It occurred to me that my life has really changed a lot since 1998. In 1998, I was only Megan's father and Alex had not been born. I was working @ a company that had ~5 employees in the Cedar Rapids branch. The company was having $ problems and we'd sit around the lunch table and hope that the mail person would bring us a check from a client so that payroll could be met. The president of the company used his personal funds to help make payroll during that epoch.
As it turns out, I became very interested in finding a new position that would hold more security for my family. That led me to my current employer, where I have stayed since 10/1/98. Twenty-two days after starting, Alex was born.
Another aspect that is different is that I used to be hopelessly devoted to watching what is now the WWE. It was called WWF then and there was a competitor, WCW, that I watched as well. I attended more than one live wrestling show at what is now the US Cellular Center. I saw at least one Nitro, one Thunder, the WCW PPV "Souled Out," and at least 2 different WWE shows. At one of the shows, Kane and the Undertaker were a tag team. At another, John Cena made the crowd go nuts.
I caught a glimpse of WWE Raw tonight and, frankly, I wasn't impressed. At the PPV last night, Chris Jericho made Shawn Michaels bleed and then proceeded to kick the holy crap out of him. There was blood all over. It was sickening. The product has changed so much since the days I watched it. I refuse to let Alex watch it, though he saw a little bit tonight. It is still a "Daddy Show" in my eyes but I am getting old enough to question, "Why do I even care about it anymore?" The product is not as appealing to me as it used to be.
Part of it is life. I spent time with Alex tonight, demanding that he practice his piano for his lesson Wed, then doing 20 minutes of flash cards, then reading some of a book called "Children in Hiding." Finally, I tucked him in his bed, told him I loved him, and talked about how he will spend every day, for the rest of his life, reading and doing math. I declared that I was not doing reading and flash cards to be mean to him, that I thought the more he practiced them, the easier they would become. I pointed out that "tomorrow" used to be a hard spelling word for him and now, he rattles it off. He memorized it and has it entrenched in his brain. I want 5 x 9, 6 x8, 25/5, 21-9, and 8 + 9 to all be in his brain to the degree that he doesn't have to think about it - he just knows the answer.
If I go back another 10 years, I was a newly graduated senior in high school, about to enter Mount Mercy College. I think, by this time, I was no longer dating the girl I was hung up on all through high school, but that doesn't mean I didn't have strong feelings for her. I remember taking her out to lunch to Carlos O'Kelly's. On the way home, my car died. We pushed it to a median and a nice stranger took us to the Twin Pines golf course. I called a tow truck - I didn't know what else to do - and she said to me, "I don't know how you'll get me home so I'm going to find a bus." At the time, I hated golf and being stuck in the clubhouse was hell. I hated it and I hated the fact that this girl I liked left me - abandoned me - when I was in hell. So much for her, eh?
Rather, I went to college, thinking about her all the time and kind of hung up on her. In fact, when I first met Karen, I remember talking about this girl all the time. Then, Karen and I got serious and I didn't think about her. Then Karen broke up with me, shattering me. On New Year's Eve 1988, I met up with her at a party and she gave me a ride home. We tried dating again - I brought her up to a Mount Mercy College dance and I remember introducing her to Karen. I didn't do that to be mean, though it may have seemed that way at the time. That fizzled out and on 2/14/89, Karen and I started talking about getting back together again. We talked a lot during those days, and our conversations would last and last.
Fast forward 20 years and we're coming up on our 15 year wedding anniversary, we have two wonderful kids, and the rest of our lives to share with each other. The point, I guess, is that life changes when you consider the changes in life in 10 year increments.
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