A little bit more, a little bit more

My brother and his wife were expecting a child (yes, "were") with a due date of March 17th...just about a week after the due date for my little bundle-o-joy. However, this past weekend, Heather (my brother's wife) went into labor and came out with a little boy not much long afterward.

Taylor Hanlon Jolly is his name. We're all obviously excited...it's the first Jolly kid to be born in quite a long time (my niece and nephews are Galloway kids). He's a cute-looking kid, but as excited as I am, there's a bit of a problem here.

The kid came a month early.

Now, he's alright, mommy's alright, it's all good. Apparently he was just done. The real problem here is how I am now perceiving my own situation.

My kid could come at ANY SECOND. Serious. I mean, I knew that before, but now every time Hilary's name pops up on my caller ID, I have a mini-panic, like "oh crap, time to go!!!"

Just knowing that my brother had no clue what his plans for the weekend were really going to be all about....well, I just liked that old idea I had in my head about how this was all gonna come down, and now I can't shake that "any second now" mentality.

I'll get over it.

Needless to say, I feel a certain amount of guilt over the deal, since I almost feel like I haven't been fully excited for my brother. I guess once a few months have passed here and everyone has all their kids and has a chance to settle down, maybe we can start really celebrating what we've all gone through.

I feel like I'll be fine once it all starts, but just KNOWING that I could get a call sometime today to fire it up is....is....well....bothersome.

Phone's ringing...better check it.

No, it's not another tech-heavy post

Okay, so enough tech crap for a while, right? At least the blog is safe for now.

Right now...today, this hour, right this minute, right this very second...this is where it all starts.

I'm going to be a daddy-o, and that's just about a complete certainty at this point (praying nothing goes wrong).

Am I worried? Really, honestly, no. Not a single bit. I've seen the birthing videos, witnessed the screaming child in church....I guess I'm not concerned. So...where does that put me? Am I soon to be blindsided, smacked in the face with the dirty diaper of reality? It's possible, but folks, I am quite optimistic.

First and foremost, I consider myself to be at least average intelligence, so I'll wait while some of you contain your laughter.

Got it together? Let's move on...

With all the morons out there making bad decisions, no decisions and indecisions, I think I've got a leg up. Law of averages. There are so many uneducated and unprepared people out there making a major impact on the world (better or worse) that I'm sure that I'm at least a little better off than they are.

Even better, I fully accept two very important things:

1. your life is what you put into it
2. $&*# happens
   

Now, a child raised by his/her parents will often grow up to live life according to the example provided. That can be seen as a huge burden or a huge opportunity. I look at it as an opportunity. As with everything, I don't expect to put up nothing and gain everything, so I'm fully prepared to give it my all.

On that second part...well, does ANYTHING really ever work out the way you think it will? Certainly, that is not the case for me, otherwise I'd probably still be on the road with SCAP right now, making millions and recording our 5th album (mostly covers, sorry). I think that knowing AND accepting the fact that anything can happen is a real good position.

So, being fully ready to give myself into this new endeavor with my wife, and being fully aware that anything is possible, I guess you could say I'm completely comfortable. I'm not assuming I'll always be tiptoeing through the tulips of life's garden...I just think that sometimes you gotta know that the bitter mixes with the sweet, and that no matter how bad it gets, you still get the sweet more often than not.

This little kid is going to change my life, and that is awesome.

Bring it on.