UPDATE!

Just got back from the doctor. He is sending us to the hospital today to induce labor. We are going to the hospital at 4pm today. Elliott will be here sometime today or tomorrow! More info soon...

due date

Today is Elliott's due date. I don't think he realizes that his Mother HATES being late for anything. No sign of labor yet. We go to the doctor in an hour for our weekly check up. Thanks to everyone for phone calls, texts, comments. We are doing great, just anxious to finally have him join us. We will keep you updated...

Did anyone catch the series finale of Lost? I was skeptical throughout this final season that I would be happy with the way it ends, but I thought it was a perfect way to end the show.

on a lighter note...

I have been going to the grocery store a little more often these days. In the past Summer has done most of the shopping. I am trying to help out. I work for Trader Joe's but there is a big difference between a little market and a mega store like Vons or Albertsons. Honestly the only reason that I go there is convenience. I'm not huge fan of Vons but it is right around the corner from our house so we tend to shop there sometimes.

Sometime within the past few years it became a standard for these big mega stores to have a coffee stand inside them, usually it is Starbucks. The Vons we go to is no different. They have a Starbucks right by the entrance of the store. They also have a bunch of tables and chairs where you can sit and drink your beverage which I had never noticed before, until yesterday. As we were walking around shopping I noticed three elderly ladies sitting at these tables just sitting and hanging out with their coffee. I started cracking up with laughter. I think it is awesome that these elderly ladies have each other to hang out with. It actually makes me feel good to see elderly people interacting with each other. The reason that I found this so funny is that these ladies probably called each other up to get together and decided, "Let's meet at Starbuck's, you know the one inside the Vons." The real kicker here is that there is a real Starbucks about 20 feet away from Vons in the very same parking lot, yet these three elderly ladies prefer the cold empty atmosphere that a mega store like Vons provides. Okay, maybe I am the only one that finds this funny. One of those things you had to be there for.

Today is exactly one week until Elliott's due date(May 26). This means that he will be arriving one way or the other within the next three weeks. I know I can speak for Summer when I say that we are both getting pretty anxious at this point...

and now for something completely similar....

The internet is a crazy place these days, as if I need to tell you this. You are reading a blog(just the word blog itself should give you proof of my statement of how weird the internet is) written by me. I'm not famous. I haven't done anything of significance other than to be a functioning member of society, to deserve this space to share my thoughts with the five people that read this blog. Yet here I am with my own little corner of the inter web. That is the thing about the internet, between blogs, social networking sites like facebook and twitter you can connect with people and know what is going on at any moment of the day. I have to admit, there are things about this that are really cool. I use facebook and I have reconnected with people that I don't get to talk to all the time or haven't seen in some time. Or it is fun to see what people are up to on a day to day basis without having get on the phone with them(I'm not a fan of talking on the phone). While I do use the facebook lately I have begun to think that there are some things about these sites that are driving me crazy.

First, when you sign up for these sites you get to choose who you want to be friends with. You DON'T get to choose who your friends choose to be friends with. If you post something on one of these pages anyone of your friends can comment on what you have to say. This is where things get interesting/ugly(What's up Darryl!). We are living in a pretty intense political and socio-economic climate these days. Naturally people are going to use their voice to express how they feel about what is currently going on around them. Before I go on let me say that I do not have a problem with this whatsoever. I believe with all of my heart that whether I agree or disagree I try to respect peoples opinions and where they are coming from. I understand that what I think(I'm not even going to get into my politics, I'll save it for later) is not going to be the same as other people. That is fine with me. I know, I'm weird because I don't want to fight and argue my political beliefs on the internet. I'm not disrespecting the people that do, actually I respect these people a whole lot for being passionate enough to speak up about what they belief in. Maybe I'm just suffering from apathy and exhaustion(a little reference for the punkers).

Here is one thing that I will not tolerate having to read on the internet: blatant racism. Yes the new Arizona immigration law is stirring up the pot around the country right now.(I am not going to comment on this law itself as I do not know all of the information on it and I am not really here to start a debate) One of my really good buddy's posted something about this on his facebook page. Like I said I have no problem with someone expressing their opinion in an appropriate way. Well some random guy that I don't know left a comment that said "dumb ass beans". That was the whole comment. This made me pretty angry. Another guy posted a comment, and then my friend Cristina posted a comment that was saying that she did not agree with what was posted. Well, the same guy that posted "dumb ass beans" made another comment telling Cristina that she said one of the most uneducated things he had ever heard. WHAT! This guy just not only degraded a whole race of people by using an extremely offensive term to describe them but he also generalized a WHOLE RACE OF PEOPLE by saying they are all dumb. And then he had the nerve to say that her opinion was uneducated. I really couldn't believe this guy was so ignorant that he couldn't see what he just did there(or maybe he wasn't THAT ignorant because when I looked later the comment was removed). I'm sorry but I am friends with and work with a large number of Hispanic people who are very intelligent,funny, warm, caring and generous human beings. Way to go random white guy from, you just proved that racism is still alive and well.

I know that racism still exists. I am not naive. But I really hate it with all of my heart, I really do. One could make the argument that just because you use a racial slur or make a little joke does not make you racist. I'm calling BS on this. If it is important enough to make a comment out loud or where people can read it and that comment is making a negative generalization about a WHOLE group of people then there is something inside you that is making you angry and hateful. I am not claiming that I am perfect and have never had a thought like this before in my life. As human beings I think at times these thoughts can come to us unintentionally. But I believe that it is something that you should fight off or just keep it to yourself if you really are ok with that type of negative thinking.

You have probably read this far and wondered, "Wow, Josh I thought this blog was supposed to be about your son that is about to be born, not the internet, politics and racism". Ahhh, you are right but this blog really is about my son. Getting ready to be a father has made me think about this more because I am thinking about what I am going to teach my son when it comes to politics, equality, race, the internet, sexual orientation and all kinds of heavy subjects. It can be hard to come to conclusions when some of these topics are so heavy and complicated. I just want my son to be able to respect people no matter what they believe or who they are or what they look like. One of the things I have loved about growing up in California is the diversity. I want my son to grow up and be exposed to different cultures as much as possible.

One thing I do know that I will teach him regardless of any of these things is LOVE. At the risk of sounding like a hippy(and I really don't want to sound like a hippy), I think that love has power to make a difference in this world(yep, I sound like a hippy). I work in a grocery store and every day I see people come through there that seem really miserable. Not all of them, in fact most of our customers are great. But I do deal with a percentage of people that seem really miserable. And I understand that I don't know them or what they have gone through. But I do know that this life is a gift and I feel really blessed to be able to be here. I wish I could make other people feel that same feeling. It feels amazing to be here, right now, with all of these people I know and care about. And when it comes down to it what race, political belief, religion, sexual orientation you have does not matter to me. What kind of person you are and how you treat others is the most important thing to me. And appreciating the people that love you as well as loving the people that you don't even know are both very important to me. This is what I hope more than anything I can teach my son. I am very far from having it all together, but if I can model these things then I might be on the right track...

***I apologize for any grammatical errors. I also apologize if I offended anyone by anything I said, just trying to speak from the heart. I guess I'm not that much different from anyone else posting comments on the internet, ha!

lamazzze

We are now two weeks away from the due date, which means it could be any time now. I know Summer is hoping for sooner rather than later. If I had a little human being growing in my stomach I would want to get it out as soon as I possibly could too. We are very excited though, all of the waiting and anticipating is almost over.

Before we get to meet him though we have one little obstacle to get through, it is known as labor. Luckily Summer isn't too nervous about it, the bad part is that I feel nervous enough for both of us. We went to our lamaze class last weekend, it was a crash course. Instead of 6 weeks of class we chose to do it all in one weekend. It was here that I was exposed to videotape after videotape of people giving birth to babies. I had to watch the whole thing go down and everytime I saw these random babies being born I felt like I was going to pass out. I'm sure I will be fine when it is time for us to do it but I have to say it is weird watching a baby being born. They look weird when they first come out, covered in white stuff, the skin is a bluish purple color. The scariest thing is those first few seconds when they are not breathing until that cord is cut and the mucus is cleared out. I watched these videos realizing that I will be doing this any day now and I am not at all prepared for it. But at least I know how to breathe correctly during labor.

Wait a second.

I already forgot the breathing techniques that we learned in class(not that I really had them down to begin with). Basically at this point I am just going to be a big mess of nerves that will not be a whole lot of help. The things I do remember right now will probably be forgotten when I hear my wife screaming in pain. The one good thing about taking the lamaze class is that at least I am now thinking about how crazy labor really is. I wasn't really thinking about it too much before. I might not be prepared but at least I am aware of what is about to go down. Thinking about getting through that and the result that comes of it is pretty awesome too. We get to take a little person home with us as a result.

Did I mention how excited I am to meet this little guy?

In Defense of the Bieber

There is a controversy spreading across the internet like a wild fire right now. It has come to my attention that JUSTIN BIEBER DOES NOT KNOW WHAT THE WORD GERMAN MEANS!Can you believe this? I mean this is BIG news people. The people at E News and TMZ are gonna have a field day with this one. Upon first viewing this video I pretty much had the same initial reaction as everyone which was "Man, Bieber is pretty dumb." But upon some closer examination and critical thinking skills I would like to argue that Bieber may not be as dumb as he appears. I mean, that Aussie guy had a pretty heavy accent and was asking pretty much one of the dumbest interview questions I have ever heard. I mean if some guy asked me if my name Izay was German for basketball? I wouldn't know how to answer either. Bieber just did what anyone would do when asked a dumb question, and proceeded to try and make the interviewer feel dumb. Bieber was actually outsmarting the guy the whole time. Aah, I don't believe any of that. Justin Bieber doesn't know what German means. Time to hit the books Bieb.

weight of air

Summer had her last baby shower today! We have had a few different ones that friends and family have thrown for us. I just want to thank everyone so much for all of the love and support. This experience is so exciting but the fact that we get to share it with so many amazing people makes it even more exciting to me. We are truly blessed.