I’m sitting on the front porch, just after a windy rain, or maybe between one wave of the windy rain and the next. T and N are watching Justice League. S, I think, is upstairs on Wii. M’s on the computer. I don’t have a ton of energy, and I think I’ve overdone the workout/health kick this week to the point where I can’t think straight. In turn I just downed a couple cheese/vegetable sandwiches and feel a bit better. Did I mention I’ve worked out twice a day over the last week? Yes, probably too much.

This morning I woke near six and worked out (of course) to Sportscenter. After N woke I gathered up the boys and drove to West Bend’s farmers market. We ran into a few people from church (always weird), picked up string cheese and kettle corn, and drove home. The clouds behind us were grey but the morning turned out well. After arriving home I read from “Atmospheric Disturbances” and answered a few emails. After an early lunch I pulled out the electric branch trimmer and cleared out the deck space under the kiwi. On a lark I gathered the strawberry pots in a line near the overhang and created a new defined space. I think it looks cool, and I tried to take a picture but the camera batteries were spent. Next time. Later I watched the first forty-five minutes or so of “Be Kind Rewind” (eh) and read again. M cleaned part of the garage, by the way, looks great. I hit Pick and Save and picked up sandwich things (e.g. provolone, roast beef) for dinner. Now, as I think I said, I’m working out a ton lately. And I’m not eating as much. However, today at about 3 a massive wave of hunger hit me so I started making dinner (sandwiches and corn). By then the rain rolled into town, blowing hard, and the kids were back in the building. Not sure what I’ll do tonight. A few bullets:

I’m on a smoothie kick lately. Yogurt, some juice, maybe ice, fruit. Why hadn’t I discovered smoothies before?

Samantha Brown’s new weekend show started last week. I watched the Austin episode. Looks good. Damn, she’s been working out, by the way.

I’m liking Atmospheric Disturbances. Reminds me of Borges.

More later.

Out on the front porch, beautiful night, tired after a scattered week. I felt like I worked a ton and got very little accomplished. Oh well. At least I can leave my office pretty much whenever I want.

So what did I do? On Monday I hung around the office, at least through the morning, and finished some paperwork and prep for the assessment course. On Monday night T had a game but S, N and I stayed home. We’ve got too many baseball games scheduled for the entire family to attend every one. Tuesday…oh, I hit the soul-draining associate deans’ meeting in the morning before attending S’s game that night. Wednesday morning I pulled N out of his summer school program because his teacher was a total bitch. She had nothing good to say to the students as they walked into the room, didn’t say hi or anything, so I told his teacher that she wasn’t doing much to set up the students for a positive day and walked him out. I felt badly because at first I think N thought he did something wrong, which he didn’t, so he and I hit the harbor and walked through the park. He read the letters off of each sign. We had fun. Later I hit work for an annual report meeting then finished the report as soon as the meeting ended. Oh, the SECOND elliptical broke. Cheap informercial piece of shit…M wanted it, though, and I didn’t pay. However I’ve been working out so much lately (often twice a day) that the thought of losing the elliptical almost sent me into a panic. When N left for his game T, S and I hit the highway in search of a new elliptical. Coscto didn’t have a good one in our price range (500 or lower) and the used equipment store in Mequon apparently shut down. M said Bayshore had a place so we drove down. I didn’t expect much from Bayshore, assuming that everything would be high-end. However, after walking through the mall we found the store in question and located a decent floor model for 300 bucks! We bought it immediately. I was especially thrilled we didn’t have to put the sucker together. Anyway, T freaked out because he thought the hatch would open while we transported the machine so we took the slow back roads home. After we arrived I gave the elliptical a shot. God, I sweated my ass off. The resistance is tougher on this machine than the last. Today I stumbled into work, met with Tia, wrapped up some paperwork, and drove home. The Orioles kicked the Cubs asses (yay!) while I cleaned the first floor. I thought of reading but I think I would have had a hard time getting in the groove. My mind has felt scattered with work such a mess and baseball obligations every night. Later I rode my bike, mostly on backroads, and took a bath with this month’s “In Style.” Now I’m on the porch.

Ok, a couple quick bullets…

I’m working through the first season of “Weeds”. Good show.

The new Sigur Ros is excellent.

I’m reading Rivka Galchen’s “Atmospheric Disturbances”. The book is excellent through the first fifty or so pages. I wasn’t sad to put “Emma” down.

I’m about an hour into “Juliet of the Spirits”. Perhaps I’ll watch more tonight. I’m in the mood to hit a theatre film, though. I love theatres late at night in the summer.

More later. Good night.

Gentle rain, well, gentle thunderstorm falling as I sit on the porch and write. The boys are watching some animated version of “The Sword and the Stone.” I worked out twice today, once in the morning while watching “Weeds” (with the definitely crushworthy Mary Louise-Parker) and later while watching the Brewers finish off the Orioles. If I’m going to watch the Brew game I might as well get on the elliptical, eh?

This has been a weekend of regeneration. I think I’m read-out for the moment. “Emma” hasn’t held my interest but the book isn’t to blame. I’ve read a shitload over the last six weeks and I could probably use a day or two without my nose in a book. Yesterday morning M slept late so I loaded the boys into the van and drove over to West Bend for the farmers’ market. The boys were awesome. We had a great time, picking up string cheese directly from the cheese guy and a couple of cookies (S and N) and some kettle corn (T) for the ride home. N dropped a buck in a folk musician’s case and a fat lady almost ran him over. Can’t lose. After we arrived home I watched Grant Gee’s Joy Division documentary. This JD doc is the only one of which I’m aware with full band cooperation. All three JD members, as well as Tony Wilson and Ian Curtis’ mistress, gave extensive interviews. Very cool. After the film I think I worked out and tried to read on the back porch before making pasta rolls for dinner. M and I talked under the gazebo while the kids played inside. Later we took the boys to Bayshore so they could run through the jets in the town square. We should have brought towels. Next time! The boys had fun and we bribed them for our towel failure with post-soaking McDonalds sundaes. They were tired when we arrived home but the late light kept them up until close to nine. I was restless after M and the boys went to sleep so I hit Pick and Save for grapes and cat food.

This morning I woke late. After reading the paper on the deck I worked out (Weeds time) and half-cleaned the first floor. What did I do with the rest of the day? Not sure. Talked with D on the phone. Half-watched a “Heroes” episode with M. Caught most of the Brewers game. Could be worse. More later. Oh, fucking rabbits are eating our sunflowers…bad rabbits!

Beautiful night…the wind must have turned a few minutes ago because a strong, cool breeze is blowing from what feels like the north. Dusk has not quite arrived but should be here within thirty minutes or so. Slow dark clouds are passing the front porch vista. The boys are watching some truly awful music camp movie in the other room. Bedtime soon. I’m trying not to eat anything or drink any beer for the remainder of the night. Green tea for me, thank you very much.

This morning I woke, cold on the porch, a little after five. My legs were creaking but I knocked out my requisite twenty elliptical minutes while watching Sportscenter. After a quick shower I ate, stopped at Citgo for the Friday papers, and hit 43 south. Traffic was light so I arrived at work well before eight. I spent the balance fo the morning answering email and cleaning my office. Last year’s paperwork hit the recycle bin. At lunch I felt like ditching the building so I cut through campus and circled the university walking track. The classroom across the hall was empty so I stole a sunned hour with my laptop, working on an article draft. By two or so I was burned out, so I gathered my things and drove north again. I needed groundcover and one or two plants (smaller, blooming earlier, for the side of the house, can’t remember their name) so I hit Stein’s. Afterwards I stopped at Target and picked up Civilization IV for T. He’s been asking for the game for a while and he’s a pretty good kid so I thought I’d drop the thirty bucks in his honor. When I arrived home I tried multiple times to load the game on M’s shitty computer but something’s wrong even the neighborhood computer genius (I called him over) couldn’t fix. Shit, that was frustrating. Anyway, I loaded the game onto the laptop and let T take a shot while I planted the flowers and settled them into the ground with water. Later I took a bath with Emma (the book, not a person) and watched the latest “My Boys” episode with M. I’ve been on the front porch more or less since, breathing deeply, alternating between the newspapers and green tea.

Farmer’s market tomorrow. Good night.

Whew, too much testosterone permeated the baseball fields tonight, thank you very much. Some loud guy (M says he lives on the next block) down the lawn chair row would not shut the fuck up about his Wisconsin Dells vacation. He would not shut the fuck up! I was trying to read while he was all, “fireworks this, hunting that, waterpark this.” I buried my nose in my book (The Book of Vices) and tried to ignore him. Then the coaches must have taken goddamn Viagra before the game. Sometimes I have a hard time describing the manliness I hate. The nerd book helped, with the analysis of how farm work was historically deemphasized for office work and men had to find other ways to sound tough. Fuck. Great. Apparently the Port Washington machine-pitch field on Tuesday is the center of the goddamn testosterone universe.

Today was a good day. I slept well again, woke near 7, worked out to Anthony Bourdain’s “London” episode, and drove into work. C and I talked in the hallway until close to ten. The next hour passed with email and message board replies. Near eleven I left the office (kind of loud on the floor, anyway), slipped through Whitefish Bay, and picked up P. We hit Bayshore’s Barnes and Noble where, after a brief search, we found the Shakespeare section so P could choose editions for a class he’s teaching this fall. Afterwards we hit Alterra’s. I snagged iced green tea (took forever), P ordered coffee, and we settled into an outside table to gossip and check out the overtanned Bayshore moms. Later I returned to the office, finalized syllabi and handouts for a summer course, and conducted a remarkably positive conference call with PR about a website modification. T’s drum lesson, scheduled for four, approached quickly. I jumped in the car, met M and the boys at one of N’s friends for a car trade, and drove N home.

I’m a bit read-out at the moment. Later tonight I’ll probably watch Semi-Pro. Something light might be good tonight.

New poem!

Solar Lights

You appear dormant,
Laced between the lilies
And coneflowers
But your surfaces coruscate,
Concealing regeneration.

Are you warehousing
Coils of daylight?
Are you replenishing tiny interior
Storage towers
With liquid illumination?

Studying your quotidian rebirth
I stretch on the grass
Aspiring to mirror
Your technique.

Tonight perhaps I will
Glow blue
From the inside.

So today was a pretty good day. The weather is gorgeous. The windows are all open, a cooler breeze passing through, rustling the white curtains. I’m hungry but I think I’ll lay off the food for tonight. Maybe I’ll drink some tea and crash on the porch.

This morning T and his sleepover friend E played on the computer while I sat on the back porch and read. Of course by noon or so the entire goddamn neighborhood under-10 set moved into our backyard. You can thank us later, neighborhood parents, for supervising your spawn fee-free. Oh well. After some initial sniping over badminton, the kids settled down to play without much drama. I read from that international poetry collection I snagged from the library and generated enough inspiration to rattle off the above poem without a problem. Later I refined the text some. I’m happy with the results.

After lunch T and I hit Shopko. Shopko is a shitty, shitty store. We raided their garden clearance sale but the cashier couldn’t figure out the correct pricing on the sale items so we eventually gave up and left. T and I had a good time hanging out, I think. He’s a good kid. The rest of the afternoon passed between the Brew game (we won, thank god) and the last hundred pages of “Boomsday”. Later I unpacked my father’s day present (three colored solar lights, total coincidence with the poem, by the way), set them up in the garden, and ate dinner. Oh, Shadow and I let out the neighbors’ dog a couple times, too, as they were stuck in Chicago with car problems. That’ll teach them to leave town.

I feel more at peace than usual. Maybe I’ll sit on the front porch and meditate. Something big, important, is happening with me. I’m gaining new language and understanding. I’m calmer. Usually. But I’m grinding my teeth. Hard to explain. I’m sloughing off old skin, and that’s scary. More later.

I’m sitting in the living room, in the glider, the windows open, post (and probably pre) rain air blowing the curtains back and forth. T is off at a Y party. S and N are playing on the computer. I think. Maybe they’re off the computer now, as they’re running back and forth every few minutes. M is watching Fox News. Why, I don’t know. Last I checked we were rotating between the Brewers game and Goodfellas.

Today was a decent day. This morning I missed the farmer’s market because M hit the church meeting. While she was gone the boys played in the backyard (new sand in the sandbox, including blue sand, for some reason) and I programmed my disc for the GR disc exchange. Neighbors bounced in and out of the yard. After I finished I hooked the CD player up on the deck and sat under the gazebo checking for flow while the rest of the discs burned. After M arrived home I decided to watch Pierrot le fou . A friend sent me the film a couple months back, I put it on the shelf, and forgot about it until I mentioned renting another Godard film to the same friend. That film was wild. I think I like Bergman better but Godard’s work at least keeps you on your toes. The party scene, where people essentially talk about products the entire time, was hilarious. A few of the running commentaries/dialogues were excellent as well. I wouldn’t mind checking out the script.

Near the film’s end M returned from the beach with the boys. They met some friends there and the friends followed them home. Everyone played in the backyard, water fights, mostly, but I heard a lot of screaming so I don’t know if anyone had much fun. I cleaned the kitchen and cranked the CD a little more. The neighbors were having one of those annoying extended family parties, when the cousins run up and down the block and scream. The boys aren’t allowed in their yard, then, which gives me a reason to keep the boys on their own when the neighbor kids want to play, if I feel like embodying an asshole. I was thrilled when a storm rolled through and chased those motherfuckers inside. Ha. T left for his Y event. S insisted we hit a coffee shop since T and I sometimes hit coffee shop when S is busy. The Port coffee shop closes early so we drove to the Grafton Alterra. S snagged a smoothly. I snagged iced tea. We decided, after a couple minutes on the patio, to return to Port’s harbor. The rain passed by then so we sat on a bench and took in the clean post-rain air. Beautiful. S was cold, though, so we drove home.

Not a bad day, eh? More tomorrow. I have some thoughts bouncing around about identity, economics, and time. Can’t wait, eh?

Wait a second. I just realized today is Friday the 13th. I saw no mention of the phenomenon in the media. Hm. Maybe I didn’t pay close enough attention.

Well, after another long, stormy night today turned out to be a good day. T and I drove around town to survey the damage this morning. The water in the harbor appears brown and seems high and choppy. Of course N’s “safety town” field trip to the water was scheduled for today. That scared the shit out of me. He needs swimming lessons. After checking out the harbor T and I tried to cut down Sunset to Citgo for newspapers but couldn’t pass under the railroad bridge due to high water. This fascinated T. We got out of the car and walked up to the barriers. After we swung around a side route he wanted to see the view from the other side. I guess this is his first experience with flooding.

After we returned home M left for her post-lasik checkup. N was at the aforementioned “safety town” class. S was across the street, playing with A, and T explored Civilization on the computer. I caught up on the annual report. D from across the street called and asked us to pick up J along with N. No problem. T and I hit the elementary school gym and gathered up the kids and drove back to the block. Later, after M arrived, I took advantage of the break in the weather and cut the grass. The yard looks so much better with freshly cut grass. I also sprayed anti-weed chemicals between the sidewalk cracks and filled three bird feeders. CNN reported Tim Russert’s death. Man, he was only 58! My ass could go from a heart attack at that age too, if not earlier. Mr. Russert’s death brought on a distress effort that went nowhere. I tried to sit on the back deck and drink a Tecate while M and the boys were at the pool but I didn’t feel particularly relaxed. I called Chicago D. We talked about school until the kids, fresh from the pool, piled into the backyard. I took a bath with “Boomsday” and watched the first few innings of the Brewers game (you suck, Dave Bush!) while the boys played next door. When Bush’s sucky pitching led to a five run deficit I turned off the television, turned on the full spectrum light, and read another hour or so. “Boomsday” is ok. I’m thinking of re-reading “The Illiad” next but I lent my commentary to K and she never fucking gave it back. Shit. Oh well. Maybe I could find a used copy. M’s friends called her from the bar but she doesn’t sound that into going out tonight. Maybe I’ll sit on the back deck. More tomorrow. Good night. And sorry you’re dead, Mr. Russert. Rest in peace.

Forgot I wanted to add this pic of S and T last week at pirate fest...we were waiting for N to get off the pirate ship bouncer, and I took this quick one...

Rain pouring down again. I’m sitting on the front porch, behind windows blurry with rain (interesting, that doesn’t happen often, but the wind must be blowing from the north), the ceiling fan spinning fast. M says she read this was almost the rainiest June in history and we’ve not reached the halfway point. Maybe it’s true. We have had a shitload of rain lately.

What have I done this week? Hm. I’ve driven into work three days in a row, Monday through Wednesday, and stayed through most of the day all three days. What did I do? Answer email, work on syllabi, start the annual report (in the wrong format, thank you very much), attended a long meeting, God knows what else. Tomorrow I might drive in except M has an eye appointment at eleven and I wouldn’t bother driving into the office unless I wake very early. We’ll see.

What did I do at night? Hm again. I hung out with the boys while the other boys played baseball. We hit N’s Monday night game together. I sat in the lawn chair and buried my nose in American Nerd. I also finally got around to watching Lars and the Real Girl, which I liked very much, and caught a bit of a few Brewers’ games.

So three days and I don’t quite know what I did. I feel a paucity of productivity. My sinuses are bonkers, too. Allergies have never been a problem. Can I develop allergy problems at thirty-eight? I have no idea.

Books…I finished the awesome American Nerd: The Story of My People earlier in the week. Highly recommended. I’m reading Chris Buckley’s Boomsday now. Quick read, pretty funny, but nothing spectacular so far. I’m not sure what I’ll read next. Yesterday I tried to scout books at Borders but a goddamn Chihuahua went bonkers on me when I cut through the magazine aisle. The Chihuahua’s companion seemed unsurprised by the encounter. The woman sat on the floor and informed the dog I was trying to look at the comics. What the hell?

More later. Boys should get to sleep soon. Wish these allergies would go away.

Today was much better than yesterday. I woke near seven and within thirty minutes worked out on the elliptical for twenty minutes while watching Bourdain’s Jamaica episode. Whew, I needed that workout. Afterwards I shaved (getting too itchy) showered, and started cleaning the house. Post-rain the surfaces felt as if covered in slime. I recycled the newspapers, ate breakfast, and cleaned the kitchen. M left for her stint in the pirate fest information booth. I kicked the boys off of all electronics. God, they were whiny at first. T pouted, then S pouted, and N looked generally pissed off. After a while they calmed down. N and S played upstairs while T read on the couch. I burned CDs and answered messages. Later I let T watch some military channel special on WWI and finished with the CD packages. Four should go in the mail tomorrow, if you’re waiting.

The rain, by the way, poured all morning. By 11 the fire marshal cancelled the pirate parade. M called to say I didn’t need to worry about 12-2 information booth shift. Apparently the Red Cross guys were covering. After she arrived home, around noon, the rain tapered off and the fog settled into town. T and I drove to the fest and checked out the last of the vendors. Most were packing up. I picked up some stickers and postcards. Not much else caught my eyes. Some cool silver flasks were available but I couldn’t figure out a good purpose for one so I passed. T decided to save his money as well. We hit the coffee shop, passed through the park a final time, and drove home. When we arrived home I started cleaning in earnest. The front porch was a bitch, toys everywhere, but I conquered the space by about 3PM. M took the boys back to the fest and I decided to make cookies. Instead of the normal round cookies I decided to do the tollhouse pan thing. At first I thought the batter was too thin but the cookies turned out well. D and I talked on the phone, I checked the Brew game (they won, finally, on the road) and boiled eggs for a dinner salad. Now I’m ready to crash. Maybe I’ll take a bath after M returns from the supermarket. Time to breathe and get to sleep early.

Quick, though, a garden update…

VEGETABLES

The peppers, basil and tomatoes in pots have almost doubled in size. The garden vegetables (basil, peppers, peanuts, melon, tomatoes and kohlrabi aren’t faring as well. I don’t think the ground under the mulch and anti-weed crap is letting the warmth reach the ground. Soon, I hope. The melons and peanuts are cashed (something ate them) but everything else looks as if warm weather will make a difference. I haven’t sprayed the fertilizer yet because of the heavy rain. I’ll wait a bit.

THE REST OF THE BACK

About ten sunflowers are growing near the grass bushes. They’re about an inch or two high. Not bad. The Japanese grass bushes aren’t doing as well but, as the signs near the plants at the store says, they need warm weather before they take off. The pot petunias are fine although a few other flowers, esp, those in the box along the deck, look weak. The hostas and groundcover near the garage look good except for some hosta bug problems. The clematis is looking great, about four feet tall already. The sage near the garage is fine. Strawberries look good too, but they’re still an experiment.

Almost forgot…grass bushes near the fence, along with the aster, daisies, and, uh, big yellow flower plant (can’t remember its name) are great. They’re in their third year and seem well-established.

SIDE/FRONT

Everything looks great. The woodruff is taking off. I might have to transplant some to another location, maybe in the back corner or underneath the little tree near the parking space. I cut back the burning bush so the black-eyed susans would have more room. I’m thinking of adding a grass bush or two near the sedum close to the porch.

More later…have a good Sunday night.

Exciting day…scroll down for pics. Let me start with last night.

I picked up a “beers of Mexico” collection at Costco and started drinking, oh, probably about 8:30. Everyone was asleep. Nine beers later I was lying on the grass in the backyard looking up at the constellations. I went for seven different types of beers, by the way:

Tecate
Dos Equis
The other Dos Equis
Sol
Rolling Rock
Corona
Red Stripe
Rolling Rock again

I’m feeling a bit worse for wear today. Plus, I ate like shit, the worst kind of food, in a post-hangover binge. Five pounds? Ten pounds? I wonder how much I gained. Blah. I feel like working out but if I were to do so I’d barf big time. Maybe tomorrow. I’ll eat better tonight. We’re out of ice cream sandwiches, anyway.

So this morning we hung out under the gazebo while I shotgunned diet cokes. Later we drove down to Pirate Fest. T, S and I walked through the tents while N did the pirate ship bouncer. The beautiful weather made everything easier and I was in a pretty good mood except for the loud, praying re-enactors. You know, I understand they’re trying to set the mood and all that but stay the fuck out of my way when I make it clear I’m not into it. S and I bailed and hit the coffee shop. I almost lost my thermos. We hooked up with everyone again in the park. N and I walked around for a while, we ran into Ty and Izzy, then N said he wanted to go home. So did I. He and I are similar that way, you know. After too much stimuli we want to get the hell out of the crowds and go someplace quiet. We drove home and played on the back deck for a while. N played with his Harry Potter chess guys in the castle in the bright sun. After everyone arrived home the weather began to turn. Shadow and I stood under the gazebo, pushing water off the tarp, until we got bored and went inside. T’s friend V went home with his mom, and here we are. I’m slightly wired. Not sure if more rain is coming, the weather seems calmer now, but the radar looks sketchy. More later! I love the storms.

Tornado Warning Pics!

These are both from Port, first downtown, second my street, as the tornado warnings went off at 4:45PM today. Apparently you're not supposed to drive around when the sirens blare. Who knew?

Five quick pirate fest pics from this morning:

1. Rotary Park at about 10AM...later it'll get absolutely packed.
2. Our friend Kim as an invading pirate in the big invasion.
3. The far end of the park near the tall ship dock.
4. Pirates on the sidewalk.
5. The view from Rotary Park back towards the rest of the festival and Port Washington.

Five Pics:

1. The front porch facing west. I'm not sure why that one plant is drooping. That just started today. I watered it this evening, though. N refers to the house plants as "the jungle" and uses the space as action figure landscape. I sleep on the futon a lot. As you can see I'm locked in a death battle with the rest of my family in my desperation to keep the space clean.

2. The front porch facing east. I'm losing this battle, eh? Heroscape guys and toys everywhere.

3. The backyard facing south. I cut the grass. Looks pretty good, I think.

4. The backyard facing north. The deck is a bit messy because of a post-school waterfight. I love the gazebo.

5. S last week at a street festival.

Man, the weather is beautiful today. Maybe I’ll go outside and take some pictures. The wind is strong, maybe 20mph, and the clouds are passing quickly overhead. This afternoon in the yard bright light alternated with grey skies sometimes switching every ten minutes or so. I trimmed the bushes, something long overdue, cut the grass, and cleaned the deck. The yard looks good. Maybe I’ll take some pictures.

This was a good if busy week. On Monday and Tuesday I pushed hard at work. Tuesday night we did some kick-ass focus groups with our graduates. What did I do Wednesday? I was supposed to write up the focus group notes but I decided to take a break and screwed around in the library’s magazine section instead. Oh, M and I watched “Control”, too. Great movie. I’m a Joy Division fan, a huge one, and I was pleased with the historical accuracy although the director’s artiness interfered here and there. The movie is supposed to be about Ian Curtis and the band, not the director. Later T and I hit the library.

Yesterday M had her long-awaited lasik surgery. Through the morning I cleaned, did laundry, answered email, and otherwise prepared to play superdad while M recovered. We dropped N off at a friend’s at about noon and drove over to an office across town for the procedure. The nurses kept trying to get me to stay in the room with M but I didn’t see the point and I wanted to read magazines in the lobby anyway. I love reading in doctors’ offices. They’re so quiet. I can focus. M’s procedure passed too quickly, I’m afraid, so I barely got through a couple Entertainment Weeklys before she was ready to leave. I tell you, lasik must be some sort of modern miracle. M could even see a bit but she was tired from the drugs. She wore hilarious old lady sunglasses, too. M’s a trooper. We picked up Jimmy John’s (should have picked it up earlier instead of stopping on the way home, my bad) before I deposited her in the upstairs bedroom and picked up the boys from school. N’s friend’s mom dropped him off, too. The boys had free reign of the house as long as they let her sleep. We had frozen waffles, strawberries, and carrots for dinner. I also made pasta salad (some cool new ravioli from Costco) for M and I. After M woke she crossed the street to hang out with her friends. Apparently I got major credit for taking care of M for the day, minding the kids, etc. Goddamn, all I did was pick the boys up from school and give them waffles for dinner. Sometimes dads get off easy.

Today I’ve been productive. For some reason I slept late today. Oh, I forgot to mention the prodigious rain we’ve received the last three or four days. Beautiful storms. Anyway, N and I hung out while M hit her follow-up appointment. We visited the coffee shop but N wasn’t interested. I could hardly understand him today because he was mumbling. He didn’t want the vitamin water he picked out, didn’t want to walk around the park and watch the pirate fest set up (he said he was afraid of pirates), etc. so we drove home. He was upset because I was on him not to whine, too. I think he’s tired. And he’s bored without his brother and/or preschool. After M got home I cut the long grass, paused for lunch and trimmed the bushes. I felt productive and the yard looks good. Later I also trimmed a tree, cleaned the deck, and filled the bird feeders. M and I went at it a bit because she criticized the way I cleaned the deck. I don’t mind the criticism but she’s got to help out if she’s going to criticize my cleaning. I hit Costco (beers of Mexico, ice cream sandwiches, etc.) then drove home.

Hey, it’s raining again. Gotta go. More later. Some pictures soon.

M is watching “Heroes” while the boys play upstairs. I did next to nothing today, in a pretty good way, I guess, although I’m still very much adjusting to this non-workaholic lifestyle. I woke late, near eight, as I slept badly last night. My sinuses went berserk and I should have risen early and taken some good drugs but instead I remained in bed against my better judgment. After I woke I downed some alleve and three diet cokes within three hours. Whew, that’ll make you feel better, eh? M took the boys to some street festival while I watched the Brewers game (over within two innings, really, with the Brew up big). Later I read further in “Alternadads”, decided against making cookies, talked with my neighbor big Mike on the back deck, then took a bath with the book. We ate dinner (grilled vegetables) and finished last week’s American Gladiators. I guess I’m slightly wired from the inactivity but my pulse seems slower and I’m not as tense. Not a bad day.

Last night’s sojourn to the Brewers’ game went well. We left near 4:45PM and arrived at the parking lot by 5:30PM. We had to park at a remote lot maybe four blocks west of the stadium. I said “Jesus Fuck” after one of the parking guys acted like a prick. T told me not to swear in front of N. There you go. On the walk from the parking lot to the stadium we passed about 40,000 tailgaters. The weather, sunny and breezy, was perfect. A group of guys played beer pong on a folding table. T was fascinated. They invited him to play but he declined. Maybe in a few years, eh? Baggo (or as James says, “cornhole”, or as I would say to James next, “assfucking”) was everywhere. We must have seen twenty baggo setups before we hit the stadium.

We found out seats without too much difficulty but M didn’t want to sit in our seats as some friends were nearby. She assured me seats would be plentiful. She was very wrong and we had to move soon. That drove me nuts. I wanted to sit and enjoy the game but I watched every person entering the area to see if we were in their seats. After we got kicked out we settled into our own seats and had a pretty good time. Sheets kicked ass and the Brewers won. I’ll post pictures later. N was tired but because Sheets works so quickly we were home by nine.

Ok, I want to meditate and relax for a while before bed. Tomorrow I’m planning on working a long day so I can take off later in the week. Heroes in getting tense. More later.