Sunday, July 22, 2007

Nightshifts

The kids have been as good as exclusively under my jurisdiction since my wife was put on emergency night shifts this week. As a result, they are increasingly sick of the sight of me.

We have already cancelled one proposed weekend away, and the next break away (which was going to be Sesame Place) is on a knife-edge. That said, my wife is doing such important work and helping a lot of people with her sacrifices, a fact I am making sure the kids can comprehend.

In a possibly related story, my daughter asked me this week if I was mad because "Patrick won't eat his bloody Cheerios". She was right, I was. But I was laughing so hard at seeing my little mirror bounce back something I had said without realizing she was listening, I didn't even chastise her. Note to self: they are both listening all the time.

Patrick then played his part when I told him, as a special treat, we would be going to the kids favorite place to hang out - a video game arcade nearby. "Daddy, that's awesome," said my little two-year-old buddy before we played The Fast and the Furious together (him steering, me working the pedals.)

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

How Do You Make Flour?

A simple question - here are my children's answers:

"Take a real flower and crunch it up" - Penny, 4

"Use a rope!" - Patrick, 2

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Material World

When I first moved to New York City, I lost a lot of interest in material things. Firstly, I couldn't afford them, and secondly I had nowhere to put them in our apartment.

I always imagined, as a pre-teen, that my Transformers toy collection would be on the mantle as I sat puffing on a pipe as a 60-year-old. SInce then, I have found I don't need a lot of stuff. I wear functioning clothing, my CD collection has been ripped and exists only as invisible data, and even my Smurfs have been sold on eBay.

But here's another reason I've learned not to take too much pride in too much stuff. Actually here's several:

My Nintendo DS - currently AWOL, presumed dead. Last seen with my daughter, broken at the hinges.

My Luke Skywalker lightsaber - snapped twice and converted by the kids into "magic wands."

My notepads, used for work - drawn all over, rendering at least one set of notes redundant

My Rocky III DVD - recovered after being jammed in the VCR by my son, but scratched beyond repair

My treasured Darth Vader figure - cape-less, lightsaber-less, head-less now serving as a bath toy

And so on... When buying anything now, I hesitate and ponder how I would feel if my purchase was chewed on and later found in the garden. I'm certainly saving money this way too.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Total Recall

Many apologies for the lack of posts. Things have just gotten too much lately, what with the news I am going to have a book published coinciding with the hot summer weather.

To update y'all on the book, it's going to be a paperback out next March, and the title "The World Is My Changing Table" seems to be sticking. The contract is going back and forth and will be ironed out in the days ahead. In other book news, the wonderful James Hampton has provided his foreword for what will be my second book and work will pick up pace on that after September (after I deliver the final, final draft of TWIMCT to the publishers.)

The last two days have almost dipped into the hundreds, so needless to say it's hot and everyone's a little cranky. It's not been so bad, but I really have an avertion to air conditioners. They are noisy, expensive, inefficient things. But... they make sleep possible at night, and as I type this I have one rattling over my shoulder to stop me dripping on to my new Mac Book.

More news as it's made.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Monday Haiku

Patrick's Breakfast

Cheerios in bowl
On floor, under couch, in shoes,
Crunchy little shits

The Calm After The Storm

After the insanity of the last week, things have slowed to almost stopping.

This morning I could hardly find the energy to do anything. A trip to the park with the kids ended prematurely after it got a bit windy (force gale seven) and the kids whined all the way back to the van. We returned two hours later, after terrorizing the patrons at the library, only to leave five minutes after that when my son had a melt down when I "accidentally" snapped the stick he had been waving around in the faces of his peers.

At this point, the house is semi-clean, the laundry is all done, and the kids are either asleep or playing at some Candyland website. So, back to wasting time on the computer for a while then!

As I sit back having done all my publisher (heehee!) has asked of me, I'm hardly getting a break. Tonight I have to attend a pre-school committee meeting, albeit at the bar in town, and then tomorrow I can focus of somehow shaking off this strange post-best-news ever lethargy and get back to work on the book I was writing when I managed to land a deal for the first one I'd written.

As of the last hour, all I've done is put bids in on some throwback sports jerseys on eBay.