An embarrasment of riches

When it rains, it pours as the old cliche goes. I am having a crazy couple of weeks.

My youngest boy has been in the hospital about a week and will likely be there for another. Then, my fourth child is due for her surgery the first week of May. This is on my anniversary with my second wife. Oh, and finals are this week.

All this has given me... gratitude and perspective.

I am grateful for the progress of medicine. 70 years ago my daughter would be impaired in her walking and my son possibly asphyxiated with conditions they were born with. Now they will both be safe and whole with what are routine procedures.

It is hard to complain about your lot when your sitting in an Operation Room waiting area with the surgeon saying everything is going to be fine and another surgeon is telling a family on the other side that at least one arm was saved and there will be limited mobility from the waist down.

I am grateful to wonderful wives. One who is bedside night and day caring for our son and the other who drops anniversary plans without any hesitation or regret and helps out the first.

Everybody has tough spots in life, I am grateful to everyone who has a part in helping us move through it.

Just to clear some things up...

Yes, I have two wives.

I married one when she was age 20 and the other when she age 27. I vehemently oppose those who systematically engage in underage marriage and believe any who participate in such practices should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I think it is wise for young ladies to obtain higher education or work experience and really discover who they are before they even consider this marriage system.

My wives are extraordinary women. They are very capable and independent. I do not view them as subservient. I do lead this family with there input, insight and consideration for their concerns.

Neither I or any of my wives are on welfare. I do not believe society should pay for my family. I believe the welfare system should be used as intended, as temporary help until you can get back on your feet.

I have five children. I believe in having strong relationships with each. I do not believe procreating for the sake of procreating is divine. I would rather have five children who grow up as happy, well adjusted adults who know their father and know their father loves them than twenty children "born in the principle"

I don't "dress weird" or have "funny hair." While I am not mocking any group, be they Amish or Fundamentalist, for their distinguished dress or grooming, that is just not how I or my family dress.

Starting off with the fundamentals

Why does anyone blog?

Why have I decided to blog?

Perhaps I feel literarily liberated in this liberal medium. I tend to be a perfectionist when it comes to writing. That is why journals are a nightmare for me. I feel like I must enter deep and profound thoughts, gems of truth to be mined by generations to come. So I will labor intently over a page or two in my journal only to read it later and lament my poor grammar, egregious spelling, and incoherent ramblings. But with blogging some rambling is implied.

It's a fun and easy way to keep up with family and friends. I love reading the blogs of my family and friends. In fact, they're about the only blogs I read regularly. I will post comment to theirs and now they can keep up with me and comment on mine.

Or in the end, is it a craving for self expression? A chance for one more voice to cry out? A bloggernaut bravely rocketing himself into the vast bloggersphere. I have some things I want to say, some thoughts to share, some stories to pass along. I hope my autoblogagraphy will sometimes be insightful, sometimes not, and sometimes interesting.

In the information age, my guiding ethos shall be. . . I blog, therefore, I am