Finny McGinners

If you read my last post, you now know I have a daughter as well.  And I want to tell the story of her name.  Afina.  The reason, to me, is a fascinating story.  And the name fits her perfectly!

It started out when we found out my wife was pregnant.  We started to brainstorm on names if the baby was a boy, or a girl.  And we just could NOT agree on ANY of them.  I had a bunch she hated, she had a bunch that I hated.  So we put the name on the back burner and just went about our lives.  After the first sonogram, my wife looked at the picture of the blob, and said, "oh.....look at the little blueberry."  It did look just like a blueberry.  So I said to her, if it's a girl, why don't we name her Blue?  I thought it was different, and interesting, and my wife agreed. 

She said we could even name it Blue if it were a boy.  I immediately vetoed that idea.  "Little Boy Blue, come blow....." no way!!!! 

Well, we find out it's a girl, and we are set on calling her "Blue".  And then Beyoncé and Jay Z had to go and have a child and name it Blue Ivy.  GRRRRRRR.  I will NOT have a daughter that people think we named after Beyoncé's kid.  So, back to the drawing board.

Here comes more brainstorming, more hating each other's ideas until one day my wife said....."How about we name her Fin?"  Hmmmmmm.  It's a possibility.  It wasn't 100% agreed on, but it wasn't hated by either of us.  I thought a little bit more about it, and realized Ice T's character on Law & Order is nicknamed Fin.  What is it with us and rappers all of a sudden?  But I still wasn't about to dismiss it.  UNTIL----

I was at work one day, and decided to type in to google, "baby girl names".  Holy shit did a LOT of pages pop up.  I clicked the first page and went straight to the "A's".  I just started eyeballing the names, not really thinking too too hard when I saw a "fin" in the middle of Afina.  I liked the name Afina, and liked that we can still call her Fin.  Well, let's see what the meaning of Afina is.  I clicked on the meaning and it hit me like a smash in the face.  "Blueberry".  I called my wife and told her that Afina will be our daughter's name, explained why, and we both LOVED it. 

That's pretty cool huh?  That's not the end of it.  When "Finny" came out, and they cleaned her up a bunch, I noticed what looked like a bruise on her arm.  I asked the Pediatrician if it was, in fact, a bruise.  He said, "it could be a bruise, it could be a birthmark.  We'll find out in about 2 weeks."  Well, it's a birthmark.....and it's in the shape of a blueberry.....and it's blue in color.....and it's permanent. 

So that's the story of my little Afina and how she got her name.  My little blueberry.  She DOES have a buttload of nicknames too....Finny McGinners, Finny McGinny, Peach (that's my wife's nickname for her), and more. 

She's in the terrible two's right now, and boy does she have a little attitude.  When she misbehaves (like smacks the shit out of her brother for no reason other than to smack him) we attempt to put her in a "time-out".  She volunteers to jump in the chair, and will sit there in her "time-out", just rocking and singing, and laughing.  Time out does not work for this little girl.  And when she doesn't get what she wants, she doesn't cry, she stares you down.  It's actually creepy sometimes the way her eyes penetrate you. 


All-in-all, she's daddy's little girl, and I love her to pieces.  My little Finny!

Can you guess what I'm grateful for today?  :)

Finny in Winter, year 0. 

Has It Really Been This Long

Holy cow.  I forgot I had this blog.  There is SOOOOOOOOOOO much that has happened in the past from the last time I wrote here.  LOTS. 

If you remember, I lost my job at Magic 93 due to restructuring.  Since then, I did get a new job with Bold Gold Media.  I'm a talk show producer......commercial producer....commercial writer....fill in DJ on 104.9 FM The River (Total Reach Radio, The River).....producer for a super secret online radio station that hasn't launched yet.....board op.......light bulb replacer.....whatever they ask of me here. 
It's interesting.  All the different talk shows I produce have educated me in so many ways, it's ridiculous.  I'm still not an expert in anything yet. 



Simon just turned 4 yesterday.  Yes......FOUR!!!!   He's an awesome little kid now.  No more toddler....KID.  He's my bud.  AND my son.  I try to make sure I am his Father first, THEN his friend.  He's funny too......when he doesn't get his way, he likes to say, "FINE, you're not my best friend anymore!".  To which I respond..."I don't care.  You're still doing...(fill in the blank)!" 



My wife and I also now have a daughter who will be turning 2 next month.  She is the OPPOSITE of her brother.  I can go on and on and on about the 2 of them, but I'll end up with carpal tunnel. 



Having 2 kids has prevented me from doing a lot of the things I used to....IE:  Fishing.  Just read a lot of my past posts.  You'll see.  LOL.  I didn't even get out ice fishing the past ice season.  And ya know what?  I'm OK with it. 




I do have a new hobby though.  Disc Golf.  I love it.  I'm not infatuated with it though like one friend.  It doesn't consume my entire life.....like one friend.  But I do enjoy playing.  What IS Disc Golf?  I'm glad you asked.  Simply put, it's a combination of hiking, BALL golf, and Frisbee all put into one.  The rules and ethics are the same as ball golf....but there is no ball or club.  Just discs.  And there isn't a hole.  It's a basket, with chains that hang down.  Get the disc in the basket in the least amount of throws.  And the courses are usually in the woods. 

I wrote an article for the Independent Gazette about disc golf.  Maybe I'll copy/paste it in another post (which I'd like to try and keep up on now). 

I sold my motorcycle.  Not because of the children.  But because I wanted a bigger one.  Which I did purchase.  I went from a Honda Rebel 250, to a Honda Shadow VLX Deluxe (600 CC).  I LOVE it.  I just wish the damn garage would get my freakin tires in already so I can ride.  It's been 2 weeks.  Why can't I seem to find a reasonably priced, efficient, motorcycle repair shop in Northeast PA that doesn't take FOREVER to get stuff done.  I'm missing out on MANY days of awesome riding (and a lot of $$ in gas). 



There's just so much to catch you up on.....I'm going to need to start with more posts to keep up.  So this is just the beginning.  I feel like just in the past couple years, I have a brand new life.  It's so crazy how things can change so quickly.  Friends come and go.  Jobs come and go.  Hobbies come and go.  But there's one thing I still DON'T want to come and go.....and that's gratitude.  I feel like I'm one of the luckiest sons-of-bitches in the world.  I don't have a lot of money.  I don't have a lot of luxuries.  But I've got an AWESOME life.  Great people in my life.....and much much more. 

I've learned the word "failure" is not negative.  I've learned what a real friend is.  I've learned a LOT.  And for that....I'm grateful.  Or as some of my friends spell it...."great-full". 

I'll wrap it today.  Hope to write some more soon. 


Have gratitude!  And God bless!!!!