Updates! (multiple parts)

To the long timers out there - you all know I've been a long time member and come back to read up on how people are doing. My updates are few and far between, and wordy. Anyways:

It's been a hectic year, and since this has been quite the extended absence from the forums. So extended that my Polk LSiM set is in their original boxes in the attic. At the end of July we closed on our new (to us) home and moved in. My wife was 8 months pregnant at the time, and before anyone feels sorry for her - it was her idea to push us to move into a home ASAP. She had gotten tired of the neighbors that lived directly behind us and basically felt that out back patio was useless since we had to look at them every time we went outside. More on the neighbors....later.

So we moved into a smaller home, we downsized about 600 sq ft. The new home has no theater or provisions for one, but it does gain an office with ZERO closets. I work out of my home office and have all manner of gear that has no where to go except the closet floor which irks me since it's a really nice wood office. It's got one of them fancy coffered (sp?) ceilings and book cases out of the same wood. I didn't have a lot of input into the home, I just paid for it. It backs up to the turnpike about 6-700ft which means there is ZERO possibility of back neighbors and it's on over an acre so it's at a minimum 100ft+ on either side to the neighbors. I gained space, lost sq ft. Our old house sits vacant, with an almost non-existent real estate market. I've still got internet over there so the CCTV works. Hopefully it sells before the first quarter of 2019 is over.

My brother moved with us since we are trying to sell that house. When it sells he is hoping to pay for his custom built home with most of the proceeds. It'll be a huge change, he's lived with us since 2012 and has been an integral part of our family with 3 kids now. My daughter doesn't know what living without my brother around is like - but alas we all have to grow up and my wife wants our home to be only ours.

Audio wise I've tried to sell off almost all of my gear. I've kept my Sonus Fabers and Polk LSiM setup, but the rest of it is up for sale when I get around to it. Life is so hectic I barely want to sell them. The driving factor is to reclaim the space it all takes up. People are low balling me on a lot of it so I just cover it up and let it sit. Also, I don't ship (lazy). I'm sad that in my bedroom there is almost no room for audio anymore. I had the Fabers in my bedroom previously but our bedroom went from 25x27 to 15x15 give or take. We stepped down to a Yamaha YSP-1000 soundbar which works fine, but it's hardly a full set up. It's nice to have the 70" tv up close to the bed instead of looking like an ipad from 10ft away. We have a bonus room upstairs that could totally be a theater, but honestly we are going to use it as the "kids go upstairs (to get away from us)" room. So for them we might do in-walls with a hung TV but nothing special as neither of us parents ever go up there. My wife said the portico garage can be converted into a theater, but let's be real - that probably won't happen. It's more likely that I buy a car since I can say "hey im taking carX today instead" more readily than "I'm going to disappear for 3 hours to the man cave" when there are 3 young kids running around.

The kids. So the beginning of last year I had 1 kid. Now I have 3. My daughter is now 6 and I announced her on here way back when. We tried for 4 years to have #2 and honestly gave up expecting anymore. After all the treatments, medicines, trying, etc - nothing happened. My wife gave up and a few months later we found out we were having Riker (yes, TNG). Cool, had a son, started a new job. Two months into the job my wife tells me we're pregnant again. 3 kids is so much harder than 2, but hey I'd rather have more kids than fewer than we want. So Hayden is here - 10ish months apart from Riker. What's sleep?

So earlier in the year my dad told me he was having chest pains when he walked the neighborhood - but mowed the lawn with zero problems. I told him to get a heart scan since that's obviously a blood flow issue. After finally getting him to go - we find he's got multiple blockages and it's too difficult to get a stent. Bypass surgery was scheduled for Aug 31st and we made preparations for whatever may have come. The day comes and we all go to the hospital - my wife goes to the last prenatal appointment alone since it was routine and my dad's getting his heart worked on. I sit there very aware that this may be the last time I see my dad - even though statistically the surgery is far more successful than not. As he's getting ready to go in my wife calls - the doctor shows far less fluid than should be with the baby and he's got to come out ASAP. So they tell her to get lunch and come back right away as she's probably not eating for a while. Historically her labor is 12+ hours. I leave one hospital with an arm tag and go to take her to lunch, pick up my daughter and drop off my son at my aunts house.

Back to her hospital we go - where my other arm gets a tag. They induce and we wait. Baby's strong but this was really terrible timing. He's not due for another 10 days so we were hardly ready. By ready I mean we didn't have anything packed - in terms of actually having a kid this is the third go around so nothings new. I'm glued to my phone for updates of my father while I am also keeping my wife company. The only thing on TV while we wait from 2pm until 11pm is "Alaskan Bush People". Labor was long, my wife did not want the epidural since the last 2 times they didn't work at all. The doctor somehow convinces her to try a third time. It works, my wife is ecstatic. I'm talking to my friend on chat when they nurse tells us we should try to push. I go over and help - Hayden comes out with 1.5 pushes and I cut the cord. Back to my friend on chat to tell him the news. It's been 5 minutes and 30 seconds. Wife is so happy it took much less time than the last 2. I call the afterbirth chorizo. Seasoned nurses gag. Third time's the charm. I hear from my brother that my dad made it out of surgery and is recovering. It was a 5 hour surgery and instead of 2 bypasses he ended up with 4. They got HD video of it too - that makes me quiet uneasy seeing just how fragile it is especially since it's my father.

I spend 3 days in hospital - we always spend 3 days since Asians are prone to jaundice. Instead of driving home with Hayden we drive directly over to the heart hospital to see my dad. My brother tells me he feels guilty for having his surgery take away from our birth - I tell him we didn't plan it that way and I'm just glad everyone's alive. My dad spends a week in recovery and doesn't take to pain meds well. It causes vertigo and inability to urinate. He goes home but for 2 months I get random calls at midnight to 3am which result in us going to the ER for various reasons. We had two ambulance runs as well. Dad can't sleep, or is in pain, or can't urinate to the point that we have to go to the ER at 1am to cath him. It gets so bad that we finally tell him he needs to come live with us. The ER visits are terrible as it's a 30min drive to his house, then 15 to the ER. If I want to go home it's 30min then another 30 back to the hospital. We have one 2min up the road thats equally capable so it reduces travel time 90%++. He spends one night here and goes home saying he doesn't like it here. I just want my dad strong again - but the dozen ER trips combined with we have a newborn and a 1 year old are literally killing me. I'm so lucky to have a job that gave many many scheduling gaps that allowed me to take care of my dad. My mom had to go back to work since her job is what pays for the insurance. My brother too.