The State of the BS

State of the BS
07/12/2011

HEY EVERYBODY!!! It’s been awhile. Thought I’d test out the blog waters today. I thought about bitching about something, but here’s the deal…………..I got nothing to bitch about!! So I thought I’d use this time to give you a “state of the BS” speech. So going forward, you know where I am. I used to divide my life into 3 categories. 1. Family Life 2. Work Life. 3. Love Life. In the past several years things have usually been good in 2 of those three categories. Rarely have I ever been clicking on all cylinders tho! Even when things were great with the kids and work, my love life would drag me down. When things were going well at work and I thought I was enjoying the carefree single life, my angels were killing me. But right now (well maybe not right now, but I actually had this epiphany while scrubbing the toilet an hour or so ago. Yes, an epiphany about how great life is WHILE scrubbing a toilet!) things are good!

In the family life things are GREAT! I cannot tell you how great it is enjoying my grown children. I am so proud of the adults they turning out to be! TCB was always my motto and they seem to be doing it as well. We had a bbq a couple of weeks ago and all the kids were here. And even better, my brothers’ sons made it as well. My brothers were the last people here and for a couple of hours I spent time with my son and nephews and their mates. It was so cool sitting around and talking to these former kids as grown-ups. Then my daughters showed up with their boyfriends and I realized something………I like both of their boyfriends! This has NEVER happened. All of them are just so grown up. I am so proud of all of them. My X wife just lost someone in her family. My daughter’s drove to the funeral together in New Mexico. Their mom didn’t even make it, but they were there to represent her family. All the feedback I saw on Facebook was like…..”talked to the girls at the funeral. They are such wonderful young ladies….etc.” I like to think I had something to do with that!! And my son is such a great dad. I love hanging out with his kids. I know I cannot take credit for his very calm demeanor when he is dealing with his boys, but I will take some for his sense of right and wrong! And all the nephews are all so respectful and gracious. The future is definitely looking good for the Schwab family. IJS! And to take it a step farther (there is a pun here!) I am really enjoying the dynamic of living in a house again with teenagers! I’ll repeat……….”I enjoy living with teenagers.” T’s boys are great. I didn’t think I liked teenagers, but these guys are pretty cool. We enjoy such things as going for ice cream, pizza, dude movies and driving their mom crazy! We have even started to make up our own language. Ya know I can just picture Cory pulling them aside and giving them the old, “you guys are lucky! In my day he wasn’t so mellow! He used to be a demanding, mean spirited, ornery ass, until he started drinking, then watch out!” Probably has. So to recap….family life = good.

Went back to work for a county agency involved in crime prevention and detention. The funny thing is I enjoy the hell out of it. In my lifetime I have taken bigger pay cuts than anyone I know. I’ve accepted jobs making less than half of what I was making twice now. The first time was so I could spend more time watching my daughters grow up. The last time so I could live long enough to see them have children. It took me a few years to learn it, but money isn’t everything. Bigger money sometimes just has bigger problems. I like the fact that when I’m home now, I don’t even think about work. I don’t have customers calling me on Sundays or all hours of the night. There are no quotas or production issues. As a matter of fact, occasionally I get to actually tell my “customers” they ARE in fact wrong and have gone as far as laying hands on them and put them in cuffs! Wouldn’t it be cool do be able to do that in the banking world? So to recap….work life = good.

I don’t mean to brag (yes I do) but things are pretty good in the ol’ love life as well. I love my wife. I know that’s my job, but she makes it so easy! We are about to go on our first vacation since we’ve been married. Gonna drive to Tennessee with her boys. Catch some Civil War battlegrounds and then the Schwab Family Picnic! I’m sure going to SFP isn’t her idea of a vacation, but my baby tolerates! I so enjoy our brief encounters in the morning. She waits to get out of bed until I come home from work. We usually get to spend a quality 15 or so minutes lying in bed. I try really hard to not go to sleep until she goes to work! (oh did I mention she tolerates me working the night shift?). I have more time off now than I ever had in sales or banking. It just isn’t always on the weekends. And I do so much enjoy spending that time with her! I am so glad I met her AFTER I got my head out of my ass! I’m fairly sure she wouldn’t have gone out with the old Buddy more than once! So again…..Love life = good!

So now that we’re all caught up on the state of the BS, I can begin next time with all the problems in this world. Right now everything is great in mine!