When Timeout Boy first went to Hawaii, he was still in his mommy's belly. We went down there for a baby shower just after Christmas in 2008. It was also my first time there. I had only met a few relatives in the extended family before then, so it was a good opportunity for everyone to meet the baby daddy.
It was fun, of course. It was good to have family there and save on food and lodging. We stayed in the guest room of Gail Forcewind's aunt's house. Her uncle joked at first that I would be sleeping on the couch because we weren't married yet then.
For the baby shower, most of our gifts were cash, since we would be travelling back to New Jersey. Of course, we weren't going to be taking along a crib and a stroller on the plane. But the money really helped when it was time to buy those things. I mean, I knew having a baby wouldn't be cheap, but I was shocked at how expensive baby things actually were.
I only had a week off of work, while Gail had two. (I wanted more time off work, too, but that's another story.) So I had to leave her and Timeout Boy after a few days there. I didn't really want to. I had such a great time with the family that I seriously considered just giving up everything and just staying there. We would just forget our jobs, and I would probably work at Wal-Mart or something, I guess. (Since, the low-paying jobs at the pineapple plantations have been shipped off to even lower-paying labor in foreign countries, Wal-Mart stores have sprung up all over the islands to take advantage of the labor force. But I digress.)
Gail was smart enough to talk sense into me. I was all like, maybe we can do this until this, and if this, then this. And she was all, no because we need this, and if you do this, you can't do that and so on. And I was like, I guess so. But I kept trying to convince her until my last day there.
On the plane from Hawaii, I had a bit of a Santonio Holmes episode. I didn't take off my headphones before take off, and the flight attendant had to come back and ask me again. I reluctantly removed them. I was depressed. I didn't want to overhear the surfer dudes behind me talking about the righteous waves or whatever the heck that was about.
Even when we were finally allowed to turn on electronic devices, I couldn't get into my music anyway. I watched "It's A Wonderful Life" over and over again while I was trying to sleep. When I finally woke up - or give up trying to sleep - I watched "The Duchess" until I had to turn it off for landing. I hated travelling across the continent and just sitting there on a plane and not being able to do anything but think.
I was just so depressed. I was so afraid of bad things happening. I was terrified of not being there for my wife and baby. Thoughts like that entered my mind, and I just wished the week would be over and we would be together again. And of course, I missed them like freakin' crazy.
I kept myself occupied by moving our things from the old basement apartment to the new place. I still had a tough time sleeping. I spent my nights on the futon mattress on the floor with movies playing on Gail's laptop. They were DVDs I made of the trip, and when I couldn't stand them anymore, I played "Hellboy" on a loop all night. There wasn't any particular reason why I chose it; it just happened to be the one I had from Netflix at the time. After a few days, I switched to "Hellboy 2" on a loop. It's kind of funny but now I don't remember any of it. From either movie.
I was so relieved to finally pick up my wife from the airport. All that bad stuff I went through kind of disappeared and I became me again. It was snowing that day she arrived. It snowed off and on for a few days, actually. The cable guy came in the morning, and her flight came in the afternoon. We sat together on the futon mattress and watched the Ravens beat the Dolphins, if I remember correctly. After a few days, we bought the stroller and the crib and assembled them.
I feel for those parents who serve in the military and those who have to work overseas, and even those who have to go on business trips regularly.
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