I’m on the couch, Saturday afternoon, television off, aquarium filter humming nearby. N is on the other computer. M, T and S are upstairs watching a movie about a Chihuahua. We have symphony tickets later tonight. Maybe I’ll write a memo hanging over my head after I finish this journal entry.

Whoo, this week left me exhausted. Why? I attending a slew of meetings, taught (although the teaching went well, at least) and rushed here and there to cover for M because she had an IEP, etc. Her job is starting to piss me off again. So much for a 60 percent gig. Anyway, yesterday the week caught up to me. I ran four miles at the Y in the morning then hustled home to shower, eat, etc. before an 8AM meeting. I had to leave that shindig for a 10:30 meeting. Once that gathering ended Preston and I got lunch in the cafeteria. By then I was tired enough to avoid gainful employment, even though I probably could have used the paperwork session, and instead fucked around on the computer and eventually hit Borders for a scouting trip. At 3:10 I returned to the office for the last of the Friday meetings. By 4:30 I was out the door and a quick Costco session later I loaded the food onto the front porch and ate enough pizza and peanut M and Ms to sustain my entire family. I fell asleep in the guest bedroom with Bangkok 8.

This morning S and I watched Sportscenter together before dawn. By eight I was cleaning the front porch. The boys had started the job, and they made a sizable dent in the mess, but remember, our front porch becomes a de facto cold storage area from December through February. Most days you have to nudge shoes, backpacks, etc. out of the way with your feet just to clear a path to the door. I managed to render the space usable and sat out in the area the boys call “the lounge” with T and the computer. Later I read quietly and burned some CDs. The boys were on my nerves most of the morning. I needed the quiet. They’re on the front porch now. Rain, the bracing, refreshing spring kind, continues to fall. The last of the heavy, dirty snow is disappearing.

Tomorrow is wide open. I need a wide open day.