The new baby smell

Thursday, February 1, 2007 is now my favorite day of all time because it is the day that God blessed Erin and I with tiny Zaiah Donna J McDowell. I am aware that most people that find there way here have already heard the good news and to the minority that are reading this out of bordom and know nothing about us you too are welcome to the good news about our daughters birth. If you would like to see pictures of her you can click the link Zaiah's Photo Album or go to www.zaiahdonnaj.shutterfly.com and I will be continually adding pictures to this site. Everyday she does something amazing that just has to be filmed or photographed and to those that are interested I will be making updates on ther photo album periodically. I feel so pround to be her father and Iknow that Erin is equally as proud to be her mother. We are truly blessed with this little wonder!

The Move

As of June-August of this year Erin and I moved from Regina to Winnipeg. It started with a little general unhappiness with life in general living in Regina for the past few years and became a "well I guess we could move" to a "why shoudn't we move" and finally "we should move". Inspite of all the time we had spent in Regina, it just never really felt like home. We have been in Winnipeg for a few months now and it feels good, like it could be home, time will tell I guess. The move itself was not to bad, we were lucky enough to have alot of friends making trips back and forth between Regina and Winnipeg so that cut down of the cost of moving quite a bit. Erin move out here at the beginning of June while I stayed behind for a few more weeks to finish up the summer at my job. So basically for about 3-4 weeks, Erin lived in a big empty house in Winnipeg surrounded by our boxed up life and I lived in a totally empty basment in Regina with my blanket, pot and spoon. Now the gaps in my blog should be starting to make a little sense. I was completely cut off from all technology and basically just worked my ass off to pass the time. Now that we are together again and life is starting to get a little more settled I will try and update things a little more reguarly and try to talk about things more interesting then just what has been happening for the past few months.

The Job

Work work work work work!!! The move to Winnipeg and the news of a new baby on the way has greatly affected my current occupational choices. When I lived in Regina I worked hard and loved my job. I was doing what I was good at and I was having a good time doing it. A new province, a new life brings about a new job. Now I work at Lafarge, a manufactur of concrete products. Where my job used to be all bright lights, road trips and big explosions. Now it consists of forklifts, alot of walking and big slabs of concrete. Change is good, but I miss the good old days, to bad the good old days dont pay the bills. I do like my new job, it pays pretty good, it is not to hard, not to challenging and I get to work outside which is awesome (ask me to say that again in a few months when it is -50 outside!!!). I still have the opprotunity to do fireworks and pyrotechnics, I just have to go after it and get my foot back in the door. I guess right now the job I have is not really where I saw myself but is good for right now and maybe it will become something I can make a career out of. Untill then, I just keep on keeping on and count my blessings that can work and that I have a job that meets our current needs.

The Baby

I will spare you the details as to how this came about but Erin and I are now excpecting our first child!!! It is the most unreal thing that has ever happened to me yet. We are so not ready for this, but who is! Last week we started feeling the baby kick for the first time and soon we will get an ultrasound and get to see this crazy thing for real, and yes we are going to find out if it is a chick or a dude. I feel like it will be a boy and I hope it will be a girl (that way I am right either way). As I said, this is so unreal, most days I dont really think about it a whole lot, some days I totally freak out and some days I just get so excited about being a dad. Actually, I am almost always excited about it, even when I am freaking out. I doubt I will ever be ready to "be dad" but I want to give it a shot. With Erin by my side I know we can give this little Bijou a good life and hopfully teach it a few cool tricks on the way (even if we only just learned it ourselves a few days before) I have so many questions about what will be and who this child will become. All I know right now is that this one is ours we will love it and leave the rest of the unknowns to God. I would love to go on more with this, but I am sure it will come up again in many future posts and I have so many other stories to tell right now.

Danny who???

In the spirit of not letting more then six months pass with out a sound let me just say Ahhhhhhhhhh . . . follow by a more prononced AHHHHHGGGGG WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING!!! Now that you are up to speed let me fill in a few gaps. We moved from Regina to Winnipeg, I have a new job and oh yah,I am about to be a dad. Yes, it is true, Erin and I found out shortly before moving to winnipeg that we were prego. That is both exciting and frightening all at the same time (see Ahhhhh and AHHHGGG). I guess the problem here is that so much has happened in the past few months that I don't think I can or should put it all in one post so please select one or all of the following post that you are interested in hearing about and we will try and digest this together.

the shame

I sat down sunday night to enjoy a night of relaxing and watch a few of my favorite shows when all of a sudden something shocking and aweing happened. It was 7:00 PM Saschatchewan time and the Simpsons was just about to come on the air when it happened. "this preview of next weeks blah and blah brought to you by (undisclosed malisious fast food joint)" WHAT!!! Now my commercials have commercials?!? Now not only are they telling me what to revolve my week around and get my hopes up for next weeks whatever, now thoughtless fast food dealers are subconsciencly affecting my diet (I write as the grease from an undisclosed delious fast food joint leaks from the corner of my mouth). Oh the sweet hours of life tick by and I, I eat junk and watch crap to kill the time as time kills me.
peace

The pelvic thrust

As if life is not busy enough, now I have gone and volunteered to work back stage at the Regina Performing Arts Center for The Rocky Horror Show. Due to my religious and moral beliefs I should be offended and maybe even a little outraged by this show, but I love it. Maybe it is the sheer rebelion of it all, or the stark contrast to my own life style. It could be that I like the questions it raises about social and behavioural norms, or maybe on some level I just really want to put on a corset and stockings and go prancing about. . . but probably not! I don't really know why I like it so much, but I do get a kick out of those crazy songs! This show is so far removed from reality that we can joke and laugh about dark perversions and twisted views on relationships and sex. At the same time, what makes us believe that this is such a twisted and perverted look at things? Is it because of how we are raised in our "normal" 2.5 families or is it something deeper. We all long for love, to have that emptiness in our soul filled with joy and purpose. If not joy then something please because the emptiness is unbarable. It seems that we humans will go to any lengths to feel "love" and acceptance in whatever form we can find it. Drugs addicts, AAA, enron, warlords, slumlords, pimps and whores, the proof is all around us. There are people that take to fill the emptiness and people that give up to fill it. What sadness and shame, what kind of animals are we? This is very depressing. There must be something more. There must be something better. If you belive we were created by a loving God or spawned from the primordial soup, you must belive that there has to be a better answer then all of this. Is it friends, community, fellowship, world peace. The answer is out there and it is more then 52. In the parting words of Dr. Frank, "Don't dream it, BE it."

Sincerest Apologies

I realize it has been a few days (maybe a week, I don't really know) since my last and first post. I realize now that I was perhaps a little more abrasive then I needed to be. As I look back on it now I think that I really just needed to get up the courage to attack this thing head on. I don't take back what I said don't get me wrong. I just want those of you that were not offended at the start and are still reading this to know that I do respect the reader (except you! You know who you are). This post is becoming difficult to write as I jump in and fill in pieces of it throughout the day. I find the only time I can write is when I am at work and then only at my lunch break and the odd times in between. try finishing a complete thought one day at a time, theres a fun way to fill the hours! So many good ideas and thoughts come to me as I work and when i sit down to find them they have vanished. Anything good I do have to say is either lost in the business or written in my notebook late at night and I do not feel the need to re-scribe what I have already written. Now I am just boring you with the details of my life, but do stick around . . . more is yet to come.

Welcome to my brain. SUCKERS!!!

If you are reading this then truly you have reached nearly the same level of bordom that I hit to start writeing this. Well, since you are here I will make my bloggers oath to you, you pathetic reader:

I will make no apologies for my spelling errorrs
I will not reconcider my sometimes offensive personality
I will write what I think if i think it
I solomnly swear to update this blog whenever the hell I feel like it
and finally, I am sorry if you like cats!

The bottom line is I need an outlet for my pent up emotions or whatever and you are a sick voyeristic person with nothing better to do. So I guess this is a good a start as any to this crazy journey. I somewhat sincerly apologise if I have offended anyone off the bat and if I have . . . thats cool with me, I dont want you reading my crap anyways!

peace
danny