Last night was a fun night. A number of the ladies of the game night group went out to dinner together, so one of my oldest and best friends ever, Larry, and I hung out at his house. It was kinda like old times except it wasn’t. This time we were joined by a six year old. Instead of the usual stressing about life and the trials and tribulations of taking a shot at the whole adulting thing, we watched Larry’s son drive his RC car up and down the driveway. It was great!

We took a shot at watching Highlander while editing it for television on the fly. You edit movies on the fly through the use of the fast forward function, reaching out and covering little peoples’ eyes, and strategic use of singing, “La La La!” really loud. We were successful for a good part of the movie, but once you get into the last third of it the intensity ramps up, as does the violence, so we stopped. It’s okay, Highlander will still be there the next time. Someday that six year old little man will be old enough to sit on the couch next to his old man and watch the greatest movie even made about an immortal sword fighter from 16th century Scotland and his adventures in New York in 1985. After all, there can be only one.

The initial plans for last night also included Mike the Lizardfish Bass Player, but he had spent the previous two days on top of a mountain and probably needed some sleep… and maybe some Tylenol or something. That just means we have to try it again soon.

As I was getting ready to leave, Larry’s son told me I should just stay over. “You can have your own room,” he said. He’s the same age now that my step daughter was when I first came into their lives. If you could go back in time to any point prior to 2007 and ask me what I think about kids… my response probably wouldn’t have been all that positive. Not bad, really, just indifferent. I didn’t think I wanted kids. I had almost no experience with them. A few little cousins and small amounts of time with friends’ kids. Not enough to form an informed opinion.

Today, I have two step kids, three nephews, one niece, and a whole pile of friends with kids of their own. Ask me how I feel about kids now? I’ll tell you. They are the best thing that could ever have happened to our universe. My step kids… I can’t rave about them enough. There are no adjectives in the English language that can accurately describe just how much I love those two people. I don’t know how I got so damn lucky. I mean first I meet Jen and fall in love with her, then her kids are both superhuman amazing? What did I do to deserve this, and how can I guarantee that it will last forever?

Thanks to Larry and his son for having me over last night. I had a lot of fun. It was great to see you guys again.

Know what else is great? When I got home I had to bring the trash barrels in from the street. As I was carrying them up to the garage, my beloved bride, Jen pulled into the driveway. We were about three minutes away from getting home at exactly the same time. If you didn’t know better, you’d think we were meant to be. You’d be right, we were meant to be.