9/11

Yesterday was a somber reminder of the act of war against our country and the lives that were lost six years ago.

Last night, Mrs. U was able to enter a more happy occasion on the calendar that will give us another reason to remember the date: The Undaling took his first steps.

It will be a few weeks, most likely, before he is actually walking with confidence, but we both witnessed the magical moment and celebrated it. We were playing a game where I put my baseball cap on the coffee table and ask him to go get my hat. He would scoot along the table, retrieve the hat and bring it back to me. I'd then put it on my head and say "Thank you". He loves to hear us say "thank you". Hopefully, that bodes well for his future manners. Anyway, after repeating the game three or four times, he decided he didn't need the table to guide his steps as he lunged forward, hat in hand. The first time, Mrs. U didn't see it, so I hesitated to call it "first steps", fearing that she would be upset that she missed it or that she would think I was making it up. Luckily, he repeated the feat a few more times under closer scrutiny, and to the sound of cheers. Then, he did the same thing on the other side of the table to Mrs. Undaground. I was equally delighted, but a little concerned that my wife wouldn't give me my hat back.

Tomorrow, it's off to Chicago for us and the much-dreaded first airplane trip with the suddenly-mobile kid. As always, I'm expecting the worst, so the actual ordeal should be less traumatic than the nightmare I've created in my pessimistic head.

Stay classy, San Diego. Oh, and, go Mountaineers.

Back and Badder Than Ever

Not bad meaning good, bad meaning bad.

I'm back and I'll try to get back to my old ways of posting early and often.

I think I'm done posting my weight here, unless I hit some crazy milestone. I'm still losing about a pound a week and, in all, I'm down to 225 or 226 (depending on the scale's mood). My huge gut is gone, and now I just have a regular 36-year-old guy gut. I just survived a weekend out of town that included a huge, cheesy dinner and many indulgences and somehow still lost a pound. I guess I shouldn't make a habit out of it, but I'm happy to come out ahead because I was convinced all weekend that I would gain weight.

Mrs. U celebrated a birthday on Monday. I got her a new car stereo and some new pajamas (and a pedicure, and a babysitter for a dinner out). It was just going to be the stereo and the dinner out, but I had to scramble after I ruined the stereo surprise. You see, there was a 24-hour period a few weeks ago when we were going to get rid of our van. At one point in that 24-hours, I decided to tell her that I had been planning to get a stereo put in. I guess I wanted credit for the thoughtfulness. The next day, when we found out the van problem was only $44 to fix, we decided to keep it for another year and the only wreckage from the decision was my blown surprise. Me and my big mouth.