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Basically, over the last few days we’ve been working ’round the clock in preparation to move into our house. Painting, kitchen work (thanks Leesie ), and the like – it’s been really taking a toll. The negative part of working for at this small office is that I’m in charge for everything at least 50% of the time. Lately it’s been a lot more – answering the phone, bookkeeping/accounting, deliveries, as well as face time with distributors and the like – I can’t really take a day off. All the work has to happen after work.

I will say that at Comcast I was as much a slacker as the company would allow. I used up all my flex in the time between october and january, and used up all my vacation time by the end of April. Here, I could *technically* leave and do outside work things, but given how much work I put into this (without conferring with anyone), the possibility of everything falling apart if I leave for more than two days is pretty significant.

Yes, I’m working on fixing that.

The above is all self aggrandizing, I know, but the point is, the 15-16 hour days were taking a toll. But worse still, if I take a day off, I feel even worse, because that’s when all the muscles start hurting. Today, I feel worse than I did yesterday (I took a day off under the guise of health).

The idea was, if I run myself ragged, I’ll catch whatever Lisa has. Probably true. But on the flip side, it’s harder to get up and start working again after sitting down. It’s like running for a mile and sitting down to take a break. Trying to run after that is brutal.

I feel old. I remember my teenager years where Jaya and I would have a brutal dance schedule (5-6 hours) and then go play basketball later that day (or biking, or what have you), and think nothing of it. Ah, those were the days.

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Alright, being sore isn’t why I am old.

I talked to my uncle today, from New York. His son (my cousin, of course) is getting married. He’s a year and some months older than me.

In the course of the conversation, he congratulated me on the house and the baby. I asked him about his son – apparently his future wife lives in N.C., and my uncle lives in Queens. It’s a 12 hour drive. Also, the wedding is going to be in N.C. as well.

What struck me was what followed: “You know these kids, you have to do what they want. You have to follow the kids’ wishes on when, where and how to do the marriage, you know.”

It used to be, ‘you kids’. Not ‘these kids’.

I guess, this time last year, Lisa and I were the newlyweds and we all of a sudden were ‘acting’ like adults. It’s playtime! Let’s make believe we’re adults! Let’s play house! And sometimes we’d sit in Barnes and Noble and giggle at some inside joke.

Now, it slowly feels like it’s no longer playing make believe. It feels strange.

Before, I used to think dating for five years was serious. Then we got engaged, and realized dating isn’t perceived as serious as being engaged. But then we got married, and then realized being engaged isn’t anywhere close to be married (in terms of outside perception), and dating is kind of a funny euphemism for having a roommate++. And now, once we announced we’re having a baby, and a house, well,…

I think the quote really speaks for itself.

When my co-worker at Comcast kept telling me months before the wedding that everything would change, I kept saying ‘we’ve been together for over five years!’. And his response? “It doesn’t matter.”

When I told him we’re having a baby, he said simply, “I know, you have that look on your face.”

I guess it now feels like some kind of elite club, where everyone seems downtrodden and worn out, but no one regrets it per se, they all asked for this. Every single one wanted exactly this. They traded weekly dates for diapers and day care, but no one has regrets. Everyone has complaints, but I kind of get it now. People are bitter only to the extent that you have to do it, but you can’t picture it any other way.

This whole coming of age thing is overrated. It doesn’t come with fanfare or beating drums. It creeps up on you, like an iceberg. If you stop for a second, you might notice it’s gotten closer, but not by much.

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We had a little scare with the baby. Well, now it’s little but last week it was huge. I won’t get into it now, but we had an opportunity to see the baby again, and my my isn’t that baby absolutely lovely? We have quite a few pictures, so keep an eye on the baby blog for some additional scans.

The house is coming along nicely, in no small part due to the diligence of Mare and Michael (thank you thank you thank you!). We should have some before and after pictures up fairly soon – I’m in love, so that for what it’s worth.

Back to my cave…

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