M is out of town, in NY visiting with her family, and I’m solo parenting the boys. I suppose we’re about halfway through the solo parenting part (M left yesterday at about nine and returns tomorrow at about 2), and I can’t complain. Well, yes, I guess I can. Yesterday I was exhausted, almost ill, and I think the lead-up to the weekend, the weekend itself, and the post-weekend all combine for a rough seven days. Last week I had to log two twelve plus days at work to get ready for taking off Friday (M was flying out Friday morning and the kids were off school). Then I moved right into solo parenting on a cold, dreary weekend. Then I hit Monday running with another twelve-plus hour day. Yesterday was tough…I wasn’t feeling well at all. However, my kids are very good, very well behaved, to the point where I almost felt guilty at how well they monitored their own behavior and created their own fun while I sat my ass on the couch. Television and video games help. The boys played the new Sonic the Hedgehog Wii game, created a massive drawing of a castle on chart paper, watched two movies, and played with their Star Wars guys. They’re upstairs, as we speak, playing with the Star Wars guys again. In an hour or so one of the neighbors might come over to play. T attends a birthday party after lunch, at a skating rink, and a babysitter arrives for a three hour stink at 2PM. The babysitter is expensive, ten bucks an hour, but she needs the money and actually seems to enjoy interacting with kids. I can rationalize the thirty bucks. I might hit the library and read for a while.

Ok, how many bullet points today…

1) As I mentioned above in the post, this end of winter weather absolutely sucks. Cold, windy, I feel like the snow will never end. I think the sun is peeking out a bit. We've seen so little of the sun that the windows seem to glow, like they'll melt soon. I would love an hour of sunlight. Oh, I need one of those huge light boxes they use above the Arctic Circle of whatever to combat seasonal affective disorder.

http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/light_boxes_55_ctg.htm?sc_cid=181&s_kwcid=light%20boxes377414836&gclid=CLvhgZKC2YoCFQgTWAodU1972g

They have a full spectrum light at the library. Maybe I’ll sit under it today while the babysitter covers the house.

2) Dan may visit with his kids tomorrow. Forgot to mention that.

3) We bought a new washer this week. M insisted on a “front loader” instead of a “top loader”. I don’t know. I guess the front loader is better for blankets that don’t fit in a normal top loader. I’m pissed at the local store (since closed, good riddance) that sold us our previous washing machine, which lasted all of four years.

4) Mary lent me the novel “Wicked”. I’m intrigued. I wouldn’t expect her to recommend that sort of book, but she mentioned that the author meditates on the nature of evil a lot. I’ll check it out.

5) I have two movies (“Marie Antionette” and “Stranger Than Fiction”) from Netflix. Maybe I’ll throw one in tonight after the kids go to sleep.

Let’s leave it at five bullets for now. More later.