the way things ought to be

Okay, it’s been another one of those months. It’s August 31, and I can’t believe I haven’t written even once in the past 31 days. It’s already Labor Day weekend! The summer is ending, the weather is turning, kids are trudging back to school, my arthritis is kicking in, the end is nearing. . . well, you get the point.

This past month has been a whopper. The Mife and I took a much needed vacation a couple weeks ago on a houseboat (down by the river) with our dearest friends (and sans our big/little boy), then the very next weekend we flew out west to visit with our long lost relations in Tulsa. And somewhere in between there we discovered something that I cannot tell you about at the moment for fear of decapitation by my wife (ssshh – don’t tell anyone Anna’s pregnant). Add to that my rapidly busying work schedule, and you have a formula for creating precious little free-time, as if we had all that much of it just laying around anyway.

I am so full of excuses. I should just shut up (but, of course, I won’t).

Anyhoo, the trip to Tulsa was wicked-good. My brother and his wife, Lisa, and my two sprouting nephews, Brian and Mathew, took us in for a nice bit of relaxation and greasy food. We peed in their pool, watched their arena football team win the division championship, napped on their couch, beat their butts in Madden 2006, and played on their drums. Marty and I spent a good part of one of those evenings soaked in tequila and limejuice, and Anna and Lisa got their toes did.


The best fun, though, was had by Benjamin and his cousins. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him smile so big and so frequently with kids not named Kayleigh in all his wee little lifetime. They just had an absolute blast together, which makes me smile all the more considering the Tulsa boys are so much older than Ben and they’ve rarely been able to see each other. It was a very nice thing to watch Ben interact with those two. And it’s fun to imagine them growing up together, even from a distance. The one thing they will always share - no matter how far apart they are, and no matter how much more awesome Ben’s dad is and always will be - is their name. They’re all Bonicks, and I’m proud of that. Even if they cheat at Playstation Baseball (yeah, you Brian).

Okay, everyone wish me luck. I’m going to go take my whipping from Anna now. If you don’t hear from me in the next 31 days, come look for me in the laundry room on the shelf next to the litter box. I’ll be the one wearing my intestines for a necktie and lacking a pulse. Pregnant women can be sooooo moody.