The night before the Super Bowl, I had to go to the emergency room with an infected tooth. Honestly, this was the most pain I've ever felt in my life. It even beat out the spinal tap I had in 7th Grade. Thankfully, my friendly ER doc gave me some sweet injections to numb my face as it swelled up enough to make my face look like the Stay Puffed Marshmallow Man. Well, at least it was only the right side of my face. Once the numbing went away, I also had some great pain killers to help me get by.
On a positive note, overall my teeth were in such good shape that the dentist office couldn't guess that it had been over 10 years since my last appointment. They should know since I've been there three times in four weeks. Thank you, Oakwood Dental!
The next week, I found out that I have more family than I thought. A lot more. Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing but it sure did mess with me for a while. Here's a little background. I have a biological father (here on out referred to as glorified sperm donor, or GSD) who split not long after I was born. About 20 years ago I found out the situation and never really thought much about it because a year and a half after I was born my mom married the man who adopted me and has been my Dad ever since. Because my Dad was always there, I never thought too much about my GSD, or the implications of his actions.
However, as I got older I started to wonder more and more if I had more siblings out there. As it turns out, I do. Six. Four sisters and two brothers. At least four different women. To make matters more complicated, I'm the oldest. For those of you that are not the oldest, it's a hard position to be in. I feel responsible. I feel like I should have done more to seek them out. I feel I should have been there somehow to been the big brother I always was to Nissa. While I know this is a completely unfair burden to put on myself, that knowledge doesn't take those feelings away.
As a bit of a disclaimer, I'm in no way upset with anyone about the situation. Had Ol' Momma Rojas not moved us all up to The Bay, I don't think I'd be as blessed as I am today. I actually am only upset at GSD for the legacy he has left and I'm now responsible for fixing. My sons will know about him and will know what he did, but they WILL be raised to be men of integrity and courage.
With all that being said, this Saturday The Team will meet the new family members for one of my niece's second birthday. We're looking forward to it, but it's kind of a weird situation for us. Also, anyone know what to get a two-year old you've never met? I'm leaning towards pixie-sticks, Mountain Dew, a puppy and an ant farm.
There has been some good things coming out of Left Field however. First off, Boomer is getting married! Jess and I are in the wedding and, drum roll, please... IT'S IN ROME!!! That's right, the Team is making it's first trip across the pond together. There is a issue with even this joyous occasion though as it will take place during Birthday Week 2011 and the actual wedding on my birthday, the 7th. While initially ready to go toe-to-toe with my future sis-in-law, Lindsey (seriously, she wrecks EVERYTHING!!!), I've decided to forgive them as they are giving me a trip to Italy for my birthday. Little do they know, I expect them to top their gift every year. I figure I'll be on a space shuttle sometime in the early '20s.
In all seriousness, the Team couldn't be happier for them and we are so honored that Boom and Lindsey would even think about us joining them on their day. It'll also be nice to have another normal person around when hanging with the Evitt's, so here's a BIG thank you to Lindsey!
The second cool thing to happen is that I'm now the track and field coach at St. Croix Prep Academy. This is a really cool situation because it's one of the schools that co-ops to make our football team, so it's another opportunity to invest in those young men. Also, this will be the first ever track team there so I've very honored to be a part of it.
The Team is also taking some major steps in being more involved at church. Jess helps out setting up the service we go to every week, and then she helps me with greeting for two weekends out of the month. It's already paying off as we are building some relationships with with other people, mostly couples, which makes it feel more and more like "our" church.
Finally, we both have new jobs. Jess will be going back into being a PCA. She'll be back with the ever amazing Hannah two days a week and starting with another great family for the rest of her hours! We're looking forward to this as it's something that Jess is really good at and that she loves to do. The new family is also looking forward to Alex catching some track meets and football games as well!
I was just recently hired as the fitness director at Life's 5 Fitness Center in Hudson. It's a great situation for me as I get to gain some more experience and really help with developing the business. It also makes me a TON more productive because I have an office there instead of in my house which is so close to the super comfy couch we have in our living room.
All in all, as much as February started out craptastic (copy-write Rocky Hovda), it ended pretty well. We learned a lot of lessons, like keep your pants on and don't live in the state of your most hated NFL team when they're in the Super Bowl. Mostly, however, we've learned that our God truly is faithful, and family and friends truly mean it when they say they're there for you.
But seriously, nothing else out of Left Field for a while... please!
