 08/05: There's so much to be thankful for in this season. About a month ago we celebrated Independence Day weekend with another good ol' barbecue party, with great food and drinks and, most importantly, a great group of friends, including some we haven't seen or kept in touch with for several years. Tiffany and I also celebrated our wedding anniversary with an incredible steak dinner. Since we rarely go out to eat these days, every opportunity to do so is memorable, especially when there's a special occasion behind it. One big difference between this fancy dinner and other special occasion dinners we've enjoyed, though, is that we decided to abstain from any alcoholic beverages. More on that later.   Last weekend, we celebrated Tiffany's (early) birthday with a barbecue at her parent's house. Yes, we love barbecues - it's fun, it's tasty, and it's a great way to bring people together. Plus, these days it's always safer to opt for outdoor gatherings. Both sides of the family came together - something I always feel so blessed to see. Also, I had my first alcoholic drink with Carol in over a decade. For various reasons we pretty much never had occasions to drink together, until now. And yes, I know I just said that Tiffany and I decided not to drink even for our wedding anniversary. Now let me explain...   There was another important occasion to celebrate at last weekend's party, which we arranged for both sides of the family to come together and be part of. Thanks to a special cake from Carol, we were greeted with the news that we'll soon be having a baby girl. I've been asked several times by people who knew we were expecting a second child whether I wanted a girl or a boy. My answer has always been that I don't let myself be biased by having a preference; whatever God gives us is a gift to be embraced, and I don't want our child to grow up and find out he or she is not what we had wanted. But I have to say that we're certainly thankful to have a healthy balance of one boy and one girl. So that explains why I chose not to drink at our anniversary dinner, but am still able to do so when there are others to drink with. (Don't worry, I promised Tiffany I'll make her plenty of yummy drinks once the pregnancy is over!) To be honest, I did treat myself to an occasional drink at home, especially when there were leftover ingredients from the Independence Day barbecue party that needed to be used up. Being the type of person that likes to have everything planned out well ahead of time, it's been quite stressful trying to figure out how to make necessary accomodations for a second child. We had technically received the gender information nearly a month ago, and my practical side desperately wanted to just open the envelope right away so I could start making arrangements. But I won't deny the surprise was worth the long wait. Now it's time to look forward and start preparing for and transitioning into this new chapter of our family. In a way, welcoming another baby seems easier because we've already gone through it once. But it's also harder because we'll have another kid to care for during this time. Amias is certainly aware already that there is change taking place. I don't know to what extent he understands what's going on, but we're definitely making an effort to help guide him through everything so we can embrace the new baby together as a family when the time comes.  07/17: Finally, after an absence of over two months, I'm back in the office as of this past week with a new twice-a-week in-office schedule while continuing to work from home on other days. Yes, I love having all the extra free time at home and not having to wake up at five-something in the morning. But I gotta admit it's good to be back. After experiencing working from home thanks to the pandemic, I've always felt like my ideal work schedule would be to go in the office about one to two days a week and work from home on the other days. It still leaves me with plenty of time to enjoy at home, but also allows me to see my co-workers and enjoy utilizing my giant office monitor to complete tasks that are much more difficult to do on a tiny laptop. Yes, the train rides are quite long and far from comfortable. But I definitely missed hopping on my scooter and enjoying the fresh air and wind in my face. And if all goes as planned, the downtown Metro construction should be finished by late fall, making the train rides even more convenient. So far, it looks like this is how things are going to be in the foreseeable future. It's certainly taking some effort to get used to, especially after being out for so long. But I'm definitely thankful and look forward to making the most of this new schedule. |