"Begin the Begin"

For those of you who are regular visitors here, you may have noticed a minor disturbance in the force as I did not update my blog on Thursday, as is mandated per my own self-enforced schedule.

The grand experiment is now over. Although I'm not returning to a 9-to-5 just yet, my days of being alone with Connor every single day is officially over for now. On Thursday and Friday, Stacey and I finally moved back to Atlanta after six years away, and are beginning a new chapter in our life together.

For the next year (and perhaps infinitely longer since we're sick of moving our junk from one address to another) we will be living with Stacey's parents. As far as living with in-laws, the situation is abslolutely fabulous. We have an entire floor of the house to ourselves, with digital cable TV, an exercise room and free parking.

But, this situation also means that we're closer to both of our families, which means that I'm negotiating my schedule with everyone who is eager to take Connor off of my hands. I will probably work several days a month at my former full-time job (warehouse/clerical type stuff) while scaring up more freelance work as well. Also, Connor is beginning a preschool/daycare program that will occupy him for two mornings a week.

I'll still be at home with Connor, just not every day, thus bringing to an end my year of being his primary caregiver during the week. It's a role I am shedding reluctantly, but knowing full well that he'd probably rather see someone different every day anyway.

In the spirit of my adjusted role as a part-time stay-at-home-dad, I have been wrestling with what to do with this space. Initially, I only wanted to do this for a year, just to see if I could. I've done that, but I'm hesitant to let it go, because writing here is fun for me — ie. I have full editorial control, resulting in the nauseating stories and pictures you've been enduring these past 12 months. Thanks for sticking around.

I considered abandoning this site in favor of an anonymous blogging identity so I could talk openly about living with Stacey's parents, but since they are aren't exactly the typical overbearing in-laws, I probably couldn't say anything I can't say to them in person.

Since I'm not going to be with Connor every day, I won't be writing here every day. I have no schedule for entries, and will probably expand my subject matter to include other things happening in my life as well.

But don't worry; the pictures and stories will still be every bit as nauseating.