Childhood Stories

My grandparents (on my dad's side) are still in town from their Thanksgiving visit and, as is tradition, we all went out to eat last night to Infusino's in Racine (love their pizza!). Somehow we got to talking about stories of when my dad was a kid, and I was absolutely humbled by what I heard. I always knew my dad grew up poor; they lived on a farm with no indoor bathroom, he helped the cooks in the school cafeteria so he could eat lunch, etc. But I had no idea just how bad it was. It's hard for me to picture my dad, the way I knew him most of my life, as a child in the circumstances my grandparents described.

My grandma was talking about the winters in their farmhouse, and how they would wake up with frost covering their mouths because the fire in the stove went out in the middle of the night. Their four boys - my dad and his 3 brothers - never believed in Santa Claus because there were never any Christmas gifts to speak of. Never had a Christmas tree to light or decorations to hang ... unless you count the tumbleweed they somehow found one year, which they spray-painted white and decorated with strings of popcorn and cheerios. If they wanted to shower in the summer, they had to wait for the sun to heat a pot of water and then share the water amongst the four siblings. In the winter, they simply had to spot-bathe inside. And you better believe they learned to "hold it" when going to the bathroom entailed bundling up and treking out to the outhouse.

Their poverty wasn't so much a product of the times -- my mom grew up at the same time in a very average, upper middle-class home -- but rather the life of a farmer at that time. And you know what? Not once have I heard my dad complain about his childhood. He didn't let his circumstances stop him from being the high school basketball star, the homecoming king, a college graduate, or (later in life) a businessowner. He came a long way from his humble beginnings, but after hearing all that he went without as a child, I know that I would have been a very bitter child, a whiner, a complainer if I were in his circumstances. Heck, I'm all of those things and I grew up having every basic need met, and sooo much more! Kind of makes me wonder if my dad ever thought his own kids were ungrateful, spoiled, or selfish. We grew up with so much more than he ever had, and yet we appreciated things so much less. I miss his calm demeanor, his gratefulness in all circumstances, his way of putting things into perspective. And all the more now, when I realize in a bit more detail just what his perspective was ...

It's easy to see where he got these attributes from when you look at my grandparents, who have recently lost 2 of their 4 sons and yet have an unwavering faith and a contagious enthusiasm for life. Sometimes you need to savor the moments when you appreciate your life despite all its imperfections.

Prison Break

I don't know if there are any Prison Break fans out there, but I am so mad about tonight's episode! Everything was fine and dandy until the very end, and grrrrrrrrr it made me mad! And not just my usual madness of having to wait until the next week for a new episode - this was just maddening, plain and simple!

Next week is the season finale, so I guess it's a good thing 24 will be on soon to take my mind off of the inevitable gigantic cliffhanger the Prison Break folk will leave us with. Ah yes, TV. Whatever would I do with my evenings without it ...

Happy Thoughts

I love that we turned our heat on for the first time this season just a few days ago.

I love that gas at the gas station near our house is only $2.19/gallon. That's insanely cheap compared to the last year of fill-ups for us!

I'm excited that I get to see my brother over the Chinese New Year, and I can't wait to see his face when he sees his adorable neice!

I love that I can wear jeans to work.

I'm so glad that I'm keeping busy at work, because it makes the days fly by.

I love that I get to see the cutest baby in the world at least once a week. Just look, you can't deny it:

My Job

It's sad when your own family has no idea what you do at your job. My sister, who I'm very close with, once told someone who asked what I do that I'm in human resources at an insurance agency. Can't really blame her. As she says, I'm the "Chandler" of our circle of friends -- nobody really quite knows what I do.

Well, the reason it's so hard to explain is that it would take longer than a polite 1- or 2-minute response to answer the question, and really I don't think anyone wants to wait that long -- my job is not that interesting. Besides that, everyone has to sign a confidentiality agreement at my company, so I don't know exactly how much I can say. But in a nutshell, for those of you wanting that 2 minute summary, my company provides several services to hospitals and research companies, including keeping track of their inventory and, in a VERY loose sense, acting as an insurance company for when their research equipment "gets sick," as everyone knows that manufacturer's service contracts are a ripoff. My part in this "managed maintenance" process is maintaining the inventory lists (data entry) for my set of accounts, invoicing and balancing our clients' accounts, distributing sales literature as requested by sales, and producing various financial reports for our clients.

Phew. Still with me? Does anyone feel they know me better? Didn't think so. But that's about all you're gonna get :) Sorry for those who've asked in the past and all I've told them is that I do "office work" ... I'll probably be using that line again in the future ...

I Wish

I wish I was more disciplined when it comes to exercising, eating right and writing.

I wish I was more outgoing and less uptight about ... everything.

I wish my dad was alive again.

I wish my grandpa was a Christian.

I wish the media would stop assuming and promoting that it's no big deal to have sex on a first date. Or second ...

I wish politics could be less about bashing other people and more about figuring out how to make things better.

I wish I understood the inner workings of computers more so I didn't have to call up MIS everytime I had a problem.

I wish I knew what ministry I was ideally suited for.

I wish I didn't have to worry about my future kids listening to a regular ol' radio station and hearing obscenities from the DJ's and songs alike.

When I was a kid, it was a common question to ponder "if you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?" Of course, being the genius that I was I wished for a number of more wishes ... but then I'd fairly predictably wish for a million dollars, world peace, and an end to poverty, or something like that. Well, there's certainly nothing wrong with those wishes, but the more you live, the more you have to wish for I guess ... harder to narrow it down to only three. Guess it's a good thing I won't be coming across a genie anytime soon.