A recent conversation with my 2 year old daughter:

"Daddy, why is it cold?"
"You know the sun is pretty hot, right? Well, during the winter the sun is further away from us than it is during the summer."
"Oh, THAT's why it's cold!"

Start here in our album, and go through to see baby Salvatore!

http://public.fotki.com/palmarcik/jmm/2008/december-2008/img3838.html

When I see images of Santa Claus, I'm reminded of a project I must have done in third grade (give or take a year), something that was a precursor to my adult personality.
We had to do some sort of anti-smoking poster, so I thought it would be best to use a childhood icon and see where that took me.
Basically, my poster was a picture of Santa Claus with a cigarette in his mouth and underneath was a "Night Before Christmas" inspired caption:

"Santa Cools: His lungs choked when he laughed like a bowl full of rocks"

The best part of it was that I was completely serious. Looking back, it's actually disturbingly hilarious.

I've been telling myself for a while that I need to start documenting the coincidences that occur during my day. I've always been (and continue to be) the type of person who believes coincidences are just that - connections that occur because they just do with no additional meaning.
Despite that, there have been some interesting ones recently that of course I can't recall. However, I did have one this morning.

Some back story: I regularly leave messages on my attorney wife's work voicemail posing as a reporter from the "Legal Eagle," a fictional publication dedicated to lawyers. I'll talk about a recent case she's been working on and how we want to publish her side of things. I'm silly like that.

This morning I woke up early and during my shower (my prime thinking time), I again told myself to really start documenting my coincidences. When I got to the train station and parked in a different spot in the garage due to my earlier than normal arrival, I walked through the parking garage and passed a car with the license plate "LEGLEGL."

Not a bad coincidence...

Livvie saw me get up this morning, and cried when I said I had to go to shower and to work. When I got out of the shower, she was there to greet me and said in the sweetest voice: "Daddy, can I go to work with you?" It broke my heart when I had to tell her "I’m sorry, I can’t" and she did her pouty cry.

I took Olivia to the park today while Ginamarie was at work, and it was a blast spending time with my little girl who turns 2 tomorrow!!

( Story and Pictures behind the cut )

Ginamarie picked Olivia up from her mom’s at 5:45, and she fell asleep in the car (she had no nap).. I came home at 7 to a sleeping baby, and thought there was a chance she might be done for the night, so I put her in her bed. As the time rolled on, I thought, yep, she’s staying asleep. At 9:15 I hear her calling “Mommy” and that dream was crushed (although I was happy to see her awake). We played for a bit, and I got her to sleep in her bed at around 11:15. She stayed in there until 5am, and came into our bedroom saying “Potty.” She went potty (#1), chatted with me from her throne, and then came in the bed with us. She is a good girl.

I'm starving.

This verbose post brought to you by: The Committee to Keep Things Brief

I know it may seem I'm being short-sighted, ignorant, possessive, and selfish, but in actuality I'm expressing one of the basic things you probably preach - acting on how you actually feel inside, not based on what society tells you to feel.

I've made my feelings known, and it may not be a popular opinion, but my feelings are completely true, completely real, not created by what I'm told to believe.

And it's been made clear to me that my feelings have been acknowledged, and will be respected.

Unfortunately, if one person is required to bend in one direction in a certain difference of opinion, it has to be in my direction. It's unfair, yes, but that's the way it is.

The best analogy I can think of is if a dog owner falls in love with someone who has really bad dog allergies. If the dog owner wants to stay with the person they love, they have to give up the dog. (Please no comments about allergy medication - it's a darn analogy!)

So please, enough of the secret communication, enough of it - on BOTH ends. I'm not a stupid person. I know when things made public have a hidden private meaning behind it. I truly think an effort has been made, but not enough.

The situation sucks for all of you.. I GET IT. But someone needs to decide whether it's worth making the other party physically and mentally ill.

Fuckin fantastic.

That is how I feel right now.