Almost Lost It

Lots of in-laws in town over the weekend. As always this meant lots of eating out. Couple that with my lack of exercise lately and I mad feeling less than healthy. Time change has afforded us more time in the evenings, to you know, get some exercise in and whatnot. But there still doesn't feel like enough of it to go around. Add to that my work schedule has started to include me working late every Tuesday and Thursday and the excuses start to pile up. Oh, also it's yard work and allergy season, so...

Jon's Cruces-bound this weekend to 1/2 Death March with mom. Beers on the roof seem in order.

Finished Ready Player One. I liked it, but I don't think I loved it. The nostalgia angle is always comforting but the conflict felt less than threatening once the story found its feet. The ending, while entertaining, didn't feel at all surprising. Now I'm on to Best Served Cold.

And thank Glob for Blogger's auto-save. This post almost went gallivanting about in the ether. It most likely would have been replaced by bitching about exclusively using and iPad for internets.

Plummet

You know when you think about doing a thing, knowing that it could result in unwanted circumstances, and then you do it anyway?  Like, say, you perch your kids on the kitchen counter while you're fixing their lunch...  So, yeah, Paige fell off.  She was happily kicking her legs when I turned away for a second, and dropping to the tile floor when I turned back.  Luckily she fell straight down on her butt.  I quickly scooped her up to check for damage.  She cried for a minute or so, but was overall unscathed.  Owen, who I pulled off the counter as I was consoling Paige, cried longer at having to suddely be confined to ground level.  All in all, probably my worst dad moment.  Hearing other parents share similar, and sometimes worse, stories makes me feel a bit better about it, but still full of fail.

In other, more prosaic, home news we worked on lanscaping this weekend.  Pulled a bunch of river rock up to remove sediment from drainage along the side of the house, then put the rock back in place.  Also spread out some gravel and made the whole thing look very nice and tidy.  Of course, this is about the one part of our yard that we don't traverse much and really can't ever see.  But at least we know it looking good.  Plus it was sort of practice for doing about five times as much of the same to front yard.

Technical Improficiency

Burrito Quest has been happening for around 3.5 years now.  I just stumbled upon how to make iTunes pick up the recordings.  Of course, I never took the time to look into it so...  Anyway, looks like there is some way they parse blogger posts that looks for links to audio files only in the body, apparently ignoring title enclosure links.  Oh, and it also looks for any text preceding the link to add to the description block.  So, if I want iTunes to pick up the feed for these things I may have to go back and reformat.  That or look into the settings on the iTunes side.  Either way, based on past performance that may not be happening any time soon.

Tonight is date night for Carrie and I.  I like to think that the title of this post does not apply directly to that.  Just saying.

And yes, it's improficiency.  And yes, I had to look it up.

Stay on Target

Current home/life schedule goes something like this:

• Wake up and try to get out of the house between 6:30 and 7:30; dirty diapers and/or breakfast making falling mostly to Carrie.
• 20 minute drive, then work for 9 hours from the time I get there.
• Home between 4:30 and 5:30, play with the kids a little before we eat dinner.
• I clean up from dinner while Carrie bathes the kids.
• More play-time, generally coupled with Sesame Street on the tv till 7:30 or 8.
• Read to the kids then put them to bed.
• Watch tv/read/internet till 10:00 or 11:00, then lights out.
• (Every other Friday off)

The minutiae, I know.  But when Owen and Paige were born we quickly found out how necessary it was to have a schedule.  So much so that sometimes we forget that it's ok to break it.  Looking back on those early days, that bygone era of 16 months ago, it's hard to remember sometimes what that schedule looked like.  So this serves as a reminder as well.  Keeping to it can be a pain occasionally but given stories I hear from parents of single kids, when a schedule is needed less, makes me glad for it overall.  It'll change soon enough, anyway.  Currently Carrie and I both are trying to re-incorporate time for exercise.  She's joining a city soccer league, and I'm trying to get the dog and myself back out into the desert more.  As the time changes I think we're both looking forward to more daylight, so things like after-dinner walks with the kids become more feasible.

Shaggy

Having hair again is interesting.  I've been growing it out since Thanksgiving, or thereabouts.  Its gotten to the point now that going without a hat requires use of 'product.'  Last night I found an old jar of something called Surf Hair in the spare bathroom.  It works just fine, but it smells a lot less like the ocean, and a lote more like hairspray, then one might assume from its name.  I find myself thinking about googling hair junk to find one that doesn't smell like...much of anything.  Also, what do people tell barbers?  I've been shaving my head since I was 19, except for a brief flirtation with coiffure round about '01-'02, and even then I never knew what to tell those of the tonsurial arts when I sat down in the chair.

The beard...  Ugh, still upset about it.  I had achieved, through scratchy apathy, a decently long and scruffy face growth.  The kind of beard that made me look a bit mad all the time, or at least like my normal manner was broodish in nature.  Then I got a beard trimmer.  I immediately over-trimmed one side of my face, prompting an all-over trim of the same length.  It looked, to me, like I had shaved off about 10 years.  I'm concentrating as hard as I can to try to push this thing out of my face faster.

Transfer

Hello, Blogger.

I may try to fancy this place up, but that'll have to be when I find some time.  For now I'm going to work on posting a couple times a week.

Coolio

Put a deposit on refrigerated air install for next weekend. This summer we'll be coolerating in style.

Dad got in last night. Staying the weekend and doing a 5k with Carrie. And now we have and extra registration since Julie can't make it, so I might get enlisted to push the stroller.

Tonight, we Flament!