Yet another project just about completed! It took the weekend but we have successfully refinished our hardwood floors!

My mother and father-in-law came down for the weekend and we rented a floor belt sander and an edger from Ho'me De'Pot. As you may recall from an earlier post, we had replaced many pieces of our hardwood floor due to termite damage. The new pieces were natural and the old pieces were some orange-brown stain.

For about 7 hours I used the floor sander with rough-medium-fine sandpaper. It got just about everything except the edges which Ron tackled with the edger. Our hallway was barely large enough to use the sander and most of it was done with the edger. I was about ready to fall over halfway through the night. We were determined to get the stain on that night so it would set over night and so we wouldn't have to wait 8 hours and get nothing done. We were up until 0300! We bought two stains. When we started putting the first one down, immediately I said "Is it just me, or is this the same color we just took off?" Onna and I hated our floors before because they were orange! What goes with orange? We couldn't have an area rug or anything because nothing (other than door-hinge) rhymes with nor matches orange! The second stain, which had my vote all along, did not have orange in it, but was more brown. It is a little darker than our original, but... so what? We are both extremely happy with the turnout. We ended up applying three coats of semi-gloss urethane to it and it looks great!

We almost have a new house!

I have heard horror stories about pregnancy and what monsters mothers-to-be can become. I have to say, Onna has been a wonderful mother-to-be and co-parent-to-be. We have both been involved in our baby's life even before it has been born. Almost every night we either listen to the baby's heartbeat or feel the baby move. There is life inside my wife! There is a little me and her in there who already has a personality of his/her own! Amazing.

As you can see, (and I'm not just saying this because she's my wife and the mother of my child --allegedly) my wife makes a beautiful pregnant woman. It is fitting that her career-path is mothers and babies. She will be 27 weeks on Tuesday. It's amazing to think that in only 10 weeks she will be full-term and in 13 weeks she will be DUE!

I am a little scared to be a father because I am worried that I won't love my kids enough or the right way. I have seen and met a lot of messed up people and, though I am no psychologist, I believe it is linked to bad parenting. If children don't get love from their parents, then where to they go to get it?

I cannot wait, and am extremely excited to invest myself in my child and develop good habits, perhaps habits I didn't have growing up, and develop them early. I don't care what my child does for a living (though I could list off what I would not prefer) but what I do care about is the character of my child. I don't want to pressure my child to be successful and that failure is not an option. I want to raise my child to try and that quitting is not an option. What does it merit my child if I teach him to be successful in everything no matter what it takes and that if he fails that he is useless? What kind of person will he grow up to be? But what if I teach him to try his hardest and put forth an honest effort and to maintain integrity and honor no matter the situation and to not compromise character for success? What if I teach him that the only way to not succeed is to not try and not teach him uselessness but to teach him that there are second chances even if he does not succeed at first?

How to I raise my child to make the right choices? How do I raise my child to know that my love is not conditional, not based on earning my love? How do I raise my child to love unconditionally and not base loving others on what benefits him? How can I direct my child without forcing him, but give him enough freedom without ignoring him? Where is the happy-medium in parenting?

Should I be scared to be called "dad?"