Category: Family

Last night, we had to put down our cat Rose. I say we because The Girlfriend and I discussed the possibility earlier, but in the end, she had to tell the vet to end the cat’s suffering.

Rose came to us as a foster back in May. Last month, the vet told us the reason she wasn’t eating was because of cancer. We knew she didn’t have long, but it was still kind of sudden. I thought we would have another month with the bossy little cat.

I know that in time the things that cat did that infuriated me will become the things that gave her personality and charm. Including waking me up at oh-dark-early because she thought it was time to feed her.

I’m glad we could give her the best home we could for her final days. I just wish there were more of them.

We’re having a small diaspora around these parts. I’m moving from northern Hillsborough county down to Parrish with The Girlfriend. My brother, Rocket Engineer, got a job at Cape Canaveral last fall, and now that school is out, my sister-in-law, niece, and nephew are moving over to the east side of the state. Shooting Buddy is moving out of The Brother’s (the one that gives me Metal Tuesday fodder), and moving to my mom’s place (which is being vacated by sister-in-law and co) to act as caretaker for mom’s place and mine (until mine gets sold). Got all that? Yeah, it’s confusing on this side as well.

Anyways, with all of the moving and distances, I took a few personal days to spend with the kids. They specifically asked if I would take them shooting and fishing. I decided that I would take them individually to the range, and there would be a joint fishing trip with Shooting Buddy (who also happens to be Fishing Buddy).

Last week, I took the nephew to the range. At thirteen, the boy’s nudging six feet. So, in addition to his 10/22 that I bought him a few years ago, he played with my M&P 22 and my M&P9c (first gen). He really liked the .22 pistol. We went through a couple of boxes of .22 before it was time for lunch.

Tuesday was the fishing trip. I’m not a big fishing person. I went to Florida Carry’s Open Carry fishing events, but that was more RKBA and less fishing. Shooting Buddy is a fisherman from a long line of fisherman. So, I let him organize – and me finance – the day’s adventures. We took the kids to one of the smaller parks on the Hillsborough river. Real pretty place with a nice boardwalk with shaded benches. This was the niece’s first fishing trip. She was a little squeamish at first at putting a worm on the hook, but as the day progressed, she got into it. Each of the kids caught a bluegill. I had the biggest catch of the day of a two hundred pound log. Stupid stick fish. Lunch entertainment was provided by the niece who caught a little too much wasabi in her sushi roll.

Yesterday was the niece’s range day. She’s an interesting one to take to the range, because she’s a southpaw. She mainly shot my M&P-15/22, which is now her rifle. Mainly because she likes that rifle and it gives me an excuse to get another .22 rifle at some point. She had a lot of fun plinking away with her new rifle.

I am going to have to set aside a few days a year to do these kinds of things with them after the moves. Keeps the family bonds strong.

We – being my shooting/fishing buddy, the niece and nephew, and myself – went up to the Super Walmart to procure line and tackle for next week’s fishing excursion. Stepping out of the truck, I warned the kids to stay with us and not wonder about thusly:

“As we have learned in many games, never split up the party.”

Shooting buddy needed to stop and laugh for a moment before we could continue.

Yesterday was the fifteenth Father’s Day without my father. Some days, it seems like we lost him yesterday and the idea that he’s been gone for a decade and a half is startling.

I know a lot of my personality comes from my dad. The work ethic, the accountant mind, the methodical nature. Funny thing, I also got my job from my dad. Well, sort of. Dad worked for the same .gov agency that I do. Ran across a memo where he was on the task force that ultimately created my position. These are the times I wish I could believe in fate.

I wish my dad was here. I wish he could see my niece and nephew. They would love his stories. They would love watching old John Wayne films with him. I wish he could meet The Girlfriend. I think he would be glad that I finally found her.

Miss you Dad.

Because my brother took a position on the other side of the state, I’ve been tasked with taking my nephew to his Boy Scouts meeting. On the way to and from, the nephew and I have been listening to the first couple of books from Peter Grant’s Maxwell saga. We finished the second book last week, and this week was probably the last week he’ll go to scouts before the family moves.

So, I throw on Lawdog’s African adventures book. Much hilarity was enjoyed. I have also exposed a bright young man to possible mischievous antics.

I am a bad uncle.

Last weekend the girlfriend and I had the first “your folks and my folks” dinner at her place. This was the first time my family had been down to her place and got to meet her family and cats. Yes, it was a success. Particularly when my family got to meet her hairless cats.

For dessert, my mom brought chocolate cake. Very good. Very rich. About half of it left over. The next morning, there was some facetious discussion about the possibility of chocolate cake for breakfast. Maybe not so facetious. Anyways, I was going to make a reference to Bill Cosby’s bit, but found out that the girlfriend never saw that routine. That was quickly remedied.

She was amused, and I think more tempted by the chocolate cake.

First the big news. I am no longer single. It’s kind of a long distance thing because we’re both busy adults, and we live on opposite ends of the county. Which means a lot of texting while seeing each other on weekends and dinner during the week.

But it is a relationship of firsts for the both of us.

For her, I’m the first person she’s known who was an open atheist. For me, she’s the first significant other who is uncomfortable around guns. So, we’re both doing the careful dance of what to say and do around each other in regards to those topics.

So, this Christmas season is going to prove to be very interesting.

1. I’ve watched the first four episodes of the new Ken Burns documentary on Vietnam. It’s been pretty decent so far.
2. I do not understand why some people are so full of their own self-importance that they feel the need to jump out of their car and berate the person in front of them for not pulling forward enough. In their opinion. Which would require the person in front of them to block the intersection.
3. The 5.11 store in Tampa is finally open! I’m going to have to do something about that.
4. We come out of the restaurant and my nephew proudly claims he’s finally taller than me. I look at him, look at the ground, and then back up at him. “Dude, you realize I’m standing on an incline, right?” Twelve-year-old face just deflates. I’ve got to take these small victories when I can. I’ve probably got six months before the boy will be taller than me.
5. Best family costume idea – the ninja hedgerow from the early Tick comics. Man, those old comics were funny as hell.

Sunday was consumed with moving my brother out to the other side of the state to start a new job. Due to extenuating circumstances, the plan is for him to stay in a borrowed RV during the week and come back to Tampa on the weekend.

Lessons to take away:

1. Having a soda erupt in the lap is bad enough. Having to drive around with slightly sticky jeans for eight or nine hours just makes everything worse.

2. Running GPS while connected to a Bluetooth speaker and a watch takes more power than my iPhone 6 draws from the car outlet.

3. Revolutions is a great podcast to just leave on for a long drive. And I don’t understand those who talk about the “romanticism” of the French Revolution. That was just a bloody, ball of crazy on all sides.

4. I really miss my truck when I have to drive someone else’s vehicle for a semi-long trip.

5. Anytime I think of just buying an RV and living out of an RV to simplify my life, I remember I hate driving vehicles bigger than my Xterra.

6. It’s a very good thing that Honda Civics get very good gas mileage. Particularly when your brother accidentally leaves his idling the entire time you go out for Chinese buffet. Side note – we found his keys!

7. Even after all the memes, it’s still kind of amazing how inventively a soldier can crash a humvee with trailer. Even more amusing when it’s the MPs who crashed their humvee.

8. I’m very glad to be back in my home – even if the cats are already driving me insane.