lifelong friends...

erin and i got to spend the some time with my closest friends and their wives this past weekend.  i forget sometimes how lucky i am to have truly lifelong friends; the kind that know everything about you and would do anything for you.  i don't think enough people have lifelong friends.

i wish we had the ability to all be together more often but with all of us in our own parts of the world, that's just not realistic.  and that's ok, because i know that the distance and time apart doesn't impact our friendships, it just makes the time we get more engaging.

anyway...  thanks to mike and kelly for making the drive and thanks to brook and clare for opening their home!

crib construction complete! (nearly)

so, tonight was a huge milestone for crib construction.  i finally got a chance to see what it will look like as a completed project.  just thought i'd share it...

there is still another few nights worth of work before i can say construction is actually complete.  but, man this is a huge relief tonight to see it actually fit together!

grateful

i'm feeling very grateful lately.

with the forthcoming birth of my first son, i'm nowhere as nervous as i thought i'd be.  sure, i have my 'holy crap, i'm gonna be a dad' kind of moments, but they're pretty few and far between.  my feelings are really heading in a different direction than i would have expected; toward gratefulness.  as i think about the state of the world and the state of affairs in jackson, michigan, i keep coming back to this same feeling. i'm grateful.  grateful for good health (can't think of the last time that i made it to january without some kind of illness), grateful for a healthy wife and baby (finally!!!) and grateful for the freedoms in my life.

running a small business isn't easy, especially right now.  but today i'm most grateful for the freedoms that this business gives me.  so far, i've been able to be with erin for every one of her prenatal appointments.  that's huge.