The Women in My Life

It's harvest in the wine country. It's been years since that meant something to me. Working the last four years in bottling quality control for an enormous factory of a winery meant that I missed out on the party that is harvest. This wasn't necessarily a bad thing since I got to be home with the boys while they were babies. The timing of it all was pretty perfect.

The only reason I'm able to even have this job now, the job I've been working toward my whole career, is because of the women in my life. Without them I simply could not afford the time harvest demands.

This weekend was my weekend with the boys and I had to work long hours all weekend so Jodee stepped up and offered to take care of them. First she painted a door in chalkboard paint and taught Liam how to write a lowercase "a".

Then she crafted a menu (gourmet baloney exists?) and planned out an entire weekend of activities including a trip to the Children's Museum of Sonoma County. She only took Liam (because Finn is horrible) but she hired the adorable 14-year-old neighbor girl to watch Finn so he was just fiiiiine staying home.

Jodee was kind enough to send me pictures, so it was like I was there being a good father.

Clearly she's better at this than I am. I expected to come home to a harried girlfriend and two traumatized boys riddled with separation anxiety, but all that met me at the door were contented smiles. The boys may have even seemed a little too content. There was an air of "Oh! You're back?"

She is truly amazing.

The other woman in my life that makes this all possible is, of course, Erin. Today is actually our first "official" day as a divorced couple since it's exactly six months to the day since we filed. Erin jokingly asked what I was going to do to celebrate:

So there's that. I think I may have to celebrate after all. I am truly the luckiest guy on earth.