I'm back!!

Okay, sorry about the lack of posts. There's been a lot going on here in my world. We've been battling illnesses, the weather and life in general. My father came into town recently for a visit. Ordinarily for those of you out there, this might be perceived as a happy event. However for me, it's usually a stress-filled weekend of me wanting to order him to leave us alone and never darken our doorstep again. Of course, I never do because of my son. I feel that, as much as I dislike my father for what he has done in the past, my son still has a right to know him. Combine that with the fact that my father is some kind of emotional eunuch and you START to get an idea of what that whole situation is like.

My distaste for my father began after he and my mother separated. He was making her life hell and I was getting rather sick and tired of watching my mom break down into tears every time he called on the phone. I pretty much refused to speak to him and hung up on him whenever I answered one of his calls. He has been pretty much non-existent in my life since I was a teenager. He wasn't invited to my high school graduation, wasn't invited when the wife and I got married and wasn't invited to see my son after he was born. He requested to come see my son after about a year and I really agonized over the decision. My in-laws live directly across the street from us so my son has daily contact with them and they are a BIG part of his life. I didn't really want to expose my family to the person I despise most in this world. After talking things over with my wife, we decided to allow it.

This has evolved into the (usually) annual Creepy Grandpa Visit. My father drives down on a Friday, we meet him for dinner that night and then do something with my son on Saturday. This is followed by him coming for dinner at my in-laws' house that evening and then another visit Sunday afternoon before he departs back home. He stays in a hotel and that's the way I like it. On top of all this, he leaves strange comments on Facebook for my wife and I. Nothing really out of line but things that make you say "WTF?". We hardly ever get any message thanking us for the visit and then Creepy Grandpa fades away into my son's distant memory until the next time.

I end up being stressed and edgy all weekend because I don't want him here and it just makes life difficult in general. He seems like he's trying to mend things with me but I really don't have a clue about where to begin. My brother seems like he's going to be a screw-up for the rest of his life and my sister is still crazier than a shithouse rat so it seems like I'm the only kid who ended up somewhat decent. Anyways, he's gone and things are back to status quo.

In other news, I'm busy breaking in a new (to me) partner at work. My new partner is an okay guy. We're still getting used to working together and that's going to be happening for a while. He's having some problems with motivation so that's something I'm trying to work on. We were out working on the interstate the other night and I was steadily stopping cars but he wouldn't do much. I ended up catching a DUI about 2 hours before the end of our shift so I ended up getting off late by the time all the paperwork was done. Otherwise, things have been nice lately. I'm just relaxing here in my chair while the dog does her thing outside and I'll be headed to bed in a couple of hours. Hope things are going well for whomever ends up reading this.