Day 7, Day 8

October 1, 2010

Honestly, I can't remember what we did on this day. Obviously it wasn't that impressionable. More depression from Fraser and bickering amongst ourselves, no doubt. That has filled lots of our time these days. Moving is hard. Moving to a new place that you don't like right away is hard. And Jacob's get-the-hell-away-from-me-if-your-not-my-mom attitude is sucking big time right about now. No doubt there will be more to write about this in detail later.


October 2, 2010

Today was going to be great. Fraser was going to take Jacob out in the afternoon and they could have some fun together while I did some unpacking. There is nothing like trying to unpack when you have a toddler with you (except trying to unpack when you have any number of children with you). I was feeling overwhelmed. Fraser is starting work next week and I'm going to have my hands full. 

They got packed up, Jacob gave me a kiss on the mouth (something he has learned from watching his father) and demanded that "Daddy" give me one too. He told me, "bye bye" and they headed out. The house to myself!


I called my bro, we chatted. He assured me that things would get better and that living in the suburbs was probably better than living in the ghetto. Okay, okay. I'm multi-tasking, getting Jacob's room together and sooner than I expected, I saw the car come back. I don't think it'd even been an hour.
"Oh, god," I said to my brother, "they're back. This can't be good. Jacob's probably been having a meltdown. I better go."


Fraser comes upstairs with Jacob and the look on his face was telling.
"I'm about ready to snap," he said and handed Jacob over to me.
"Oh, geez," I said. I gave him a moment. 
"Apparently, minors are not allowed in the bars in this state."
"What?"
"Exactly," he said. "What the @*&#* kind of place is this!? It's not like I'm going to give my kid booze! I'm trying to get out of your hair. A father and son can't go watch some !*$#&$^(@ football until his son is 21? I hate this state! I told the waitress I'd just moved here and this was the most unfriendly state I'd ever been in."


Wow. No logic that I can understand. I don't know all the reasons behind things in this state but that one seems to top the cake. You can be in a restaurant, apparently, with a minor where there may or may not be a television to watch sports, but not in a bar area. What's the difference between ordering a beer at a table versus at a bar? The waitress also mentioned something about a video gambling game in the bar area. Right. The kid's two. He's not going to be playing Keno. This puts a damper on a big activity that we all enjoy. We'd take Jacob to the Boulder Cafe all the time for happy hour and occasionally, sat in the bar. 


This was also the straw that broke the camel's back for Fraser. The bottom of his depression. The final nail on the coffin for him. The two bright points to the day were 1) his buddy James calling in the am and 2) talking to his parents in the evening. 
"It's good to talk to them," he said. "It's good to talk to someone who loves me."
Oh, and Colorado beating Georgia in their football game. That was also a happy point in the day.