I'm too tired to make separate posts for each of these, but I really need to catch up. Here we go.
11/27
Somehow I managed to make sure I got a picture of myself on the day my son was born.
Do those hats ever stay on their little blood and amniotic fluid covered heads?
11/28
I took this photo — on Saturday at around 11:30am — thinking that it was roughly 6:00am on Friday. Seriously. I was a little tired. Sadly, this is about all I've got of myself for Friday… The day was spent bonding with my son and taking photos of him with his visitors.
Pardon the vinyl-covered fold-out chair that thinks it's a half-decent bed (but really, you know it isn't) head.
11/29
So this is the obligatory "my son is half me" shot, for Project365.
11/30
No complaining, I'm in this one. ;)
12/1
Normally, some time in November I try to remind people that it's a good time to give to charity. I'm a little late. I'm sure you understand.
If you don't have a favorite charity, I would invite you to consider Child's Play. It's a completely non-profit organization that seeks to make children's time in hospitals a little more enjoyable. They are affiliated with more than 50 hospitals world-wide, and provide a great way to funnel money, toys, and video games directly to the hospitals to help brighten a child's day; through cash donations (directed or general), and by purchasing items directly from the hospital's wish lists, so you know exactly what they need. You can also purchase a t-shirt (the one I'm wearing) to help spread the word, and proceeds from the shirts are donated to the charity as well.
They've raised more than 4 million dollars in cash and toys to date, and giving a couple of toys every year makes me feel like I've done something so wonderful and hardly inconvenienced myself in doing it.
As gaming is close to my heart, it feels like a great fit for me. I hope you find a worthy cause fit for you this holiday season.
Click and hover over the photo to get notes on the merit badges.
Here's an outfit that doesn't get worn too much these days. My old BSA uniform. I made Eagle Scout just before my 18th birthday, and — just like they say — it's great resume fodder.
I was inspired for this shot because my dad found my old merit badge sash recently and gave it to me at our pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Bonus points if you can name (and point out) a few of the merit badges without peeking at the notes. There are only a few I had to look up, surprisingly. View large for a better look at the individual badges.
What an incredible dork Megan married.
So by now you're probably aware that I managed to not take a single personal or vacation day this year, and only one sick day and a few holidays (but not their floating-holiday counterparts), all for the cause of spending them en-masse at this time of year to be with Megan and our son (due Wednesday!)…
Somehow my math was off though, and I actually have 39 more hours of Paid Time Off accrued than I had calculated I would. I was already planning on taking about 5 and a half weeks off, so now I get to make that 6 and a half. Sort of.
I was planning on working right up until (and on) the due date, and starting my vacation then. The policy is "use it or lose it," and between the various forms of PTO, I would have just enough to get me through the end of the year. I found out today that I had these extra hours, so I get to start my vacation a little early, and with any luck, my boss will let me work something out to un-officially take that lost time off at the beginning of next year.
I know the picture was technically taken and uploaded on the 25th, but I still haven't gone to bed. I'm officially on vacation and I'm making the absolute most of it. The movie marathon starts early tomorrow afternoon and the video game marathon (…hence the World of Warcraft theme…) has been going on for a few hours now. ;)
So now that I'm officially on vacation, all that's left to do is wait for my son to arrive. How cool is that?
