If I ever forget what region of the country I’m in, I’m reminded of it constantly whether I want to be or not.  Our building owners hosted an ice cream party outside the front of the building yesterday which is a nice gesture they do a few times a year.  They had 2 guitar players for background music and at the time a coworker and I walked outside where everyone was, they both had banjos.  And what were these great musicians playing?  “Dueling Banjos” which, for those of you unfamiliar with the movie ‘Deliverance’, is the creepy song the freak in the

While I was gone on "maternity leave" last week, an article was published in Red Eye where I was quoted.  It was in reference to when I lived on top of Big Daddy's.  If you click on the video embedded in the Red Eye article, she references my story about 1:50 into it.  The one aspect I didn't want her article to come across was implying in any way that I was homophobic, and I think she managed to correctly state that I was more amused than repulsed or frustrated about living on top of a gay ...

Being four years removed from having a newborn, there were a flood of memories brought back as Katie entered our world. 

• Taking constant peeks to seeing their chest/back move up and down to reassure you they’re breathing.
• The cuddling of the top of their head into your neck below your jaw sinc ...

Early last weekend we were contemplating now being a family of four, as the logistics for two kids increases exponentially.  It’s not a bad thing; rather I’m talking about this in terms of preparation and planning for anything you have to do.  Two kids to put to bed, two potential schools (depending on their ages), two kids to get ready to go anywhere in the car, two female reproductive systems to guard with an armory that would put small nations to shame upon entering their teenage years, you get the idea.

Mom and baby are back home from the hospital today so this is our first day as "Kirkpatrick - family of four".

I'll try to write an entry or two this week once I get some sleep and can write coherently.

In the meantime, thank you for all your kind words.  Not to get all sappy, but I consider myself very fortunate to have a healthy family and friends to share my news with.

While I try to avoid talking too much about family life in this blog, weeks like this make that ineveitable so please pardon my "Dad reflects on life after his daughter is born" ramblings in the near future.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to crap in my shorts, cry out loud, and see if someone comes to change me.

...here's a camera photo shot of Katie.  I'll include a link to more photos when I get the chance to download the ones off our camera later this week.  I'm off back to the hospital (2 blocks away).

The shiny stuff on her eyes is something the hospital puts on to ward off infections.  The next round of photos will show her full head of hair.

Stats:

Kathryn (Katie) Lea Kirkpatrick (official spelling yet to be finalized)

August 19, 2007

5:12 PM

8 pounds, 14 ounces (yes, she was a c-section)

19.5 inches

Full head of brown hair like her mom

1 very excited big sister

2 very tired but happy parents

Mom and baby are doing very well.

...about how hot it has been the past few days.  Here is a shot of my car's outside temperature reading while I was at a stoplight.  It's usually pretty accurate in terms of actual temps and not how hot the car is baking in the sun.

Next up is Megan's car.  Now hers was sitting in the sun for about an hour in front of the house.  This shot was taken around 6 PM.  I've never seen her temperature gauge go above 100 before.

The last time I felt heat like this was the year in Chicago where hundreds of senior citizens died from the heat in a July 1995 heat wave.  Over 500 deaths were attributed to the heat during those few days and ...

While 35 isn’t an old age by any means (in fact, if you’re a bloated outfielder in San Francisco, this was about the time your body started expanding “naturally” and getting stronger), there are times when you realize how much easier it is to pick up aches and pains doing the dumbest or moist inane things.  Much like how baseball players seem to get the oddest injuries (Sammy Sosa throwing out his back while sneezing comes to mind), I now have been encountering muscle strains in the oddest ways.