A brief collection of thoughts...

I was back at work today... which was mostly a good thing. I had a week to spend with my baby (and also with my in-laws). It has been a fun and challenging time... mostly because there are two more adults dwelling in my house. To quote First Contact: "It added an unstable element to a critical situation." I shan't swim further into these waters.

Life with an infant is a challenge... and is totally awesome. I highly recommend it. I grabbed her and headed upstairs last night as I began preparing for my return to work. Emotions began to surge and I was on the verge of tears while I was telling her that I had to go... then she began crying (LOUDLY) and demanding that we feed her. The strength of her emotion completely sapped mine and I was able to hold back the flood. I don't know that I fully realized how intensely I love her until I had to leave her today. Nearly every thought (or at least every other thought) was of how I could get back to seeing my baby.

Today in conversation I used this phrase: "That's easy to say when you aren't a parent." Holy Shiite Muslim. Not only have I become a parent but now I'm using exclusionary language. As if to say that I have now ascended to some higher plane where I've gained wisdom available only to those who have labored up this holy hill. I'm so full of crap.

Behold some friends:

The Dureks and the Taylors stopped by to meet Aurora. I was blessed to see Kennedy once again as well. Along with these pictures allow me to deliver an apology to many of you who I have not yet connected with now that Aurora is present. The biggest struggle that we have had in the past week is to share significant moments with our dearest friends about our greatest blessing to date. We have been EXHAUSTED as we have had constant house guests (in addition to the presence of the in-laws). If I haven't call you, CALL ME. I may sound completely incoherent but I really do want to share this with you... I'm just having a hard time making it happen.

In the middle of all this excitement, my big-new-and-improved car stereo bit the dust. It took my turn signals (yeah, you read that right) with it. Roughly 5 hours of work, standing at Best Buy, and spending an additional $30 has netted me a working car stereo and the return of the turn signals. It was definitely a lot of time and effort and, in the end, I found myself back where I started: a working car stereo. I guess the lesson is to drop the $20 on the name brand stereo at the beginning of your journey instead of going cheap and then paying with interest later.

Superman. WOW. I'm too tired to chronicle it here, but the time is coming. I was excited to snag the soundtrack... only to find that it was basically available NOWHERE in Columbus. I finally had to resort to Amazon.