I apologize for not posting in a ridiculously long time. There has not been much to say, at least that I care to share with the online community. The baby is healthy and my wife is in good condition. I do have one thing to share, though.

My father and I were talking about politics in light of V.E. Day. I was explaining my views on various topics and he was quiet for a very long time. Normally, he is very active in conversation because he is very opinionated. When I asked him what it was, he replied, "Nothing... you just sound exactly like my father. His letters were always somewhat political because he did not want my mother to get discouraged. Are you a Nazi?"

I was dumbfounded for a little while. The question was rather sudden and I never saw myself as coming across in such a way. I said, "No... why?"

"He was and you have his exact opinions."

I will leave it at that for now so I have something to talk about tomorrow.

I just wanted to congratulate Wladimir Klitschko on his most recent fight. He fought in Dortmund, Germany's Westfalenhallen Complex. He defeated a previously undefeated Eliseo Castillo by TKO in the fourth round.

Herr Klitschko weighed in at 109,3 kg (240.95lbs). Herr Castillo weighed in 99,7 kg (214.95lbs).

Es tut mir leid to everyone who has been religiously waiting for a new post. Normally, I would have a post every day, but it just did not happen this time. I had a bit of a nervous breakdown because my grandmother died on the second. This, however, is not the only problem.

The problem is what my grandmother revealed to me when I visited her after work the day of her death. It is difficult for me to type it at this moment because I am still absolutely fuming over it. The overview of it is that, while my grandfather was at war, she had a rather brief affair with another man. Not only was it another man, but a man in the Schutzstaffel.

My grandfather, also named Alaric, was on the Eastern Front risking his life on a daily basis for his country and for her. He came home on leave for shellshock twice, both times described by her as "the most horrible events she had ever witnessed."

How could she have done that knowing very well what he was going through? I realize that she needed a vent for her pain, but that was not the way to go about it. She said to me after all of this that, for a brief time, she had no idea who was my father's real father. If that was not an utter insult to my grandfather, I do not know what would be.

I am going to end this post now before I go on another rampage. I am off today, so I will be on all night, if you care to discuss. Until then.

P.S. - My grandfather died in 1945 when the Russians captured him. He never knew any of this.

[Current song: Ozzy Osbourne - Revelations (Mother Earth)]

As you may have noticed, I was not on yesterday. It was the one day of the week where Fiona and I take the time for more religious activities. It is also the time for me to sleep because I had very little on Wednesday. ;) We were unable to do very much because of the baby, but we said prayers together.

Before Fiona and I were married, we were of different religions. She was Protestant, I was of the old Germanic religion. We agreed that a conversion was not necessary and settled on a wedding that included more of my traditions. Since this planning, she has begun to change her ways.

We picked Thursday because, in German, it is named for one of the Gods. Most would be more likely to know him as Thor, the Nordic version of the same God. So, it only seemed fit.

As for the talk, we did have it. I do not wish to speak of it yet because I do not believe I divulged everything there was to be said. I will blog it when the time it right. Until then.

I should be in bed at this moment, but I am not. I just washed the dishes and cleaned up from dinner. I had been too lazy to do it earlier. Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to speak with Fiona, at least not as much as I would have liked. I should just write her a note or something, but I would feel better telling her face-to-face. That way, I am not assuming she knows certain facts in my note that she really does not.

Donnerstag (Thursday) is the day we set aside for family, so maybe I can squeeze it in then. We shall see. Until then, I have to exercise a little. If I am still feeling energy, I may come back online. If I get tired, I am going to bed. I have work in the morning.

A little note to all of you who saw the scantily clad image I put up early this morning. My wife did, infact, approve of this action. I will not have to take it down, so enjoy it while it lasts on the main blog page. ;)

I have not yet gotten a chance to talk to my wife about the more important subject at hand. She was in a heightened state of stress today, so I spent my day getting her through that. She is currently in bed and I do not wish to disturb her.

I did tell her that we needed to talk, so we agreed to make time for conversation tomorrow. This day has been otherwise uneventful, so this is a rather short post. If I find something worthy of posting, it shall be posted.

Thanks to April, I am posting an entry that is a tad bit for personal. I think I am talking to her too much already. ;)

As you may know, I was in the military from the age of eighteen up until this year. My occupation consumed the entirety of my life, literally consumed it. I got to the point where I no longer wanted to feel emotion. In the military, there is no room for emotion. You follow orders or you give them. There is only a rare instance where opinion is involved. I never wished to shut out my opinions, but my emotions were not to be involved.

I built a wall around myself to the point where I could show no affection. It was not that I did not want to. I was physically unable. This was around the time that I met Fiona.

My wife and I have been together for about eight years and have been married for under a year. I did not show her any verbal affection, and very limited physical affection, until our wedding night. That is how much I contained myself. I am better now, but I still have my self-doubts and some trouble expressing emotions. Of course, that does not stop me from making an effort to show her how happy I am to be married.

I have today and tomorrow off, so I think I will talk to her about this, if she feels up to it while the baby is sleeping. She wants to help, but she does not know how and she has admited to this. I do not want her to feel helpless anymore.

I went to bed fairly early last night. I was exhausted from talking to bloggers all night (-cough- April -cough-). I woke up this morning around four and I just came home. I ran three kilometers and took a shower. It is about 5.33 now.

Well, as  I am sure my readers are wondering, my day went fairly well. My former rank has become my official nickname, even to the regulars who wanted to know who I was. So, instead of calling me wherever I am needed by my name, my co-workers call me "Unteroffizier."

I have not been able to make friends with anyone so far, but I do know a few on a first name basis. Other than that, there is not much to tell about my day.

I will blog again when I get home, assuming that I have enough energy.

Well, I got home from work about an hour ago. The day was more uneventful than I had expected, but I am not complaining. Some of the employees seemed to be amused by calling me by my former rank rather than my name, but that does not bother me. A few of them looked at me like they had never seen anyone so tall before (I'm 6'7"), so that surprised me a little bit.

I spent most of the day learning who was who, how to use the register, and all those wonderful things. Hopefully, I will have a better grasp of everything tomorrow. I think I know everything I need to know at this point. Well, we shall see.

Other than that, I have no other news. I do not know any of my co-workers well enough to gossip, not that I would anyway.

Well, I was offered a job as a restaurant manager downtown. The new superior, who I should be referring to as "Boss," admitted to me that the place needs some work as far as the staff is concerned. Being a former drill drill sergeant of sorts, she believes that I can fill the void. I do not think I want to know what is going to be waiting for me.

The job is not something I would like to have as a career, but it is a good temporary position. It will get the bills paid.

I was listenig to this song earlier today and I just thought I would share it. Some of you may like it.

Borknagar's "The View of Everlast"

Great and pounding in its way
Stirring the roaming cosmic sea
Oceans rise, planets igneous fall
As chaos and beauty in fierce rage

Furious are the storms
Forever its rage carries on
Disintergrating to create, upon fate
Wearing the web of solar cast
Hasting the view of Everlast

Exploding Imploding
Ascending, Descending
A spear through life and death
Exploding Imploding
Poised in all chaos directions
In fierce affection

Spawning the orbs of furious light
My sons of fire, you're children of the storm
Breeder of life, harvester of all
The last breath of the fall

Exploding Imploding
Ascending, Descending
A spear through life and death
Exploding Imploding
Poised in all chaos directions
In fierce affection

Weaving the web of solar cast
Hasting the views of Everlast

As usual, I have baby duty and I am staying up all night. Normally, I would be a bit more energetic, but I feel as if my head will explode any second. My temperature just went up a bit ago after being normal almost all day. I have a bit of a cold which I am trying desperately not to pass to my son. I have been washing my face and scrubbing my arms up to the elbow before I even think about picking him up.

I have been drinking a lot of fluids, so I am hoping that is keeping my disease at bay. I sound very paranoid, do I not? That is because I am. I feel like Stalin mixed with Hitler's amount of drug use. That is never a good thing.

The day has otherwise been uneventful, so that is all I wish to say for now.

Well, today my wife had her first bout with insecurities after the birth of our son. She had just put Alaric down to sleep after feeding him and I was in our bedroom with my bass. I was playing some random song and she sat down next to me. As to be expected, she still carries the weight of her pregnancy. I was focusing on where my fingers were on the frets and she was looking down at her stomach. She asked me, "Am I still attractive? ... You know, with this weight and all."

Of course, I told her the truth. "You are still attractive to me no matter what you look like."

"That is the problem..."

An ego-enhancing session ensued after that and we sat down together for lunch. We talked about anything other than the baby, even stirring up old memories to keep children out of the conversation. We both love our son, but we needed some time away remember that we are not just parents, but spouses as well. She needed it especially with her insecure state.

About two hours after the lunch, Alaric needed attention again and the hectic routine continued. She did not seem to have anymore self-esteem issues after that, so hopefully she received the reassurance she needed. She is asleep now and, yet again, I have the child.

This is truly a depressing day for me. I sent my resignation letter to my superior. I did not want to do it, but I need to make a few sacrifices in order to be there for my son. This is an entirely new chapter in my life and, to be honest, I cannot decide if I am going to enjoy it or not.

If I had been told a year ago that I would be married and a father right now, I would not believe it by any means. To just about every other man in my family, the military has been everything. It was the only possible profession. My cousin broke away from that mold, but he was always an intellectual person. It is not as if the rest of the family is stupid, it is just that serving one's country always came first. I guess my days of servitude are numbered now.

Even though I am depressed by this choice that I have made, I am fairly sure it is for the best. My wife never quite enjoyed my career anyway. She thought it was too dangerous. I never thought so, but maybe that was just me.

As far as money-making is concerned, I do not know what to do yet. Fiona is a housewife by choice. Forcing her to work would make both of us unhappy, especially with a newborn son. I guess I shall have to go looking tomorrow to see what sort of jobs are available to me. For now, I am on baby duty again.

I didn't get to sleep until about four in the morning, the time that my wife woke herself up. I now understand the true value of replenishing one's energy stores. I valued it when I was recruited into the military, but now I value it a bit more. I had a good amount of sleep, so I'm all right now.

I'm back on child duty tonight. Despite the exhaustion, I'm willing to go through with it. She takes care of him during the day, so I'll take him at night. It's an okay trade, I think. My typing is a bit slow because I have him in one arm, but I'm dealing.

That's all I have for now. I may post again if he keeps me awake all night.

Gods, being a father is bad for my health. So far, at least. I still haven't slept and I'm practically falling asleep at the computer. I told Fiona she could sleep tonight, so I'm watching the little one. He's in a little bed next to me. He's only been asleep for about fifteen minutes. Fortunately, I can type quietly.

I'm yawning so bad that my eyes are tearing. I'll live, though. If he's still asleep in forty-five minutes, I'm going to bed. If he does wake up, I'll just have to do something to wake myself up... like type some more.

Hello, tBLOG. Welcome to my first entry. Let me start off by telling you a bit about myself.

My name is Alaric Christoph Lehmemeier and I am thirty-five years of age. I was born and raised in Schwerin, Germany with my baby sister Anneliese. I had a fairly normal childhood, but I tended to keep to myself. I spent my time reading nonfiction books and playing my bass guitar.

When I was eighteen years of age, I served my tour of compulsory military service. I enlisted thereafter and became a full-time soldier. Despite living in close quarters with a myriad of people, I continued to be an introvert.

While I was on leave around the age of twenty-seven, I met Fiona. She was much younger than I, by eleven years , and still attended gymnasium (secondary school for college-bound students). When she reached eighteen, we begun a long-term relationship. I married her just over nine months ago and we have a son who is two weeks old. To carry family tradition, his name is also Alaric.

The baby is making a fuss, so I must leave for now. I may post again at a later time.