a day in the GOOD LIFE

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions.
Confucius Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)

This quote (minus the "superior" part) reflects well the latest tone of this blog, where I'm writing less about stuff that doesn't really matter and focusing in on stuff that does, like our amazing and adorable baby. Hopefully though I'll find time to branch out and include more of our home and family. Meanwhile I'm figuring out work, trying to keep on the bike as much as possible, trying to keep our garden alive, and working toward expanding our good life.

I guess I've been struggling to prove that I'm actually helping to manage all the work involved with taking care of Ellie, despite the fact that I feel like I'm constantly going-going-going, be it trying to satisfy my boss at work, making sure I'm available around the house, or trying to help clean or whatever. I guess I get so scatter-brained that I'm not really doing anything very well, but doing a lot of things mediocre. And this is something that I've always done. But in the face of a baby and a wife who needs help raising a baby, it's unacceptable. I guess I'm on my way up a learning curve, but I just hate being compared to the "average father" whose statistics in the field of fatherhood are apparently pretty dismal.

Yesterday I got to fulfill some of my homesteading desires by hauling wood from the dead tree that was cut down in our front yard, courtesy of our City. What logs aren't used by my father in law for woodworking, we'll chop into firewood. Something I value, but, again, doesn't really stack up in the world of helping to take care of an infant.