I was born April 7, 1978 at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in Portsmouth VA. My Dad wasn't there, as he was stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba at the time (he was stationed there, in the Navy). My Mom came home early so I could be born here...I was supposed to be part of a set of twins, unfortunately the umbilical cord had been wrapped around the other baby's neck, and it died. I've often wondered what it would be like if I had a twin...I think it would've been cool. Anyway, this was my Mom's second marriage, her first husband used to beat her until she left, taking my two older brother's with her. I look back now and admire how strong she must've been to leave with two young children. I figure some of my Grandmother rubbed off on her, she raised 3 girls alone after a divorce.

I have difficulty remembering too much from my early childhood, except for a few notable exceptions. When I was maybe 4 years old, my leg was broken when a table fell on it. That really ends my serious injuries in my life so far, more on why later.

My Dad, as I mentioned was in the Navy. He did 26 years, with 3 tours in Vietnam. I was proud of him, but missed him greatly. There were many times he was gone for months, up to 6 at a time, which was really tough. I remember a few Christmases spent at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base, watching a video sent over the the Med sea, and getting a present from Santa. I still remember the gift (a Robotech toy, before it was popular, wish I still had it). My Dad is what I like to call 'old school' Navy. Tough and in charge, he wouldn't fit in with today's Navy, as he'd much rather kick your ass if you were a sailor being disrespectful to him than write up a written reprimand (never hit us or my Mom, though). He's a great Dad, always made sure we were provided for, and treated my brothers like they were his own.

I was a pretty good student through elementary school, though I was painfully shy and quiet. I made a few friends, though, so I wasn't totally alone. I was always a geek throughout life, not climbing trees or injuring myself in other ways. Middle school was a different matter, though. I was seriously unhappy...I stopped caring so much about homework, which caused my grades to slip in some classes. I hated having 4+ hours of homework a night, especially when I got 100's on my tests anyway. This continued into my first two years of high school, where the homework only got worse. I also finally found something I couldn't grasp - trigonometry and calculus. To this day I can't do that stuff at all. I squeaked by enough math classes to graduate, so everything worked out.

It was during my youth that I picked up my brother's copy of Ender's Game. The character's spoke to me (and still do) on many levels...Many times I felt isolated like him, although in many ways it was my own fault, being shy and quiet, keeping to the shadows. That book started me on the rest of Card's work, which is a good thing (obviously!).

The main thing that saved my grade point average was the switch to block scheduling my junior year. Then, I only had maybe 2 subjects worth of homework a night, as opposed to 4 or 5 - I breezed through the last two years of school.

During this time, my Dad retired, and adjusted to civilian life. He had the same problem as many retirees, he had trouble finding a job. Most places told him he was over qualified. He tried his hand at car salesman (too honest), mortgage loan officer, and a few others. He worked a while at one of the shipyards (too long). It was nasty work, changing anchor chains, sandblast grit everywhere, 12 to 14 hour days, sometimes 6 days a week, of backbreaking work. I was glad when he left there...he's much happier now, working for a small home improvement company.

My love life was fairly nonexistent. The shyness played a big role there, and the fact that I was a great listener. I ended up as a girl's friend more often then potential boyfriend material. Several times I had feelings for someone, and never spoke up. Heck, I was fairly certain one girl was waiting for me to ask her out, but I could never get the words out. I don't worry too much about it, since I have a great wife now.

I didn't have a clear direction to go after high school, so I worked, and messed around with my computers. I could not figure out what I wanted to do, so I drifted, getting very involved in a few online games (Quake 2 and Starcraft) and talking to folks online. During this time I FINALLY let a girl know how I felt, getting promptly shot down. However, that did prepare me for meeting my wife, the best thing that ever happened to me, so it's all good there.

That had me moving up to the great frozen north of Buffalo NY, where I currently reside. I live with my wife, who posts under the name Arthur, and will soon have a new addition to our home, as some of you are aware.

You'll notice that I don't talk about work too much. I'm not the type of person who is defined by my job. I don't work late hours, or overtime...I work my 40 hours a week, and go home to my wife. I don't want to be a Dad that's never home, I would've loved to have my Dad home more growing up.

That's my life in a nutshell...I didn't go into detail with things now, suffice it to say, I'm happy with my life, tickled pink to be having a baby, and glad to finally tell my story. Thanks for reading!
 

If you're taking questions, is Arthur getting as weird as my wife is getting?
 

Great life.

At first glance I thought this was going to be a tell all tale of life inside a walnut.
 

I have always like Buffalo, NY. Great town. Too much snow for my thinned blood, but still, a great town.

Congratulations on the impending Tick-let.

here's to many more!
 

I lived for 5 years in Angola and then Fredonia - an hours or so south of Buffalo - don't miss the lake effect snow storms at all -
 

--Pop
 

I love it.

If I were you, I'd be buying all sorts of neutral colored "things" for the baby's room. I'd have a gallon of pink and a gallon of blue paint just sitting there... Tauntingly.

LOL.

How fun!

 

Wish I'd thought of it.