Am I Less of a Man?

I found this Meme online the other day and it struck me.

Some is going to have to tell Censie that she has a girlfriend!!!!!

That is right I am almost 33 years old and I have never fired a gun.  I have shot a paintball gun, a pellet gun, a BB gun and an airsoft gun but I have never fired a actual gun before. I have had detectives and law enforcement officers that I work with give me a hard time and tell me that I need to go and learn and that I should get my carry and conceal permit due to the line of work I am in but I don't know to actually shoot a gun.

Does this make me less of a man than someone who has shot a gun?  Am I a woman because I haven't fired a firearm before?  

Please tell me why you have to fire a gun to be a man?  There are many times that I feel very manly but none of them ever have to do with shooting a firearm.  My father was not a hunter we fished.  My grandfather was a hunter and he said that he was going to take me Pheasant hunting but he died before that ever happened.  Censie's grandpa had firearms in his house being on a ranch but when I met him I never went shooting with him or saw him shoot.  I know that he knew how to and still did it wasn't something that we did together though.

I feel that my family was one of those families who were never really into guns and we didn't have avid hunters in our family so it wasn't something that we did together.  I also at this point do not have the desire to learn how to field dress a dead animal, I can clean the guts out of a fish but that is as far I want to go.  I do not like this opinion that you are less of a man if you do not own a gun.  So should I start prepping Jude that he doesn't have a real man as a father because I do not own a gun or know how to shoot a gun?

I have thought about taking gun safety classes and learning some about them as Jude is getting older he does have a fascination with guns, this is a typical boy thing but I have not decided yet.  I know that family members do have guns and have talked to them about when Jude comes over that they need to be locked up and put away so that the children do not have access to them.  This is family though what about friends?  I guess I will be okay knowing that I am considered by some as a woman because I have not fired a gun before.  

Best Father's Day Present!

So I was recently approached by The Dollar Shave Club ( www.dollarshaveclub.com) to write a blog post for the best Father's Day present that I have received at this point.  This was a hard choice both of my children are still pretty young, and I do have to say being a father to them is the best present ever (ok insert sappy music) but its the truth.

I have loved spending every day with them but I did come up with some things that I wanted to share with everyone.

The first one that came to mind was my first father's day, ok technically Jude was not born yet but he was coming.  Jude was due on July 10th, so right after Father's Day.  Censie surprised me with tickets to the Boston Red Sox game when they were playing against the Colorado Rockies.  

Now the game that she bought tickets to were on June 23rd, we had plenty of time right?  I was so happy I am a huge Red Sox fan and this was my first opportunity to see them play live.  We went to the game that night, Censie had to do quite a bit of walking that night.  She later told me that she probably started labor that night.  The next day on the 24th labor started and Jude was born on June 25th.  He waited just long enough for me to be able to go to the game and it is an awesome memory that I have about that game and his birth.

The next gift that I could think of was my most recent Father's day gift.  I got a can full of Swedish Fish.  Now you probably are wondering why is that so special they are just little red fish?  I love them!  Jude at an early age caught me eating one while we were at his grandma's house and kept asking me for one.  As he got older i started sharing one with him when I pick him up from Grandma's house if he has a good day.  We get to go get a fish to eat.

Now Teagan has picked up on it.  As soon as I walk in the door to pick them up she starts making a fish sound and saying fishy and walks to the kitchen where they are kept.  It makes me so happy to see her light up when we get to share in this special treat.  So I will be sharing my Swedish Fish with them, but please don't ask for one unless you are Jude and Teagan I don't share my Swedish Fish. 

This just goes to show that there are some amazing large gifts but it can also be about a small jar of candy. I am just very blessed that I get to spend my Father's day with the two most amazing kiddos ever!

This post was introduced to me through Dollar Shave Club.  Dollar shave club is a subscription shave club.   Please go to www.dollarshaveclub.com to check them out.  This is a great idea for a father's day present if you want them to keep a clean shave:)

This blogger was in no way compensated for this post.  

Up, Up and Away!

Jude's 4th Birthday is coming up and I am trying to figure out if this is a good birthday present that I want to get him.

I want to get him a model rocket kit!

I spent a ton of time as a child building these rockets and sending them to the sky and being amazed that I launched a rocket.  Jude is really into science and I think that this could be a fun thing to do with him and we have a huge park next to our house, a perfect launching spot.

I have looked into these and they say that they are meant for children ages 10 and up but I think that with me doing it with him it could be a fun learning experience for him.  What do you think?  Do you think that this is an appropriate gift for a 4 year old? 

I Can Never Participate in the Greatest Joke Ever Again!!!

This has to be one of the worst realizations I have had since I became an Ostomate in January 2013.  Due to having a stoma that produces gas and does it whenever it wants.  You know like while you are sitting in a a group of professionals and it is dead silent and Gustav the stoma lets one rip.  I have no control over this any more which means I can never be the father or grandfather that does the "Pull My Finger" joke.  Please allow me a moment of silence while I morn over this.  Thank you!

Mom, Mother, Moeder, Mutter, Madre, and Maman!

"My mother had a great deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it."

Mark Twain

No matter how you say it she is my mom and I am thankful for her.  She has been my best friend and a rock for my whole life and now I get the pleasure of seeing her as a grandmother and being able to share her love with my children. I always get a little smile on my face every time Jude asks if we can go to see his Arizona Grrmama.  I am glad that my children love her as much as I do!

My mother had a lot to put up with as I was growing up, I know this comes as a surprise but I was a little bit of a headache growing up and we went through many, many, many growing pains together.  The best part of it is that no matter how much I may have tried to push them away or no matter how bad I screwed up my mom was always right there standing by my side loving me and supporting me.  

My mother has been there for me when I would wake up in the middle of then night crying because my legs hurt so bad from growing pains and she also was the one walking around with me outside in the middle of the night because I had croup so bad that we had to try to get out in to the cold air.  My mother dealt with me coming home in jeans that were so big you could have smuggled a family in them and also my multiple, multiple hair colors, piercings and tattoos.  Still no matter what my mother always came to me and told me "I Love You!"

We have had yelling matches in high school about how mean she was and how I was never going to live up to her expectations but here I sit today thankful that she never gave up and had such high expectations for me because I am the man I am today because of my mom.  She is one of the first people I call when things are going tough and she is always there with an open ear and allows me to vent and also will try to make me laugh. I remember when I had my Ostomy surgery in January my mom sat next to my bed and rubbed my arm while I was running a fever and was in pain so I could go to sleep, see even at 31 I needed my mom.   I would not be half the man I am today without my mother.  You can call me a mamma's boy all you want I will always be thankful and attached to my mom.  

Its funny I was listening to a song by Slim Cessna's Auto Club the other day "Children of the Lord" it takes a part from the Sunday School Song.  It has a part in it that goes "Rise and shine and give God the Glory, Glory" and I had to laugh some while singing this because I couldn't do anything but think of my mom singing this to me while I yelled at her to go away while I was trying to sleep!  Thank you mom! I love you more than I could ever tell you!  

National Teacher's Day!

Today is National Teacher's Day so I would like to send a huge THANK YOU to all the amazing teacher's out there.  I have never been a great student.  I did not enjoy doing school work and I struggled in school.  People find it amazing that I had a better GPA in college, especially after I got married, but I had someone (Censie) pushing me to do the best that I was capable of.  

I was thinking today on who one of my favorite teachers was and it was an easy decision for me.  David Nykirk at Rangeview High School was probably the most influential teacher in my life.  Sadly I saw that he just passed away after a long battle with cancer this year.

Mr. Nykirk made me laugh and made learning fun.  I had him as a teacher for several classes and his sense of humor was amazing.  He always made a rule at the beginning of his class that if he had a heart attack to pick him up and carry him out of the building before trying to resuscitate him because he said that he didn't want to die in the school.  He also was my teacher for Greek Mythology and he would not let us say sex because we were in school so we had to say that the gods were holding hands.

Not only was his humor amazing but also his ability to push me to succeed.  I remember I turned in a paper to him and he read it and then gave it back to me laughing.  He told me that I had no reason to turn in a piece of shit like that because I was capable of much more.  For some reason that struck me because he didn't sugar coat it he just had higher expectations for me and wanted me to meet those.  

So again today to all my friends and family who have been teachers I say thank you and please continue to push our kids to do the best that they can.  I cannot wait to see how teachers are going to handle our kiddos!  Be prepared!!!  

How Am I Supposed to Go Swimming?

When I was told that I was going to be getting a permanent Ileostomy I had many questions.  One of those questions was how am I going to go swimming?

I mean really think about it I have a "Bag" attached to my stomach with just adhesive and lets not even go into what it is full of:)  I was so nervous about how am I going to go swimming again.  This was a big thing for me I love swimming and my parents live in Arizona so we go swimming every time we are down there.  Lets be honest who wants to be in Arizona in July and not be in a pool, not this guy!

When I was first told about my Ileostomy I began doing some research on different types of wraps and things that people use to have what they call a "normal" life.  I do wear a wrap every day to keep my Ileostomy closer to my stomach so it doesn't show as much and also makes it easier to wear dress pants but think of this wrap as a tube top that I wear on my stomach.  It more or less holds it there but doesn't do much else from there.  

This is when I stumbled upon an AWESOME company called Stealth Belt (www.stealthbelt.com).  This belt is amazing.  It holds my Ileostomy in a little pouch that is held very tightly against me by Velcro straps.  So it doesn't just cover my Ileostomy it actually holds it while I am doing active things.  Also it is made from the same material as swim suits so I can wear it to go swimming.  How awesome is that.  The other thing that I love about this wrap is that it is much smaller than my day in and day out wrap so when I do have my shirt off for swimming it is not as big of a deal.  

They do make the Stealth Belt in a variety of different styles and also patterns so one can wear it no matter the occasion.  The other thing that I love about my stealth belt, especially as I am now hoping to get back to working out, is that because of its design it also is a hernia support.  This is a huge deal when you have an ostomy.  The Stealth Belt can be found at www.stealthbelt.com and it is easy to measure yourself for it and get it ordered right away.

 

Here is a picture me wearing the Stealth Belt prior to going swimming with Teagan for her swim lessons.  This is an amazing belt and it has made me feel comfortable enough to go swimming again.  I cannot wait to put it to good use this summer when we go to Glenwood Springs with my family and Jude and I go down the water slide together.  

Please pass this information on to anyone you know that has an ostomy or my be facing a future with one.  The more we know the more comfortable we are.  I know this was something that scared me at first when thinking about having a permanent Ileostomy.  

Disclosure:  I was provided with a FREE Stealth Belt in exchange for a product review. However, all the opinions expressed here are my own.