Meet the Grunt

Meet the Grunt

Welcome everyone to another installment of Words from a Foxhole. I really should have done this post first. Better late than never I say. I always have a hard time talking about myself. I can sit and talk for hours about Football or books but ask me to talk about me and I am lost. I will give it the old college try though. So hurry up everyone, jump in my foxhole and keep your head down and your eyes open.

I am 37 years old and happily married to the love of my life. I have two kids, one 7 and the other coming up on 2. After we had my youngest I told my wife that I did not want another kid because I did not think I could make it through another baby phase. No sleep… And I really don’t think science has ever fully studied the things that come out the back side of babies… poop should never look like that lol. But as he started getting older, I caught baby fever. I had two boys and I really want a girl. Life has put that on hold for now but one day I hope to revisit the idea.

See, I have done it again. I am talking about my family rather than myself. Well, here goes…

I grew up a military brat that traveled the world, never staying in one place for longer than four years. As a young kid, I hated that. I saw all the other kids living stagnant lives, having the same friends from K-12. As I got to my mid-teens I realized something that changed the way I thought about my life. While other kids stayed in one place, never leaving their hometown, I got to visit many different countries, experience many cultures, and meet a vast amount of people that I would never have if I never moved around. Now don’t get me wrong I am sure that there are a lot of pros to the staying put but in my opinion, being immersed in those cultures helped me become a better me.

Growing up, my stepfather introduced me to his small but magical library of books. From that point on I was nose deep in a book. Traveling from Hobbiton to PERN and back again. I carried that love of books through all the way to my adulthood. Hell, when I deployed to Afghanistan I paid an outrageous amount to ship a footlocker full of my favorite books so that when I was not busy doing grunt shit I could give my brain a break and take a staycation to Shanara.

I thought I loved books but then I met my wife, she showed me that I am a mere rookie. I might read a book or two a month but she will go through 4 or 5, and that is during a slow month. I have to hold her hand as we walk past a bookstore or the book department of Walmart. If not, I know for a fact that I will be standing there for what feels like an eternity as she looks at every book there taking pictures of the ones she really likes. That way she can at them to her TBR list later that night. We have this little, used bookstore close to us and every time we go in there we leave with a box or two of books. Right now we have more books than bookshelves to put them on. One day I will have to remedy that. When we build our forever home she has requested a library that has one of the ladders on wheels. I told her that would not be enough I will build her a two-story library that has two ladders into. I think her heart stopped for a minute after hearing that. She is belle in reality.

I will post more about my life as a husband to a devourer of books, especially after our trip to BookCon next year. She is beyond excited to finally go for the first time. I know I will be put to work meeting authors so she can have all the books signed she hopes for. I am sure I will have stories aplenty for your eyes to enjoy. For now, keep your head down as you leave my foxhole and move with a purpose. Thank you for stopping by, I appreciate you reading my post. On your way out leave a comment and let me know what you think about this post, the whole blog series idea, or if you have any suggestions for my next topic.