When I got an email from Double T recently asking if I wouldn’t mind spewing my special brand of B.S. on her website while she would be down for a bit, to say I leaped at the chance would be an understatement. I mean seriously, one of the most intelligent women I have the pleasure to call a colleague in the blogosphere asked this college flunky for a post, I would have been an idiot not to say yes. That still doesn’t excuse the fact I’m an idiot, but I mean we are talking DOUBLE EFFING T asked ME for a guest post.
Double T is one of my sisters from a different mister. We’ve both dealt with divorce, single parenting, and the mysterious phenomena known as family law. It’s been so long ago I’m not exactly sure what brought our paths together. It’s the wonderful thing about being a regular blogger, you meet people (not literally, but Double T and I almost did meet last year when I was in her part of the world for a couple of days). I just remember reading some of her earlier posts about her precious “Munch,” and it just brought a warm and fuzzy smile to my face. I was in the middle of an ugly custody battle that I ultimately lost and reading Double T’s blog and how much she looked out for Munch always had a connection with me.
Plus Double T and I are similar bloggers. We just speak what is on our mind for the most part. Baby momma/daddy does something stupid, we put them on blast with our words. Remember now I’m an idiot, it cost me a ton of money legally, but I’m still pounding out meaningless words on a keyboard and meeting interesting characters along the way.
So who am I? I’m the Skipah, a nickname that has stuck with me since I was a young teenager. I got into this crazy little world of blogging back when I was blindsided by a divorce in 2014 fresh off a three day stay at the hospital after an unsuccessful attempt at perfecting the Klonopin diet. I thought eating thirty of them would help me sleep a little better or, like, forever, but thankfully it didn’t. In a state of confusion that I wouldn’t wish on anyone, I thought what the hell let’s start a blog. Second chance on life, no reason to go back to the status quo and thus, Skipah’s Realm was born.
What started out as a nightly series of my own personal “keyboard” therapy as I was figuring out life while going through a divorce and one of the nastiest custody battles this area has ever seen quickly morphed into a passion. The early days of my blogging career were literally me figuring out life on the fly, looking out for my daughter every way I could, and learning very quickly that the aforementioned family law game doesn’t work on common sense and facts. More like the best lawyer(s) and the threat of a suicide attempt held over your head at every turn. Of course, my little digital love child definitely didn’t help, and I learned quickly that a family law judge can pretty much make up the rules as he sees fit regardless if they are considered “legal” under criminal court.
Always centered around my daughter first and everything second, my blogging days morphed into just telling my story on a semi regular basis in hopes that some soon to be divorced dad would maybe stumble upon my little sector of the internet and figure out that life doesn’t end with an unwanted divorce. In fact it is quite the opposite. Your child(ren) become your rock and keep you distracted when yet another legal bill comes in the mail and you are torn between peanut butter crackers or a can of Campbell’s soup for dinner because frankly that is all you can afford! After my divorce and suicide attempt, I really don’t get to rattled now when things don’t go my way. Sure I bitch and moan (I am a man after all), but at the end of the day things usually seem to work themselves out.
Blogger world got a whole lot more interesting for me though on July 28, 2015. I had been on a few dates post divorce, some went ok, one went into the batshit crazy zone, and one inconspicuous date had me travelling 45 minutes from home to this podunk little piece of Americana better known as Madison, Indiana. Coincidentally it would be the last date I would go on with someone I had never met.
When Miss Madison (now my wife) walked into the land of Skipahsphere, that next year was easily the most fun I’ve had in blogging. Between her, my daughter’s former KGB spy hamster (now deceased…R.I.P. Hammy), my future step-children, and good lord all the travelling Miss Madison introduced me to, Skipah’s Realm was a fun place to visit from time to time when you were missing out on something to read while killing time at the airport or sitting in the car rider line at school.
My proudest blogging accomplishment would be back when I did a little freelance work for Credit.Com and had an article featured in the financial section of Time.Com and the Yahoo finance page, as well as a few of the bigger newspapers in the country. When I received a grant to go to the Dad 2.0 Blogger Conference in San Diego last year was pretty exciting also. Throw in some big ticket product reviews and overall my career as a blogger has been eye opening to say the least. What started out as my personal therapy really grew into something I would have never thought back when I hit publish for the first time.
So anytime you are bored and need to something to read to fall asleep, come on over to Skipah’s Realm. These days it’s a series of bad jokes, me bitching about millennials, enjoying life with my new family, and currently trying to get this damn pool cleared up in our new house we just moved into a few months ago! It’s never dull and boring around here, so come on by, hell you never know what we are up to around here!
Now before I go, my mom would rip my ass if I didn’t thank my buddy Double T for the opportunity to say a little piece on her site. When I get back to the D.C. area I’ve already promised Double T dinner on me and we are eating some of the finest seafood the Chesapeake Bay can offer! Give “Munch” a high five from me, and keep doing what you are doing as a single mom!
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This post was submitted by my friend Gary over at Skipah’s Realm. Check him out.
