Don't call it a comeback!

Ordinarily, this is where I'd slowly slink into the room, head down, tail between the legs, mumbling some pathetic excuse of an apology for the longest blog hiatus in the history of The Gray Area. But not this time. Oh, no campers...I'm done apologizing. I'm a man. Not much of one, but a man, nonetheless. A man with things to do. What things? Don't ask me questions like that! Sarah Palin taught me that direct questions are a violation of my first amendment rights. Shame on you! And so close to Veteran's Day, too...

Obviously, my absence has had no effect on my grasp of a ridiculously bizarre and completely unrelated rant. What can I say? I stay true to myself. But in all honesty, it's been a combination of things that's kept me post-free since September 23rd. First off, I've been keeping up with my man Carter who is ahead of Emily on this journey. He's a tough, good-looking kid and his mom does such a fabulous job with him and her family and her blog that, and I'm not ashamed to admit this, I was a little hesitant to get back to posting. Seriously, how can a rapidly-aging, barely-literate, middle school gym teacher hope to compete? Then, to send me further down my self-imposed shame spiral, I discovered this little slice of brilliance and, well, my literary insecurities ran wild.

But it wasn't all bad. I also managed to rope the wife into joining me for some real workouts a few days a week which, naturally, turned into a whole family event. The family that sweats together stays together! But then Daddy had to get all old and soft and tear his left pectoral muscle. Deep down, I think Kate is happy...not that I'm hurt...just that I won't be nagging her to come work out with me.

Ok. So...we're gonna just go ahead and put the brakes on the Tim Tredwell Pity Party and move on to the good stuff. Like, ya know...why we're here...that cool, kid Emily. Last time I checked, we were flashing pictures of that bionic hip and shoving her out into the wild to test it out. Let's see...cast off on a Thursday, taking tentative steps Saturday, wandering around Ikea unassisted by Monday. Seriously. People continually ask "how's Emily?" My response each and every time..."Bulletproof."

And it's not even about the mobility or the fact that a scar down her leg seems to be the only evidence anything was ever done to her. She's just such a nice kid. She's cute and smart and fun and talks all the time (not always a positive.) Wednesday night while Kate was out to dinner with friends, Ems and I were snuggled on the couch watching Lilo and Stitch. She looks at me and says excitedly, "Wanna make popcorn?" I know she's just past 27 months old now and it's not like she explained how to solve for X or anything...but it was just so darn cute. You could say I'm a fan.

Kate, Emily and Gram will be shuttling down to West Palm Beach in early December for a check-up with The Man. I will not be traveling this time as I prepare my other girls for their season. I'm sure the Tredwell Women will be taking Superhip Week by storm. Probably best for me to just stay out of the way.

I promise to be in touch before then. In the meantime, some pictures of the cutest girl we know.