Tag: transmandad

Update.

~ transmandad ~ Leave a comment

Long time no write, I’ve been ridiculously busy and for that I apologize.

I have two assessments left to complete in order to graduate, and there is 15 days until my Wife makes the journey to this town in order to pick me up and take me home.

I can’t really articulate how I am feeling about it all, because my emotions are so varied. I am beyond excited at finally, after almost three months – reuniting with my family on a permanent basis. I am excited to get work, begin life. Finish this chapter.

In the same instance I feel myself being somewhat saddened by the actuality of leaving this town. More so – the actuality of leaving my pseudo-family. These guys have carried me during some tough times, allowed me into their home without exception. Mostly, they’ve given me experiences I thought I would never have had the opportunity to experience given that I am married with a child.

I basically got to experience share house living, as though I were a batchelor. It’s been an eye opener and very rewarding. What a learning curve. So affirming.
The boys are all pretty shocked that the three months has gone by so rapidly; and the house feels a bit melancholy because of it. I plan to cherish the moments I have remaining with these three guys.

K is doing very well at his new school – the standardized testing results for all children in his year level nationally came back recently, and he is almost an entire band above average in everything. I am very proud.

My Wife is finally getting to do some real work with her job; after a couple of months building rapport with the local community and setting up a new office in the town. She rings me with excitement for debriefs, just like when we were living together in the city. It makes me happy.

The small town has mere spatterings of jobs, but due to the low population; everyone knows each other. As a result my Wife has been speaking of my imminent graduation, and has been encouraged to tell me to apply at several places that are desperate for someone with qualifications such as mine. To be able to use my arts degree in a rural backwoods town is more than a shock, to say the least. I was planning on falling back on hard labor and/or working with my Brother-In-Law with his company as an apprentice.

Today I will complete a take home examination, and then there will be one assessment remaining between graduation and I.

~ transmandad ~ Leave a comment

I got to visit K and my Wife for four days recently…

The little town is gorgeous, the people not so much but vast wilderness and wildlife outnumber humans drastically so it’s hardly noticeable.

I spent an entire day maintaining the land for my Wife; she couldn’t get the mower to start (and is usually very good at it) so I figured the engine may have seized with lack of use – it belonged to my father and he hadn’t used it for months. Land maintenance was getting pretty pertinent as the back paddock had stinging nettles around chest height, growing out of control. My Wife had attempted to kill it all off using roundup (drastic for us, but K and her were suffering from the stings) to no avail.

I mowed the entire block, front and back – even edged the lawns. Slashed the back paddock of doom without a single nettle sting – much to my amazement. Turns out the several layers of work gear, boots, gloves and a hat were a good idea.

We spent days feeding ducks, exploring the river banks, throwing rocks into the river with K.

When walking along the path next to the river with my Wife, K and my Nephew – K and my Nephew ran quite a way ahead of us. I looked slightly concerned I guess, and turned to my Wife about to ask if I should yell for them to wait up, when she smiled and explained not to worry – the path is safe, the town small and everyone knows each other. I am inherently and stupidly overprotective by nature, but K has been overwhelmed with a sense of independents and freedom since moving there. It was so refreshing to see, and it made me reflect upon my own parental practices.

At night my Wife and I played board games and chatted over drinks and cheese platters. I’d wake up with her head on my chest.

I read K bedtime stories, even got to attend a Friday morning school assembly. We went out for dinner with the family that resides in town.

Mostly, it was just a bitter reminder of all that I am missing whilst studying. I hadn’t anticipated the complete and utter empty feeling I would have after I returned from my little visit. I fell into the rhythm of life there far too easily, instantly comfortable from the moment I arrived… it was hard to come back.

By gosh, K had grown at least a bazillion inches since I last saw him. Or two, perhaps.

~ transmandad ~ Leave a comment

There’s something inherently magic about being the only one in the house.

When with my Wife and K, there was always a period of time within a week (often many) where I would have the house to myself for a few hours.

Here, there’s generally always people home, even if everyone’s in their rooms.

I got home from an appointment this morning and found myself to be the only one home besides from the dogs and cat.
It’s a warm breezy day, yet the house is cool and quiet. It’s lovely.

I’ve had so much I’ve been meaning to write, but each time I’ve had the opportunity I’ve been so very tired and simply chose sleep over writing.

There’s been so much happening I actually am unable to give a rundown properly.
My Wife and K have been having a difficult time in general settling in; K’s having school issues (which we are sorting out), my Wife is settling into a new job in which her manager is incompetent at best, I’m absolutely swamped with major assessment items which all seem to be compacted into the same few week period.
And we are all missing the ever loving shit out of each other, so we’re emotional.

I’ve become the absent hero of K’s world; which tended to happen in reverse when we were all together – that being my Wife would go on a work related travel endeavor and K would, the second she left, insist that his Mother did x, y or z better than I did and Dad’s way just isn’t good enough. Turns out that since I have been absent nothing my Wife does is acceptable, or pales in comparison to “the way Dad does it”.

K turned 9 the other day, and he literally grew a few centimeters in the four weeks since I had seen him last. He’s so smart. Often a little too smart, arguing back to his Mum and blatantly ignoring perfectly acceptable requests such as “Can you please help me tidy the lounge room?” – my Wife and I have been waiting for the rebellious boundary-testing stage for a while. Here it is!

Anyway, there’s tons more stuff I could write about but I’ll attempt to write more often.

~ transmandad ~ Leave a comment

I was going to make an update post, but the dot points in my previous ask pretty much sum up all the interesting things that have been going on lately.

Except for one little anecdote:

My Wife has always been a little reluctant to deal with the intricacies of boyhood with regards to puberty – referring questions to me and asking if I could handle the matter.

 Seeing as we’re all apart for the time being, my Wife has had to deal with a few things she’d rather not – namely questions about erections and reassuring K that things are normal but there’s a time and a place for certain activities. Hah.

I will admit to a quiet little giggle between the two of us at me not being present and her being the only parent available.