Belly Laughs (I feel it in my bones)

There are a lot of long hours in my life right now, but once in a while I get a glimpse of the future I'm working toward. Today my wife and I settled into the final stretches of a long weekend of childcare and chores and what work needed to be done by turning on Disney/Pixar's Luca to try to entertain our son for a few hours before bed. I wasn't sure how much of it he was picking up, because he was more focused on crawling around and over us on the couch, and not really watching. But when I picked him up to start walking him to sleep, there was a moment in the movie that was thick with mock Italian accentuation, and I spontaneously exclaimed some baby talk at him in my own version of a thick Italian accent, and he burst out in unbridled laughter. Obviously it bore repeating, and he squealed with laughter again and again, and I was the funniest daddy in the world for a few minutes, until I stopped to spare him from getting the hiccups.

Life is definitely not easy, but I think I have chosen the right path for myself. It's not without compromises. I miss the close friendships I once had time to develop, and I don't know if I'll ever be able to foster that kind of relationship outside of my marriage again, but I am eager for our son to start talking because I think we are going to be the best of friends, even when it takes more than a funny accent to make him laugh big belly laughs. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I really want in life, mostly because a job opportunity came along that would involve some significant changes, including a move to Boston, and I've been trying to weigh my options in a thoughtful and reasoned way, rather than relying purely on gut feeling about it. I'll let you know what I decide in another post, but I will say that it has focused my thinking about where I want my life to go and how to get there. I think I have a 10 year plan. It will probably change, but at least I feel I have clear goals and direction, which is more than I could say about some stages in my life.