I’m delaying the release of my album yet again, but for two good reasons.

The early arrival of Avalon and Amelia, born to Catherine and me on December 5, nearly a month ahead of schedule, has changed things a bit. When I got the call that Catherine’s water had broken, I was out running and mulling how to fix my song Water Under The Bridge for the third time. Seconds later, thoughts of Water had left my brain, flooded by thoughts of water, as in broken water, as in The Babies Are Coming. Now.

To be honest, within days, I was, in the very back of my mind, starting to formulate a plan to finish my album on schedule, but yesterday I realized how foolish such thoughts were. The new deadline is February 1, 2011. Why not January? Or even very late December? Easy. I have spent so much time on these songs — in fact, they are my first ever labor of love, a labor that commenced over three years ago in the aftermath of an accident that I vowed to let change me from a catatonic career-obsessive into someone more engaged with the world — and I will not allow three years to come down to a few days. Further, why release an album at a time when everyone is stressed and distracted by the holidays or recovering from said holidays? No, I’m going to wait until people are back in their groove to try out my grooves.

I realize I’m like the boy who called, “Rock!” But this new deadline is serious. It gives me ample time to finish a few last things (ASCAP registration, copyright, song order, album design, CD replication, marketing plan, etc.), which a too-tight deadline would not and which I would just move anyway. So, stay tuned!

(Next: an update on the girls, who are doing really, really well and were released from their incubators into regular bassinets last night!)