Wow. I have really been remiss in blogging, haven't I?
Where to begin.....
I am doing my best to keep on top of my gig writing a small column at examiner.com, The South Bay Rock Music Examiner. Still need to build that space up with more content, but I have some articles planned, including a couple of interviews, which should help out. Please keep visiting the site regardless of brand-new content or not as I get credit with each "hit". Thanks ever so much, dawlings.....
We are now in the third month of unemployment. Some days are better than others, as can be expected. I am continuing to attend regular sessions at Lee Hecht Harrison and am actually getting quite a bit out of it. There are so many aspects to the modern job search that I had no clue about.....and I honestly felt I was pretty savvy. On an even more positive note related to this subject: I had my first phone interview with a local software developer (nae shall go unsaid for the moment.....) and felt it went very well. I was asked to forward samples of projects I have contributed content to at past employers and have done so; hopefully will get a call tomorrow to schedule an official sit-down. Will keep y'all posted.
Sloan leaves for her trip to Washington, D.C. on Monday evening and I think we are all as excited as she is. This is going to be an incredible experience for her and I am so glad we made the effort to plan for it, financially and otherwise. Additionally: I can't believe it is already April and she only has a couple of months before summer break and then entering high school in August. It really does feel like yesterday I was helping to bring her into the world, as trite as that may sound. As hard a taskmaster as I can be (believe it or not!), Sloan is an awesome kid.
Speaking of awesome kids: Every day provides something new with regards to Devlin. Sitting up, trying to crawl, wanting to walk, rolling all over the place, and so much more. Those who follow mine an Amy's Facebook pages are, no doubt, very aware given how many pictures we post. And there will be many many more, I assure you.
Whew. That was a lot. And I haven't even talked about my feelings about a recent visit with my biological father and uncle. Getting to that, I think I need to first explain the situation again for those from my Facebook page who may not know what I am referring to:
Late last year, I took it upon myself to do some research to find out if my biological father - whom I had not seen in almost 40 years - was still alive and where he might be. It proved to be a relatively easy task, following up on information I gathered from my Mom and then following the leads provided by others on my father's side whom I came into contact with. In November, my father and I actually met at my uncle's - his brother's - house in Modesto.
Since that initial meeting, we have stayed in touch sporadically (I actually have more contact with my uncle, Keith, than with my father, but mainly because Keith is much more tech savvy and has his own Facebook page and blog as well). A number of weeks ago, I decided to go to Modesto for a weekend visit and arranged to have lunch with Keith and my father, Randy. Now, something that people need to understand is that my father has not always been what one might refer to as a "model citizen". By his own admission, he has been a drug addict (he is sober now and works hard at remaining so, such is his desire to be so) and criminal, spending a significant amount of time in prison. I knew this previous to our eventual meeting. Prior to this most recent meeting, I had taken Keith's advice and asked Randy to consider writing down the events of his life so that I might better be able to fill in some blanks and get a real feel of who he was and had been, warts and all. At lunch, our conversation took some twists and turns which took me a little off guard, but also provided some insight.....which is exactly what I had requested. While there were mitigating circumstances in each instance, my father admitted to me having killed. Try to imagine that if you can. I can assure you that the thought is far different than the reality.
I have taken time to absorb this, hence the delay in writing about it. I was torn, because the writer in me found these revelations almost overwhelmingly interesting. I would wager I could write a best selling biography based on my father. Some claim to be outlaws; my father was the real thing. On the other hand, it was difficult to hear my father casually detail one of the instances, however in self-defense the situation was.
Heavy stuff. But I cannot judge. I vowed to myself that this event in my life would not be about judgement or confrontation, regardless of how others felt it may be warranted.
I have made this blog far too long. My apologies. This last subject deserves much more discussion, but not here at the moment. Suffice to say that I am at peace with my decision to pursue this relationship and see where it goes. I am feeling some holes in myself filling in little by little and I feel good to have re-connected with the other side of myself, which I didn't know for so long.
More later.
