Hello, all. - 09/21/22 09:17 AM
It's been a while.
We had a fire almost a year ago. Nobody was hurt, thank God. We did have some serious damage to our house. The back third was pretty much destroyed, and the middle third suffered differing degrees of damage. It still looked good from the street, however. "Never mix toddlers, electricity and propane" is my new motto.
It took almost two months to get cleaned up and started on repairs. Then about three months before it was safe for everybody to move back in. We're still working on some of the cosmetic stuff. Lost quite a bit to smoke and water damage indoors. And while we were gone, somebody came in and helped themselves to all the appliances--pretty much everything that plugged into a wall. It's been a chore getting things put back together, especially in the beginning with lock-downs, etc.
We had to split the family in the meantime. The inlaws went to stay with my brother-in-law. My wife and the little one stayed with a series of her friends from work. My little girl and I stayed more nearby with a British couple we've been friends with for several years.
We've always been close, but she really came into her own as a person while we were camping out in borrowed comfort. I don't mean to talk bad about my wife on a public forum, but I've come to realize that there is no way at all that I am the father of this child. She is far too level-headed, compassionate, considerate, and patient to have sprung from my loins. It's not at all difficult to forgive her mother's obvious dalliance when it has produced such a lovely human being.
My little boy, on the other hand, is surely mine. He came out of the womb with a look of disappointment as if thinking, "Is this all there is?" and that's all that ever greeted me until this happened. A few weeks without seeing his old man seemed to have turned his attitude around and I got the biggest grin and hug he'd ever given anybody the first time we met after the incident. And to think, he is still happy to see me! I know, right?
The feeling is mutual.
It's been hard, but in a way I think it's just what we needed as a family. Kinda puts the important stuff at the center again.
We're slowly putting things back together as we can afford them now that the stores have re-opened. Refrigerators, air conditioners, and such have priority over my studio, of course. Even TV's are more important. I did manage to get a new computer thanks to work, but am still waiting on decent speakers so I don't have sound.
Anyway, I have missed coming around to listen and show off and read forum posts. I hope everybody is well and has been happy. I've seen 2022 BIAB fulfilled a lot of user requests. I'm looking forward to getting 2023 later this year.
Take a good care.
We had a fire almost a year ago. Nobody was hurt, thank God. We did have some serious damage to our house. The back third was pretty much destroyed, and the middle third suffered differing degrees of damage. It still looked good from the street, however. "Never mix toddlers, electricity and propane" is my new motto.
It took almost two months to get cleaned up and started on repairs. Then about three months before it was safe for everybody to move back in. We're still working on some of the cosmetic stuff. Lost quite a bit to smoke and water damage indoors. And while we were gone, somebody came in and helped themselves to all the appliances--pretty much everything that plugged into a wall. It's been a chore getting things put back together, especially in the beginning with lock-downs, etc.
We had to split the family in the meantime. The inlaws went to stay with my brother-in-law. My wife and the little one stayed with a series of her friends from work. My little girl and I stayed more nearby with a British couple we've been friends with for several years.
We've always been close, but she really came into her own as a person while we were camping out in borrowed comfort. I don't mean to talk bad about my wife on a public forum, but I've come to realize that there is no way at all that I am the father of this child. She is far too level-headed, compassionate, considerate, and patient to have sprung from my loins. It's not at all difficult to forgive her mother's obvious dalliance when it has produced such a lovely human being.
My little boy, on the other hand, is surely mine. He came out of the womb with a look of disappointment as if thinking, "Is this all there is?" and that's all that ever greeted me until this happened. A few weeks without seeing his old man seemed to have turned his attitude around and I got the biggest grin and hug he'd ever given anybody the first time we met after the incident. And to think, he is still happy to see me! I know, right?
The feeling is mutual.
It's been hard, but in a way I think it's just what we needed as a family. Kinda puts the important stuff at the center again.
We're slowly putting things back together as we can afford them now that the stores have re-opened. Refrigerators, air conditioners, and such have priority over my studio, of course. Even TV's are more important. I did manage to get a new computer thanks to work, but am still waiting on decent speakers so I don't have sound.
Anyway, I have missed coming around to listen and show off and read forum posts. I hope everybody is well and has been happy. I've seen 2022 BIAB fulfilled a lot of user requests. I'm looking forward to getting 2023 later this year.
Take a good care.