My Life in June 2006

As both of you who read this know, my life is about to take a dramatic shift. In what is due to be 9 days (give or take), my wife will be giving birth to our first child; a boy.

For the sake of posterity, it is important that I attempt to tell my son what today is like in Milwaukie, Oregon this June 11th, 2006.

First, today is your Grandfather, I mean Uncle's birthday. He is 55 this year. For the rest of my life, I will never forget his birthday, because one year, he gave my sister (your Aunt) a briefcase, which had one of those cool combination thingies, and the combination was his birthday: 6/11/55. That must have been 20 years ago, but I still remember that to this day.

Today it is going to be 78 degrees. That is a little warmer that the average this time of year (about 72 degrees), but far below the highs we have seen. I got most of my yard work done yesterday (on Saturday) and am having your Uncle Mat (not biologically related, so far as I know) over, probably for a barbecue.

The dogwood in our front yard is long past bloom. It is now full of green leaves and provides a lot of shade, which is very helpful during the hotter Summer months.

Your Mother is resting as we speak. The pregnancy has been pretty problem free for her, but she is having a difficult time using her hands, due to swelling associated with carrying you. She also is having difficulty sleeping, but that is SOP (standard operating procedure) with pregnancy. Worrying about bringing you into this world can be pretty stressful.

As you will probably be aware by the time you are old enough to read this, you are very fortunate to have been born in this nation. While young, we have an extremely interesting history, and we live in a country in which even poor people might be considered wealthy by some other countries standards.

Locally, the biggest stories in the news are the Rose Festival, which is supposed to coincide with the blooming of the roses in this part of the world, for which our nearest metropolitan neighbor is named (the Rose City). There was the Starlight Parade last night (your Father hates parades) and a carnival downtown to celebrate this event.

Nationally, most news relates to the war in Iraq, politics and the economy. By the time you read this, most people will still dislike politicians, the economy will be viewed positively (4.6% unemployment and 3.5% GDP growth; come on, people), and hopefully, the war in Iraq will have turned the corner with the death of the terrorist insurgent leader, Abu Mu'sab al-Zarqawi.

Of course, all that matters to your Mother and me is that you are born safely and soon. We look forward to seeing you!