Cold and Slow!

Brrrr.  Winter is finally here.  It is cold outside!  Of course, this is the day the landlords arranged to have our sliding glass doors replaced.  2 days ago I was driving home with my windows open!  Couldn't have done it then, huh?  Guess not.  Has to be done however.  The doors when they were installed were put in reverse.  The screen doors are on the inside and there's a horrible draft.  In the past we bought some insulated curtains and it's helped some but not enough.  Our apartment's always cold.

In other news, I am not making much headway on the book Sara gave me to read on New Years.  I don't seem to have a lot of book time lately.  Between work, the commute, the baby, and sleep there doesn't  seem to be enough time.  Oh well, it'll either happen or it won't. 

Let's Do This!

Happy New Year!  It's 2013 and this guy is trying to turn over a new leaf.  Not a big change mind you, but maybe I could stand to be a little positive.

Cobb-Descending, the title, came about, I may have mentioned, from Sara not liking my tone of voice one time when I wasn't being very understanding.  She told me to stop being so, "Cobb-Descending."  I can be sarcastic.  I can be negative.  I definitely can condescend when I am in the mood.  Thus the blog's title.

Nowadays, I feel the need to, maybe, make an effort to be more positive.  I have good things going on in my life, love in my family, and hope for the future so maybe I should choose to focus on those things.  I think I'll give this blog a New Year's makeover.   A new look?  A new name and, hopefully, a new outlook.  Admittedly, I have not been the most active blogger in the last year or more and I can't guarantee that this will change.  I will try to make monthly, at the very least, entries to update the growth and continuing adventures of the Cobbs Cubed!  Cobb3, you might say.  From here on out is blog will be dubbed Cobbs To The Third Power!  (I think my math works.)

The pile of memories from 2012

In a completely different but not unrelated note, Sara and I have started off the New Year by starting new traditions for our  family.  This past year we have filled a jar with handwritten down notes about favorite memories, and monumental moments in our lives and placed it up on the mantle.  We started today out by reading these memories and remembering the year past.  We plan to continue this into 2013. 

We also exchanged books for the New Year.  Often we will suggest a book to each other and then, more often than not, the recommendation is ignored.  I came up with the idea of finding a book for the other to read, and promising to follow through with the task.  It was interesting to see which books we chose. 

Our New Year Books

 I offered J.R.R Tolkien's The Hobbit; not because the 1st part is in theaters now but because it is one of my favorite books.  I read in back in school, drew a mural as part of a school assignment, watch the animated movie religiously, and reread the book several times.  It is just, in my opinion a wonderful book that I think should be experienced.  Sara chose for me a book entitled: Practical Genius:  The Real Smarts You Need to Get Your Talents and Passions Working for You by Gina Amaro Rudan.  How's that for a title?  The name actually speaks for itself.  Sara hopes that I will be able to draw some creative, and positive influences from the book and incorporate my artistic side into my everyday life.  I'm game.   2013 is going to be a great year!
 

The End Is Nigh!

Now that we all realize the Mayans were full of shit, I'd like to acknowledge the end of 2012 - it's a coming folks!  In less than a week we will all be living in 2013; unless of course you die in that time! 
What a year? 
What a year?
2012 has been quite a year in the Cobb World! 
Sara and I have grown as parents.  Evie Sue has grown into a fun little spitfire of a toddler!  I became a Mate!  There have been so many monumental moments in my life this year that I could not possibly record them all!  I am excited to start 2013 with my family.  

Twas The Night Before The Night Before Christmas!

One more day until Christmas!  One more early morning and one more trip around the Baltimore Beltway!  
I'm ready for a little Xmas cheer!

HOLY SHIT!

Button Is One Year Old!  Today my daughter has been in our lives for 365 days!  That boggles my mind.  How can we have been parents for a year?  How can I have been someone's father for a whole year?   I can't even understand it.  Where did the last year go?  (I'm sorry that the title of this post is so crass but it best sums up the wonder and awe I am feeling at this moment.)

To be honest I've been working on this blog post ever since the day before Evie Sue's birthday.  I just couldn't come up with anything else to write.  Maybe it was the pressure of such a monumental day.  Maybe I've gotten rusty and just don't have the motivation to blog anymore.  I've also been overwhelmed with work and finances lately, so maybe that's contributed to my lack of posting.

Then today, the day after the birthday, I heard a song on the radio that summed it up better than I was able to do.  To borrow a page out of Sara's book, I would like to quote a song as part of this post.

In 'Love Will Do That'  Darius Rucker sings:

The second I saw you  
What was important wasn't important no more 
Love will do that 
Love will do that
Made the ole moon burn brighter, 
led to all-nighters  
Made sleeping a thing of the past 
Love will do that 
Love will do that
It changes everything  
Makes the angels sing  
Puts the past in the past
It'll drive you crazy  
Sometimes it just makes you laugh  
Yeah, love will do that

Okay, so maybe the song was meant to be a love song but every time I hear it I think about how my daughter has changed my life.   I think about how I love her much more than I ever knew I could, and I think about how my life will never be the same.  Happy Birthday, Button!}  

 *Just a fun fact, apparently this is not the 1st time I have quoted a country song on this blog and I was never a country music fan!

5 Years A Few Days Later

On the 24th Sara and I celebrated our Fifth Year Wedding Anniversary!  Five years!  Our families came together to celebrate Thanksgiving, that year, and 2 days later Sara and I were wed in a small ceremony with 50 of our closest friends and family.

So here we are today.  A family of 3 with a baby approaching 1 year, and very little money.  As much as I would've liked to take Sara out and wine and dine her to celebrate.  Unfortunately, it was not in the cards.  Instead we ordered Italian carry out and opened a bottle of wine that we purchased in San Francisco on our honeymoon.  We put the baby to sleep,  I ran out to pick up the food, and came home to snuggle on the couch with my sweetheart.  Not a bad way to spend the evening.

One of these days I'll be able to shower her with riches, and celebrate our anniversary in style.  For now we'll have to be happy just spending the evening today, and reminiscing on the time we've spent together.  Once again, not a bad way to spend an evening.

Thankfuller?

This year it was a low-key celebration down at my Dad's house.  The family ate dinner and watched the Skins' game.  I was not feeling well, and got worse as the day progressed.  Add on to that the fact that I ate entirely too much and , suddenly, I was uncomfortable, and cranky.   I think maybe Sara and I built up the holiday so much in our head, because it was the baby's 1st, that there's no way it was going to live up to expectations.  That's okay.  Evie Sue's 1st Thanksgiving and she sat at the table and enjoyed smoked turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and more.
Missed you Mom.   

3 > 1

Today we watched the niece and nephew!  We played some video games, conducted science experiments, goofed off some, visited the library and tested each others' limits.  3 children is much more work than 1.  That probably seems pretty obvious but my math skills were always kinda lacking.

Hard To Say Goodbye

Since last I wrote a Presidential Election has occurred and I have seen another of my scripts come to life in a live theatrical production.

Right now, however, I want to talk cars.  In particular family cars.  My family's cars.  Today Sara and I turned in the old CRV.  This car, originally from my Mom, has served us well since moving to Maryland.  It has almost 273,000 miles on it.  The drivers side door doesn't work, nor does that window.  The fuel gauge warning light hasn't worked for years and I can't remember the last time that the check engine light wasn't constantly flashing in the corner of my vision.  It rumbled when idling, and stalled often but it was a good car.

I drove that CRV around the Baltimore/Washington Beltway in morning and afternoon rush hour traffic for 4 years, and my Mom wrestled with the same type of commute for years before that even.  I've climbed in and out of the passenger side door since last January, maybe when the driver's door stopped opening completely.  For months before that I would unroll the back window, reach around and open the driver's door from the outside.  I have many fond & frustrating memories of the car. 

Earlier this year, when I took the promotion and was, once more given a 40+ mile commute I knew the CRV would not be the car to rely on.  Unfortunately, there was no money at the time for a permanent replacement.  We've been borrowing my Father's 2nd car now for months as we explore our options, and try to find a new car while getting rid of the old one.  Originally I was going to junk her.  I'm glad I didn't.  Carmax gave us 6 times what the junk yard was offering.  (Still not a major financial gain but better than I anticipated.)

So here we are now.  The CRV is gone. I'm driving the Kia Rio 5.  We still are in need of a 2nd car; preferably, a reliable, and affordable one.  I'm commuting up to Towson 5 times a week.  Dad has been unbelievably patient and giving with the loan of his 2nd car, and the Holidays are upon us.  It's hard to believe it's that time of year again. 

Here is the CRV right before we drove it to the dealer.  In the background you can see Sara waiting for me to say goodbye to the old car.

In other news, Obama won the election.  The system is still flawed.  My One Act Play: Brock was produced, and directed by a friend, as part of an evening of One Act Plays at a local high school.  I saw it opening night and was happy to see another script brought to life.  The evening I saw the show had some technical difficulties, and pacing issues but I'm confident that everything worked itself out in the later performances.  I noticed some script issues, as well, and plan to revise some.  Oh, and the baby is almost 11 months!  Time flies...

Nightlights Vs Glow Sticks

Last night Super Storm Sandy or Hurricane Sandy or Tropical Storm Sandy, depending on what news broadcast you watched pounded into the East Coast!  Maryland was prepared for the worst and, luckily, things turned out much better than we hoped.  Yesterday was windy, and rainy but the majority of the damage and devastation was further to the north in New Jersey and New York. 

Before the storm we extended an offer to my father to come and stay with us through the storm; he lives right on the Chesapeake Bay and is prone to flooding while we live on higher ground in a wooded neighborhood that suffers from power outage epidemics.  Who has it worse?  Anyway, he came to ride out the storm here in Annapolis and we kept power until the very moment we sat down to eat a hot dinner.  10 minutes earlier and we would've been eating some seriously al dente spaghetti.  

We broke out the lanterns, candles, and a few glow sticks and spent a powerless night listening to the storm rage outside the apartment, huddled around the  radio broadcasts from a hand-cranked radio.  Sitting in the dark there isn't much to do but chat, drink and wait for a tree to come crashing down through the roof.  This wasn't the first Hurricane we rode out in our apartment but this was the first as parents and we were more concerned for all of our safety than I remember us being before.  At Sara's suggestion I spent the night sleeping in a  recliner in the baby's room to be close to her in case something unexpected happened.  It would help both of us sleep better.

It occurred to me last night, falling asleep in Evie Sue's room, and bathed in only the soft pink light from a Dollar Store glow stick that while glow sticks can be silly, and fun nightlights are dependable and comforting.  Nothing happened during the night except the storm passing by and the temperature in our apartment dropping uncomfortably but I was there in the room early this morning as Evie Sue awoke in a room lit only with a pink glow stick instead of her butterfly nightlight.    The glow stick was a fine temporary nightlight but I was happy this afternoon when the power came back on and Evie Sue's butterfly nightlight started to shine!  It meant the storm had passed and everything was fine.