Works in Progress . . .

Cue the Benny Hill music . . . . another weekend arrived with yet another Friday night trip to Home Depot. I would save all the frustration caused by the crappy service (employees who are no help whatsoever) if I weren't such a cheapskate and instead shopped at a non-chain, non-mega home improvement store. But then again, who else is going to be open until 10:00pm on Friday night? Thankfully, I do see a light at the end of the tunnel on the deck project. Again, I remind myself not to do these home projects myself, but I always forget how much they take out of me and start another project anyway (I hear that this is how the second pregnancy happens too).

The deck has really taken a toll on my bum right knee. It has been bothering me for years really and, being in managed care I never really had a proper diagnosis until recently when my HMO sent me over to a local hospital they contract with when they are booked up on appointments. The referral hospital happens to have an excellent Orthopedics team and they immediately diagnosed me with a Meniscus cartilage tear. They recommended surgery that would require three weeks of recovery (and no driving for a week). That was a few months ago. Since I drive Lukas to and from day care, and have been busy getting the house in order for his 1st birthday party, I have put it off.

I finally decided, with some helpful prodding from Mrs. LIAYF, that there would never be a good time to get this done. Plus trying to do all the fun things I want to do with Luke on a bad knee which will never heal itself, was not something I was willing to accept. Lukas is walking, and getting more and more mobile every day. So, I finally scheduled the surgery. I will deal with the inconvenience for a few weeks to not have it bother me as Luke gets faster and faster on his feet.

Lukas is becoming less like a baby and more like a little boy every day. For instance, he has added a couple of more words to his repertoire. He is now saying "nigh-nigh" at bedtime, "ma-ma" (finally, to the relief of Mrs. LIAYF), and just this afternoon he started saying "ah-ba" whenever our feline freeloading cat Albert walks by (which is rarely since the cat mostly lays around the house all day and does nothing). Luke seems to really be expressing himself quite well recently and I can anticipate he will be holding very detailed conversations with us in the near future.

Finally, instead of just pulling his books off the bookshelves and stacking them in a messy pile, Lukas has started to select one and for us to read. He grabs the book, walks or crawls over to one of his parental units, and says "da-do" (translation: "please read me this fine piece of literature so that I may someday grow up to be a Pulitzer prize winning author and be able to support my wonderful parents in the princely manner you both deserve"). He then hands one of us the said book and actually climbs up into a lap for some good reading time! Amazing!

With our little boy growing up so quickly, I'd better get my bum knee fixed soon! My surgery is on July 7th - wish me a speedy recovery.

Amatuer Hour

If early indicators are any sign of future success then Lukas may, in time make a decent golfer. It is true that yours truly never amounted to anything but a terrible hacker on the links. I do know, however, that the among the major keys to success in golf, as in any game requiring mental aptitude and muscle memory skills, is Practice with a capital P.

Practice, practice, practice. No, Luke is not yet swinging a 9-iron around the house, or eyeballing the cut of our lawns grass to size up the roll on a putt. But, he is showing that when there is a task at hand he will go the extra mile, even when his body is spent, to perfect that task. I can only look back, shake my head, and wonder what amazing accomplishments (other than landing my sweet wife and a having a part in creating Luke) I could have accomplished if I had that sort of drive, patience, and determination into adulthood.

Here is a short clip of Lukas practicing his walking. He is doing great and would have most likely kept going if someone (ok, it was me) had not had the power cord in his way. I'm thinking that perhaps I can fix that cord to count the number of times he drives over it with his fire truck. I might have to hurry though, since he may not need it to walk with in the very near future.

Especially with the amount of practice he is putting in.