the low-five-behind-the-back half of the time, therefore, the ritual was promptly retired. Anyway, after much thought, I have no clue why that movie was so great.

On a side note, when I typed up "Top Gun beach volleyball scene" on Youtube, there were more parodies of the scene than the actual movie scene itself. Just thought it was noteworthy.

As for the Mission Impossible movies, I had the pleasure, or rather mispleasure, of watching Mission Impossible 2 last night. I don't know how many of you have actually seen the movie, but it has to go down as one of the best "Accidentally funny" movie of all time. I know it was supposed to be action packed, but I just couldn't get over Tom Cruise flipping like a gymnast every 2 minutes. Seriously, go watch the movie and see what I mean. I was impressed with his long flowing locks, though. It never needed combing even when he was getting blown up, punched, kicked or doing back flips.

I know that I just bashed Tom Cruise this entire blog. I know I have no reason to hate the guy. So I'll stop bashing him now and end my blog here. Besides, he's a great guy and a loving husband. How do I know all this? Check out this clip.

WARNING, the last clip may be too painful to watch for some viewers.