Thankful

"The Holidays." When we say "Happy Holidays," it usually seems that we're referring to Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/New Years. I think Thanksgiving gets overlooked a little bit. Sure it's got a parade and a few football games, but nobody really stops to be thankful. Being that I've had a particularly rewarding year, I wanted to tell everyone what I'm thankful for this year.


First off I'm thankful for the health of my wife and newborn son. Both came through the birthing process fantastically. We went to a bunch of birthing classes, read a few books, but none of them told me how to react when my son comes out and he's not breathing and the doctor has to call in a second doctor to help stitch my wife up and stop her from bleeding. For a few minutes I literally stood halfway between both of them and didn't know what to do. It was probably the scariest moment of my life....realizing that this is a very delicate process and there's a real chance that I could potentially lose one or both of them. So yes, I'm extremely thankful that they're both healthy and will both outlive me by many, many years.

I'm thankful that OSU has won two consecutive national championships in baseball, meaning there's a much better chance my son will be into baseball and not skateboarding. I'm thankful that I've only missed two home OSU football games since 2000, and they were both against crappy teams that we dominated. I'm thankful that I've been to every Civil War game (in Eugene or Corvallis) since 1998. I'm thankful that the Blazers finally traded Zach Randolph so I can root for them again. I"m thankful that soccer is becoming a more popular sport in this country. Speaking of which, I'm thankful that I'm an american.

I'm thankful for my friends, who despite the fact that we are all at different stages of our lives, still find a way to all get together for at least one football game a year, and of course at Cinco De Mayo, despite the fact that none of us are even remotely close to Mexican.

I'm thankful for family, all of whom helped out by either spending time with us in the past few weeks, or cooking dinner for us or for their advice, friendship and support. I'm also thankful that I was able to be there to support my dad and my aunts through my grandpa's passing.

I'm extremely thankful that my grandpa got to meet Jonah, even if it was only for a few hours. I hope my grandpa understood the impact he had on my life and that it wasn't just a coincidence that my son's middle name is Courtney.

I'm thankful for my job. I bitch and complain about it, but I fully realize that it could be a lot worse. Working here I'm able to take classes for free, I have health insurance, great benefits and a ton of paid time off.

That being said, I'm even more thankful for my wife's job!

I'm especially thankful for Rachel. For the way she makes me think twice before ordering a burger, yet doesn't nag me if I order it anyways. For the way she tries so hard to keep Jonah quiet at night when she's feeding him so that I don't wake up because she doesn't want me to be tired for work in the morning. For not complaining when we watch sports for 12 straight hours on Saturdays during football season. For putting up with my friends calling at all hours of the night (cough cough Dave cough cough). For not being jealous when I go to movies that she doesn't want to see with a friend who just happens to be a female.

And of course, I'm thankful to everyone that reads this. The only reason I keep a blog is because you all tell me that you enjoy reading it. I'm thankful to MySpace for allowing me to keep in touch with people I might've never talked to or seen again.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Jonah meets his great grandpa

So Friday afternoon I got a call from my dad. My grandpa's health was failing, and the doctors didn't think he had much time left. One thing that was pretty important to me was that Jonah meet his great grandpa, since he's named after him. (Courtney is Jonah's middle name, my grandpa's first name.) So we packed up the car and Jonah went on his first overnight visit. Even though my grandpa couldn't talk anymore, we could tell he still knew what was going on, and I was able to set Jonah in bed with him so he could sit with him for a little while. I also got a picture of my grandpa, my dad, me and my son, which is something I will be sure to show Jonah as soon as he's old enough to understand. My grandpa died Saturday morning. The whole family was able to make it in time to say goodbye, which was nice. He died peacefully at home surrounded by family, which I'm sure is what he wanted. He was 95.


I'm just going to tell one quick story about the man, which makes me smile everytime I think about it.

Back when Grant and I were younger, probably about 16 and 13 respectively, we were spending a lazy weekend out at Grandpa's. We were playing video games and Grant got the great idea to call one of those 1-800 sex lines. He was doing his best sexy voice and repeating everything the recording was telling him. About the time he got to "for just $3.99 per minute, you can have a hot one-on-one conversation with some of the dirtiest girls around," his face got white and he hung up. My Grandpa had picked up the phone downstairs to make a call. All of a sudden I hear my grandpa screaming bloody murder and charging up the stairs. "You damn kids, what the hell are you doing?" Grant panics and throws the phone at me. Grandpa points his finger at me and says "you! What do you think you're doing?" I'm trying not to laugh and explain that it was Grant, but he's not listening, only yelling. "Wait til your dad gets home! Bunch of perverts running up my phone bill!" Grant tries to explain that it was toll free, but that only made it worse. My dad got home and Grandpa went off on him for raising a couple of perverts, to which dad came upstairs laughing and saying "what were you guys thinking?" I think this one of only three times he yelled at us.

We're going to miss you grandpa. Sorry we ran up your phone bill.

Tales from the other side of fatherhood

Last night was no joke one of the most stressful nights of my life. At the hospital, Jonah was nice and quiet most of the night and slept for four hour stretches. First night home though was a nightmare. Beware this, future parents. No matter what we did, he was wailing. I slept for half hour stints a couple times, but after 4 am he would not go back to sleep. I handed him off to Rachel and considered taking a walk outside at 5 am in the foggy blackness just to get out of the house and clear my head. Of course this was a terrible idea, but you think crazy thoughts when you can't sleep.


They told us in parenting classes that it was going to be tough, but I always thought "man I've operated on little sleep before, how tough can it be?" Let me tell you, it's harder than just about anything you've ever done. Being a parent isn't all birthday parties and clothes with little duckies on them. It's a lot of crying, diaper changing, holding your little bundle of joy and rocking him til you feel like your arms are going to fall off. It's work. I thought it was going to be great taking time off from work, but really you almost have to just to get your body switched over to baby time. 10 years from now, I'll look back fondly on almost everything about having a baby........except this first week. Yikes.