Hello all,
PH here.
So Carol left for the other side of the country yesterday to show off Babby to all and sundry, while I was relegated to stay home and keep making this “money” thing they continue to tell me is important. I figured that I, like everyone else, would have to go without reading her blog for a few weeks, which is a shame, since it’s one of my best insights into what she’s thinking about – what with me being away at work for most of the day, and when I get home, us not being able to hear each other over the wails of rage that emanate from all-wrathful Babby most every night. Add that to the fact that she probably wouldn’t want to log in to her blag on her mother’s computer, and that makes for a perfect recipe for no posts.
But then, as I was coming back home for my first night of re-bachelorhood in many a year, a thought occurred to me:
Carol hadn’t logged off her blag on her computer.
Heh.
Mweheheh.
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
[insert maniacal laughter over the next five minutes]
So. Now I have the keys. And the first stop will be the passenger’s choice! What would you like to learn about Carol? Any niggling little questions you want to know about her? Likes and dislikes? Further elaboration on previous posts from a different perspective? Embarrassing childhood stories or idiosyncrasies? Have your say in the comments!
If By Yes 
I don’t blog anymore because my hubby read it every day, and it was killing conversation in the evenings. “What’s new, honey?” he’d say when he got home from work, and I’d start to tell a story, and he’d be all “I read that on your blog”.
Cue crickets chirping.
Anyway, all I want to know at this exact moment is how was the flight? I saw the picture of the airport arrival on Facebook and she didn’t look *too* stressed…
I do admit to doing the same thing, but I try at least to not shut the conversation down – I more try to see if there’s more to the story than was posted online. Of course, this assumes that I’m not miserable from work or Carol’s not miserable from babby-rage, but that’s the general goal.
The plane flight was broken into two bits – Vancouver to Ottawa and then Ottawa to Halifax. First part was apparently not very good, while the second part went just swimmingly (probably why she looked slightly un-stressed at the other end).
LOL! Tell us how you met.
I think she’s told this story already somewhere in the archives, but I’ll put my own spin on it –
To be honest, we must have met before this, because we were in the same play. The play was Shakespeare’s King Henry IV, with Carol being an assistant stage manager, and yours truly playing the eponymous role. So we were obviously introduced at some point. But our first actual interaction was just before a full run of the show. I needed to warm up, but doing warm-ups with other members of the cast has never been a good option for me – it gets me grumpy instead of focused. So what to do?
Well, being a trained Shakespearian actor, the logical choice of warm-up was to sing Lorne Elliott’s The Smallest Thing Known to Man by myself at a loud volume, of course.
Now, this is not a very well known song, I know this. Which explains my shock and surprise when I hear a voice joining in for the second line. I look around to find out who’s singing…
and thus began our connection.
She sang to the end of the song with me, messing up the same part I did (for those who listened to the link above, it’s the “interesting biologic metabolic fundamental” bit), and blushing furiously when she had to sing the words “male private areas”. Astonishingly cute, really.
Of course, the best love story would have us falling furiously in love then and there and getting married shortly afterwards. Sadly, this was not the case – not least of all because we were both in other relationships at the time. We didn’t even really talk again until the next school year. But it planted the seed for our whole future, and I still relish the memory to this day.
Hee hee.
What makes Carol unique?
What was it about her that told you she was the one for you?
What are the strangest Carol-facts you can think of off the top of your head?
Unique? Many things (or, more accurately, a combination of things). Top of the list – her creativity and imagination are gifts that I can only dream of (I am sorely lacking in those departments). I can think of almost no one our age who has managed to hold on to that much creativity and essence of childhood, while still being a responsible person. Her natural skill as a mother will combine so well with these facets of her life that I can’t wait to see what she’ll be like when Babby is of talking age and able to explore that part of himself as well.
How’d I know she was the one for me? Short answer – same sense of humour, same general politics, a shared love for fiction (including youth fiction), a bundle of smarts (in a complementary style to mine), and a great derrière. 🙂
Strangest facts? I’ll pull a random one out – she refuses to drink the last bit from a pop bottle (or soda bottle for those reading from America). Which means that if I’m not in a pop-drinking mood, there are half a dozen two-litre bottles sitting in the fridge, each with dregs at the bottom. Which I then have to make into some horrible type of swamp mix and drink really quickly.
Ha ha that’s awesome!
What’s the thing that surprised you most about fatherhood? What’s the thing that surprised you most about Carol as a mother?
Fatherhood was just about what I expected. Granted, I didn’t really expect a colicky baby, since the stories about me were of a calm, peaceful baby, and since it was a boy, I assumed he would take more after me than Carol. But Babby has gotten the colic in spades. And when you have a colicky baby, the energy drain on you is immense – more than can be understood before you’re in the situation. And I’m away at work most days – I can only imagine how Carol deals with it. So there’s that.
I don’t think much has surprised me about Carol as a mother. I knew she’d be amazing, and she has been. I guess the only surprising thing was that we were expecting some form of post-partum depression to kick in – she was a very likely candidate for it – but so far, touch wood, nothing at all has materialized. Of course there have been frustrating days and hair-wrenching experiences, but her mood appears to have held through it all (probably better than mine at points).
Having a good support system is often enough to stave off the depression. You must be doing something right PH 🙂
Hee, hee, hee! I appreciate your devious nature. 🙂
My most pressing question was about the flight, so that one’s been answered already…
How about two personal questions regarding your future (feel free not to answer if these are too personal): 1) Do you think you and Carol will have more children, or has the colic scared you away forever?, and 2) Will the Perfect Family stay in BC indefinitely, or is there plans to move back to the Maritimes someday?
1) Most likely yes. No time soon, though. First child needs to be much more self-sufficient and much less Screamy McScreamScream before that’s an option.
2) Indefinitely? Only in the sense that there’s no established timeframe to come back. We’re pretty sure that a) we’ll be out here for at least the next four-five years; b) we’ll be retired back in the Maritimes. All bets on the in-between bits are off.
Although I know the answer to question #1 Kerry has asked above, I too would like to know the answer to number 2. Do tell…And if it’s at least not to the Maritimes, at least to say, somewhere like Ontario….
See above for more info about moving plans. 😀
Bwahahaha! Umm… I have no questions, but these comments are GOLDEN. =)
Come on, people – this is your golden opportunity! No more questions of a highly embarrassing and/or personal nature?
This is excellent, PH. I am commenting only so you know that I have been lurking and enjoying your guest blogging so much so far.