Well, the time has come.
For those of you that know me or who have followed this blog for any duration, you know that we’re in the process of adopting kids. It’s been a long process for us, but everyone else has said that it’s gone really quickly. But after what has seemed like an eternity, we got a phone call this morning.
We’re meeting our kids on Friday.
I can’t and won’t go into much more detail about them, but I can tell you that it will take a couple more meetings before they’re ours, and we’re ready. They have a room, they have clothes, they have toys, and they have a life, all waiting at our house. These next couple of months will undoubtedly be very hectic and busy, but I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to anything as much as I look forward to this.
I’m going to be a father.
Now here’s the bad news. Because of the nature of the adoption, it takes about six months for it to be finalized. That means within that six months, the kids could be removed from the home for any number of reasons, and none of those reasons would have anything to do with us. It’s a slippery slope, and I think in the back of our minds, we’ll have a tiny spot of fear until the adoption is finalized.
But for me, I have different things to worry about. This blog, my Twitter, my Facebook, and every other online presence I stake claim to has been an outlet for me over the past couple of years. When something happens, or a memory strikes, I tell you about it. I try to be humorous in doing that, sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don’t. But when it all comes down to it, this blog, and everything else, is just an outlet. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been in serious thought over how an outlet might be perceived to someone else while we’re in the “trial” period of adoption. I’ve wondered about the possibility of me saying something unintentionally, randomly, or off the cuff, and someone else taking it the wrong way, and being upset enough about it to bring it to the attention of a case worker or state employee. I’ve thought about DHS coming into our house and saying, “Mr. Sloat, you said something negative about cats on Twitter, and we saw it. We’re taking the kids.” I’ve thought about what that would do to my family, and I’ve made a decision.
This will be my last blog until the adoption is final. I will also be staying away from Twitter and Facebook until it’s final. I will be limiting my online presence to occasionally snooping around Facebook and maybe sending someone a DM every once in a while. If you’re VERY lucky, I might comment on your blog. And I’m doing this for three reasons. The first is listed above, and the second is that when we get the kids, I’m going to want to spend as much time as possible with them. Thirdly, I’m going to write a book. It’s essentially going to be a book of stories, some of which I take from this blog, others you’ve never heard. All in all, I think I’ll be busy enough without having to be online 23 hours a day.
So consider this a blog goodbye, and of course if you want to contact me there is always email. I’m a texting fiend, so you can do that as well, and make no qualms about asking for my phone number. I truly hope that six or seven months from now I can hop back on this site and let you all know how happy I am to announce that we have had the opportunity to officially change the last names of two kids who are getting a second chance.
And of course to tell you about my first six months as a parent.
Wish me luck, friends.
Well, you might have noticed some changes around here.
For starters, I have a new URL.
Secondly, I have a new layout, which I’ve been told is easier on the eyes. Like your mom.
Thirdly, by just clicking on something I saw on the internet, I increased the size of my…blog roll.
These are just a few of the changes I’ve implemented and will continue to implement in the coming months. I’m going to direct this blog more in the direction of story telling, and less in the direction of “whatever comes off my fingertips without going through a filter in my brain.” I’m going to see what I can do about illustrating those stories, but listen. I draw really bad.
But, as any story teller will tell you, a good story needs one main thing in order to matter. Listeners. Or in this case, readers. There are all kinds of ways to gain readers on a blog, including just having good content, but the one I’ve found that works the best is to buy them.
That’s right, I’m going to do a giveaway.
$30 in iTunes gift cards, to be specific.
So here are the rules:
If you are a follower or become a follower, you get one entry.
If you comment on this post, you get one entry.
If you “Like” my blog on Facebook, you get an entry.
If you follow me on Twitter, you get one entry.
If you tweet about this post, you get 3 entries, just make sure you leave a comment with the link to the tweet. You can tweet about it once a day until Sunday, February 27th.
If you blog about this giveaway, you’ll get 5 entries. Again, leave a link in the comments.
Then, next Monday the 28th, I will draw a winner and get those gift cards sent out.
Also, if there is anything in particular that you would like to see on this blog, be it advertising, your blog on the blog roll, pictures, more posts, a certain kind of story, etc, then please feel free to let me know. You can click that email button up near the top of the blog, or you can leave me a comment, as that gets you an entry into the contest. After all, you are my audience, and I am here to entertain you. Thanks for the loyalty, and welcome newcomers!
You might have noticed that I’m starting to live life a little differently. The Missus claims I’m having a mid-life crisis. This could very well be the case, seeing as men in my family rarely live past the age of 40. However, I just think it has to do with me realizing that I was NOT happy living the way I was living.
Don’t get me wrong, I have a pretty sweet life. Married to the woman of my dreams, good job, decent vehicles, food on the table, and even a Netflix account.
But I started feeling a little TOO comfortable.
So I started Tae Kwon Do. I fought for the first time in my life. I got on stage at a comedy club and gave open mic night a shot. I’ve started trying to push myself into doing things I wouldn’t normally do.
Sometime in the very near future, I’M GOING TO RIDE A BULL.
However, there is one thing that The Missus and I have talked about doing for a long time, and now the time has finally come. You see, most of you know about our fertility issues and what not. If you don’t, ask someone else, don’t ask me, because I’m tired of answering questions. We went to a fertility doctor recently, and just for the bare minimum amount of treatment, (a $10 prescription) it would cost around $1000 a month. We just don’t really have that kind of cheddar laying around, and if we did, I’d probably be eating it, because hey. It’s CHEESE.
So…drumroll please…
We’re going to adopt a child. That’s right, this big guy’s going to be a dad. We got the paperwork from DHS all filled out and turned in, and right now we’re just waiting to go from there. We have references lined up that will hopefully tell everyone how wonderful we are and how big my heart is, and hopefully not that the doctors call that big heart “enlarged.” If The Missus gets knocked up afterwards, all you people who said, “Just adopt, you’ll get pregnant,” will get to say that you’re right, and then you get to move in with us and be our housekeeper/babysitter.
We’re making life decisions at the Sloat house, and we’re stepping outside of our comfort zone to do it. So I have a question for you. What are YOU doing to step outside of your comfort zone? I’m not suggesting that everyone go out and ride a bull or adopt a child. But what have you wanted to do for a long time but never had the guts to try? Why aren’t you doing it? Just about everyone of us can fulfill a dream without being careless, so why won’t you try? The payoff is amazing, and you might just find yourself looking at that boring life of yours with a new vim and vigor.
And you better believe I’ll blog about riding that bull.
Oh. And the kid.