Snuggling Son

I have admittedly been taking it easy this week from exercising as I am in between training sessions. Each night I lay out my clothes for the next day which has been a ritual of mine for a very long time. Even while I served my term I continued this ritual laying out clothes (albeit the clothes didn’t vary much!) each evening in preparation of the morning. Being at fire camp brought this ritual full force as I would head out the door for the very early morning workout.

I didn’t take many days off from working out because I just didn’t want to but now back in the free world I have a good indication on the days when I will and when I won’t workout. Last night I laid out my clothes knowing full well I wouldn’t be going off to the gym yet I still had picked out my workout clothes. I guess this was just in case I had changed my mind. No, I didn’t change my mind and really I enjoy when my son makes his way into our bed where he snuggles for about an hour and a half before it is time to start the day. This is the epitome of my life having my son climb into bed with his big beautiful bright smile and falling back to sleep within minutes. I don’t sleep much during this period because I just love watching my son and my wife sleep, life is great!!!

I had an appointment scheduled this morning for some possible referrals. This is a bulk of what I actually do and I must admit it is very slow going. I am building relationships one at a time and I am sure it will all come together at some point but for now it is going a little slow. Thankfully I work for someone who understands the process and the only pressure I have is the pressure I put on myself which really isn’t very much. There is a process and I do need to be more diligent in this process which means I need to get on the stick!!

Everyone was off to school and I made my way to my appointment which was about 50 miles away. Usually this trip can take up to two hours because of the traffic so I took this into consideration when I made the appointment. It was off peak traffic time and I made the trip in little less than an hour. I arrived early just in case there was traffic so I stayed in the car listening to the radio. I have become a fan of public radio listening to National Public Radio which gives an unbiased view of the news and the day’s events. I never listened to NPR before going to prison and my discussions with my roommate lead me to find NPR. Go figure I went to prison and after started listening to public radio; I wonder how many former inmates can make this statement??

As I listened was discussion on Proposition 8 the same sex marriage proposition between a person supporting and one against. As a refresher if a person supports this proposition they are AGAINST same sex marriage and thus a person against this proposition is FOR same sex marriage. I think it is fairly obvious where I stand on this proposition but it was very interesting listening to the two sides. One side had very little substance in their argument while the other side didn’t need to say much. The point of having same sex marriage being taught in the schools was brought up and the fact that this may happen with or without the passage of this proposition. One caller stated they were adamantly opposed and their point was on moral grounds. I believe once we as a society start to police morals we are in big trouble because after wasn’t this country founded on the principle of freedom? Anyhow this was interesting and I still don’t understand the big deal, oh well.

I made my way into the appointment and I was escorted through an addiction treatment center for both adolescents as young as 12 and adults. It is so sad to see someone so young addicted to a substance and this substance happened to be drugs. I know there are so many stories behind how these young people get to this stage and all of those stories are heartbreaking. The facility I work for does not have inpatient treatment for adolescents but we do outpatient treatment. The liability issues for the adolescents are quite rigorous and I can see why.

The tour didn’t take very long and it wasn’t the best setting for recovery; however; it does serve a very good purpose; people helping people recover from a terrible addiction. The exchange of information was made at the end of the tour and hopefully we can develop a very good working relationship. I departed and headed back home where I passed the time talking to my mother who was over my sister’s house celebrating my niece’s birthday.

My niece turned 18 today and oh my where has that time gone. I remember visiting her in the hospital back in Pennsylvania the day she was born. That day it was myself, my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time), my mother and grandmother making our way from New Jersey to Pennsylvania where my sister resided back then. My niece will be graduating high school this year and headed off to college; Happy Birthday!!!