Being a Menxican

Webster Dictionary: Menxican: noun /menk-si-ken/
Definition:

1: a mexican man that is full of awesomeness and has learned to be as mainly as possible. Unable to ever lose his man card.

2: a person of extraordinary or superhuman power or achievements

Just in case anyone else out there is reading this blog (my wife has been a faithful follower), i thought i would introduce myself a little more in depth.

The Man Hour is about more then just me, but it's very important that you know the man behind the blog in order to understand what The Man Hour is all about.
I was born and raised in Tijuana, Mexico (yes, it is a real place). The first thing you should know about me is that I love being Mexican (how do you like my super Mexican Logo?). Growing up in Mexico was the coolest thing ever! When i was about 5 or 6 years old my Grandma (not my Grandpa) used to take my brother and I to the "Coliseo" every single week. What is a coliseo you ask? well, it's where boys learned to become men and men become boys,  AKA the "Lucha Libres", Mexican wrestling was the best! The Coliseum (I know, it's sounds like Rome and the Gladiators all over right?! It was pretty close to it) was the place to be every friday night and my Grandma being an avid fan of grown men beating each other up wouldn't miss it, and i was lucky enough to get to tag along. My favorite Luchador when i was little was El Santo.

I know he might not look like much, but he was my hero. El Santo taught me manny things about being a man. Things like;

1. Grown men can wear stretchy pants. Many of you incorrectly attribute Nacho Libre with that phrase, but the real Luchador who really brough sexy into stretchy pants was El Santo.

2. Its ok to be a little thick. This picture actually makes him look thinner and a little tiny cut, but most of his life El Santo was defeating foes on the ring and the silver screen all while looking a lot like Nacho Libre. There's no shame in a soda belly.

3. Grown Men wear capes and its just fine. We do it as soon as we learn to tie a knot. Men like capes! I don't know why, it doesn't even really make sense but we like wearing capes, Superman does it, El Santo did it, Santa Clause probably should. I am just saying..

4. It's ok to add "The" to the front of your name. I had a friend named Chad that called himself "The Chad", that's ok. "El" means "The" therefore don't be scared to start calling yourself "The Brian" or "The Kevin" (a shout to my law school bud who just became my second follower on my blog, yeah!)

5. But the most important thing El Santo taugh me was to be comfertable in my own skin. Just look at him, if he can go out there day and night wearing tights, a mask and a cape, then i can go out there and be who i am.

My manly tip of the day is do something nice for someone else, and do a little grunt or something manly like that. 

Stay tune for my next installment of "Being a Menxican", where i discuss my unconditional love for soccer, pinatas, and mexican candy. Men, Remember to do something manly each day. Women, just let us open a powerade or a jar for you, it doesn't take a lot to make us happy.

When the Man Becomes a Dad

Today, I saw my son or daughter for the first time. It was one of the greatests moments of my life.

Today, I felt more than a man, I finally felt the joy and happiness of being a Dad. I have been waiting for this moment for along time, and it's finally here. Lindsey and I had our first ultrasound today. I never expected to feel so complete. I first got to see baby's tiny little head, than baby's belly. The baby was moving all over the place, but at one point, the nurse took a frame shot and captured his little hand. I immediately found myself counting his little fingers; one..two...three...four..and five. My first fatherly instinct kicked in :)

As i have previously mentioned, I love being a man. My favorite part of being a man is being a husband, at least the best one that i can be for Lindsey. Now i am looking forward to starting my second favorite part of being a man, being a Dad. I've sat and watched my father, my brother, and my best friend all be dads for years now, and it has been one of the greatest blessings of my entire life. Watching them be fathers had told me so much about the man that each of them is. The strenght, courage, dedication and hard work that these men have shown while being fathers has deeply influenced the kind of father I want to be. Thank you Papi, thank you Nando, and thank you Brian for being some of the best men in the world.

Random Note: As i was reading my last paragraph i though, wow, "that's pretty good Orlando. You are totally getting in touch with your feminine side." Than i tought, Do women have a masculine side they need to get in touch with more often? I find it really interesting that i have heard many times the words "you men just need to get in touch more with your feminine side" but i have never really heard anyone ever say to a woman that she needed to get in touch with her masculine side. That's probably a good thing. I hope my wife never get in touch with 'her masculine side' if there is such a thing. That would just be scary, wrong, and it just wouldn't be cool.

So, all i wanted to say to my son or daughter, welcome to the family! You are one lucky child. You are going to have the best mom in the entire world. You are going to be loved more than any child has ever been loved, and your old man is going to be the best father he can be. That is a promise!

Here are the top ten things i am looking forward to doing with you when you are born. (boy or girl)
1. Holding you.
2. Our first halloween together- your mom and i are dressing you up as either Nacho Libre, or Encarnacion. It's going to be legendary!
3. Teaching you everything about sports, specially that Blue runs deep!! Go Cougars!
4. Getting you your first soccer ball.
5. Naming you. For your sake, you should probably be a girl... your mom and i have no trouble coming up with girl names. But if you are a boy, you may or may not be named Optimus Prime, Wolverine, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, MichaelAngelo, or Chapulin Colorado.
6. Speaking spanish to you. Don't hold me to that one.
7. Having your first pinata! All of your birthdays will have a pinata breaking moment. The only thing i will do diferently then most mexican parents, is that i am actually going to get you a villain pinata to break instead of the traditional princess pinata or favorite superhero pinata. I 've always found it a little odd that we hang our favorite characters by their head and beat them with a stick. I'll probably get you yankee or ute pinatas, that seems a lot more enjoyabe to destroy.
8. Feeding you. Your mom has some awesome ideas about feeding you real food and stuff. I got your back! Don't worry.
9. I look forward to just watching you sleep.
10. last but definitely not least, watching the smile you are going to put on your mother's face everyday.

First things last

A shout out to all of us men for being such interesting creatures and being the inspiration of this blog.

I know, I know, writing a blog might not be the manliest thing ever, but just like pink got into most mens wardrove over the past decade, blogging is becoming just as sneaky, watch out!
Here is the jist. The Man Hour is meant to create a greater understanding of why we men are who we are in just one hour. Understanding a men can take a lifetime, and in most cases probably an eternity. Guys, lets not pretend that the only complicated humans in this world are girls. One of the best kept secrets (until today) in the history of the world is that men are just as complicated, if not more complicated than women.

Here are my top three myths about men.

Myth numero uno: Contrary to popular belief, we are that simple minded.
No comment.

Myth numero dos: We do have a time of the month. It happens when our favorite sports teams lose, when we don't want to do chores and specially when we are required to listen. Have you ever been talking to a men and and all of a sudden you realize that he is not even listening to you? It's not our fault, that's what happens to us, we just space out for no reason, it's a curse really.

Myth numero tres: Don't be fooled by us, we are amazing multi taskers.
For example, I've perfected the art of walking, reading and bumping into people all at the same time. I'll bet you anything that most women can't claim that.

Hi, I am Orlando. My wife's name is Lindsey. I love my family. I only take seriously the things i have to. I love Lindsey, I love to laugh. I love life and I love being a Man.

Bienvenidos to my blog amigos.

BTW: This blog has two purposes; 1) to laugh about anything and everything; and 2) to write about anything manly. Till next time.

Adios!