So, as my first (official) blog, this should have somewhat of an intro as to make continuing blog additions comprehensible.
DARCY: Darcy and I met in 2004 in Columbus, Ohio. I was store manager at Subway, and I hired her in. Even though we actually didn't have the hours to spare, I knew there was something special about this one, and my instincts proved true. She was a great employee, and it didn't take long for us to find the hours for her with the turnover as it is in food service. With her willingness to work, this put Darcy and I working side by side nearly every day. When we met, she was in a lousy marriage, and I was in a failing relationship, and we helped each other through, and out, of these situations. Standing on the other side together, Darcy and I realized how important we were to each other, and made the decision to stay together from then on.
Both having terrible marriages in the past and wonderful children of the present, we chose to not worry about getting married, that the focus would stay on us and the kids, not worrying about "tying the knot". And then our adventure began, as we decided to relocate closer to family. This endeavor, with only the goal of being near family in mind, took us from Florida to South Dakota, from Texas to Tennessee. In the process of trying to settle, we were uprooted to such a drastic point that we lost literally everything we had except for a bag of clothes each with a few odds and ends stuffed in between. And in this time of searching for stability, Darcy and I had a child together: Dallas.
When we finally settled, we made one more big decision that finally changed our tiresome pattern. Darcy decided to go into the Army, something she'd wanted to do for so long but never had the guts to try, until she met me. Our plan was a three parter. Part one: she goes into Basic, I watch the kids. Part two: she returns home for leave, we get married. Part three: she establishes a home on base for us, and we take it from there. Part two and three never happened. During part one Darcy injured her leg severely, which we found out ended up being a blessing because what we didn't know until she was discharged was that had she finished her training, she would not have been coming home for a wedding, she would've been shipped off to Iraq. She was held over for awhile for medical examination, but because of the short extra time she did spend, we were able to make enough money to make a new start, and with this as well as help from family and friends, we were able to replace all that we had lost, as well as officially settle. Plus, while stuck on crutches, Darcy refused to let time be wasted, investing the next two years in getting a college degree.
So our roles stuck, and here we are, 5 years later. I watch the kids and push forward with my writing and photography, Darcy brings home the bacon. I could tell there was something missing, though. She was fine with our roles, and not only do we hardly ever fight, we enjoy each other so much we do very little without each other. What buzzed in Darcy's ear, though, was the sting of the bee that carried a different last name besides mine, and until we were officially married, that bee would keep buzzing. Although we had decided to not get married until 2015, enough time to prepare for an "Ultimate Wedding", I could tell she'd trade all that to have my last name as hers NOW. So I broke the seal. I asked her if she wanted to get married this year, and the look in her eyes was enough to tell me that now that the seal is broken, there is no returning the item. Which, in Darcy's case, is irrelevant, because I lost the receipt a long time ago.
Now it feels like we hit the refresh button again, but this time instead of our lives being stripped down, it feels as if we're being built up. And to think, it all started with just two simple words: You're hired.
MY KIDS: What a tangled web we weave. Really? You'll allow me to get away with such cliché phrasing? Well, when it comes to my kids, it does become as complicated as a spider's web. I'll spare you the R-Rated drama half-witted failed planning to zoom out and see the big map.
In '92, Sarah Robison and I had a daughter together, Catharine. I was able to be a part of Catharine's life for the first 5 years, but circumstances pulled us apart. Sarah and I never married.
I married in '94 to Canda, divorced a couple years later. In that time, we had two children, Jacob and Emily.
In '98 I remarried to Jeanette, separated two years later, divorced two years after that. In the time before separation, we had two children, Dylan and Deserae. Jeanette had a daughter of her own when we met: Audre.
After the breakup with Jeanette, I adopted a new philosophy...I don't date. And I didn't, until 2002, when I met Haley. I broke my non-dating rule, and even though she brought me more joy than I had had in any past relationships, it ended quickly, causing me more pain than I'd ever felt. But in the in between time, we conceived a child, a daughter named Madeleine. Haley had a daughter of her own when we met: Willow.
All but Jacob and Emily live in Michigan. After losing contact with Catharine, Dylan and Deserae, I decided to move to Ohio where Jacob and Emily lived, to try and be closer to them. It didn't work out as planned, and soon I found myself out of touch with all my children. Then I met Darcy, and you know what happened from there with her. Darcy had two children of her own when I met her, a daughter Rinoa and a son Gavin. So with the addition of Dallas, we now have three.
Darcy's been very supportive in helping me overcome my fears and worries that have piled up over the years. She's helped me find the confidence to push forward and make the changes in my life that I've needed to make. I'm happy to say that after years of lost contact and not knowing where my children were, I now am in contact with all of my children.
FAMILY & FRIENDS: In search of the perfect place to settle, I've done plenty of exploring, and although this has allowed me to see a lot of the world, it puts a strain on any close relationships with either family or friends. Family wise...I see my mother on a regular basis, and we have become quite close, but then contact with family goes downhill from there. I talk with my brother Ron frequently by phone, and we are able to get together a couple times a year. My sister Kim and I have drifted out of touch, an occasional email or phone call within a six month period is a surprise for either of us. We hope to be able to see her on our trip coming up. And my dad remarried some years ago. With the new additions in his life, his focus has drifted elsewhere. I haven't talked with him since 2006, but we did receive a Christmas card just this last Christmas from him, so hopefully there's chance of reunion.
As for friends, I've had a lot of new faces come into my life, as well as hung onto old friendships, but I think I spread myself too thin at times and didn't allow myself to show how much each individual meant to me.
(The rest of this blog doesn't really need any intro, just up to date stuff...)
BIG FOUR (movies, music, books, video games): La la la-la la la, la la-la la lousy. A live action Smurf movie? Really? Okay, so I'm faking surprise, but in my opinon, I think they SHOULD bring these old classics back onto the big screen, but not with Hollywood dressing. Just put some polish on it and let's see what we loved in the first place. Smurfs, Alvin, Garfield, just bring us the best animated film that they could possibly be in. I'm not talking Shrek three dimensional (nor the NEW 3D fad), the polish I'm referring to is sharp picture with sharp writing. Have we lost all confidence in good scripting that we resort to fireworks displays? True, as long as it's bright and colorful, people will stare, but how often after a fireworks display do you hear, "It wasn't as good this year..." It's the same as last year, and that's the problem. Lack of creativity. Although, you gotta give it up for Azaria playing Gargamel...
Right now, I've put the other BIG THREE on hold to dive into the TV show Leverage. We have Netflix streaming, and getting season two through streaming ends on May 4th. So I'm watching them back to back. What boosted me to actually be able to do this was last night about midnight we had a loud storm, and Dallas came in and woke me up, scared. Darcy was up and down sick all night, and Rinoa and Gavin got up as well. So I turned on some kids movies for them, and I sat in my room watching Leverage. If you've never heard of Leverage, it's a simple base with plenty of complicated storylines. Timothy Hutton plays Nate, an out-of-work insurance investigator who lost his job when he lost himself to alcohol after the death of his son. After the standard bit of reluctance needed to fill 10 minutes of the show, he's thrown in with a group of criminals to, as Nate says, "pick up where the law leaves off." Each show has them taking on a case of someone who has been done wrong legally. It's not an easy show to describe, except maybe to compare it to movies like Ocean's Eleven or Brothers Bloom, or even The Sting. Why I find this to be a unique show is not just the diversity in acting (which starts out shaky with some and finds solid ground along the way), but the writing is strong. If you watch one episode after another of a certain show, most of the time a pattern evolves. Smallville tries to keep you on edge with Clark Kent's secret identity being revealed, and somehow by the end of the show it's always forgotten. Grey's Anatomy likes to throw in unknown love interests when someone gets too close, stir up the pot but predictably so. And these are necessary, because these are plot points that pull you back. But with Leverage, you're never really sure which way it's gonna go. It keeps things light, never taking itself too seriously, but it never gets hokey, that point in a show when you wonder what's you may be missing on the other channel. If you like con movies, it's definitely worth a view. I'm watching the seasons through Netflix, but you can catch it on TNT at 2 am Tuesday thru Friday. Set your DVR!
RANDOM INTERNET: The internet is huge, and this is where I let on to new discoveries worth peeking at.
http://www.spreeder.com
Wanna see how fast you can ACTUALLY read? This is a place where you can cut and paste any text in, and it helps you read it fast! Check it out to understand what I'm talking about. (I guess I can read 300 words per minute. Now to figure out a way to type less than 300 words per blog!)
So there it is, first official blog. With as crazy as today was, I was sure I wouldn't stand a chance at actually sitting down and writing this, but since I did, maybe I'm back on track after all!
CATHARINE
JACOB
EMILY
AUDRE
DYLAN
DESERAE
WILLOW
MADELEINE
