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.