All at once.

I’m going to remember 2014 as “the year everything happened at once.”  The first half of this year was pretty mellow and uneventful, arriving as most years do.  Once the summer came, everything started to ramp up, and now that same everything is now coming to its conclusion.  Among these things happening all at once have been 1) buying a house, 2) getting ready for a baby, 3) getting the first Star Power book printed, and 4) printing the second Dominic Deegan omnibus.  It’s been a lot of paperwork, moving things around, coordinating with others, and hoping nothing goes terribly wrong.  So far, so good.

Have I mentioned you can pre-order the second Dominic Deegan omnibus?

The arrival of our baby is the biggest worry.  Not that it’s been a difficult pregnancy for my wife, but it’s had the usual worries for anyone who’s going to be a parent for the first time.  My best friend, whose story was the inspiration for the Altered States storyline in Dominic Deegan: Oracle for Hire, is the father of two adopted children and has been giving me fatherhood advice.  A long-running joke between us is that I think my three cats are a lot like having kids, to which he calls me a “crazy old cat man” and warns me that I have no idea what I’m in for.  But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my cats have indeed been training me for fatherhood.

Things about parenthood my cats have prepared me for: – The sound of random things breaking in the middle of the night. – Cleaning poop.  A lot of poop. – Finding vomit everywhere, and cleaning it up. – Sudden yelling, whining, and crying. – Cleaning a horrible mess in the car (Rascal got car-sick and also pooped all over her cat carrier when we moved). – Trying to locate the source of mysterious smells. – Getting aggravated at a creature, who can clearly understand you, not listen to a word you say. – Watching the expensive, healthy food you bought get ignored and go to waste. – Expensive visits to the doctor. – Watching the expensive toy you just bought get ignored in favor of the box it came in.

So yeah, Dave.  I think I’m ready for this.

Or at least I think I am.