Why hello, intrepid blog readers. I apologize for the delay. The last two weeks have been suckass busy and exhausting, and as I’ve corresponded with many of you on the side, it’s not like I’ve abandoned writing or anything. But when I don’t catch up with blogging/correspondence I feel the nagging sense of incompleteness. I’m not kidding. So let’s dispense with the details and go with a general summary, shall we?

Oh, first, an arsonist is apparently trying to burn down the building in which I work. I’m not kidding about that, either. We’re moving offices in a few weeks, so Mr./Ms. Arsonist, could you hold off until Christmas break, when the building’s empty?

I feel like I’m teaching in fits and spurts this semester. I’ll go a couple weeks in which I suck, in my perception, then a few in which in I teach well. Next week is the last full five day semester stretch. I’m ready for fall of 2009 to be in the books, academically, so I can drop assessment class after about twenty semesters and focus on ASL 1.

This week has been interesting. Let’s focus on Wednesday first. M had to work so the boys and I cleaned the house (ok, the boys 10%, me 90%) before making a fairly kick ass Thanksgiving dinner of roasted vegetables, lasagna rolls, Heath-bar brownies, mashed potatoes, dinner rolls (the awesome brown and serve kind, full disclosure), etc. Then I felt like walking, but I didn’t want to walk in Port, as I’ve walked every possible route about 100 times, seriously, so I drove over to Cedarburg and walked their downtown. I thought the Christmas lights and soft drizzle would be relaxing but I was wrong. Cars whizzed over corners in the dark and the rain and wind grew stronger with every passing moment. My legs gave out after three and a half miles so I drove home and started drinking. After five beers I was properly drunk and collapsed into bed where I had nightmares for the second night in a row. I’m dreaming of people leaving me, of my old house, of my sad and evil parents. I should know better as I had a session Monday and I often go through nightmares stretches after sessions. On the plus side I’m feeling more solidified in the assertion that my parents tried to send the message that I was at fault for their abuse and I’m starting to frame perceptions in ways I should have years ago but the old, negative perceptual patterns are part of who I am and not easy to transcend. My therapist is encouraging me to let the emotions and memories come naturally. I’ve been framing therapy as a task at which if I work hard I’ll finish earlier. That’s not how it works. So the nightmares suck and left me tired but not so tired I couldn’t have fun with M and the boys down at the Field Museum on Thanksgiving Day. I hustled in the morning to put together a Glee/Eighties/Madonna mix, including Echo and the Bunnymen’s Bring on the Dancing Horses, a song I hadn’t heard for years but quite love.



We listened to the mix on the traffic-free drive down into my hometown while the boys read and played DS. The museum was cool, really, with all the dinosaurs and a cool exhibit on gold (including a penis shield that M, much to my amusement, said would put someone’s eyes out) and the African and Egyptian exhibits. The soil exhibit was boring as hell, I must admit, and after two and a half hours I was right with T in whining to go home. We took Michigan Avenue north, past all the pretty Christmas lights, then LSD up to Evanston and across on Dempster while I tour-guided for the boys all the way. We stopped at the Lake Forest Oasis and had an awesome Thanksgiving dinner of Subway (T, plain turkey on Italian bread), McDonalds (S, a hamburger without pickles), Sbarro’s (a slice of pizza each for N and me, although I ate about half of his), and some broccoli/beef concoction for M from Panda Express. We sat on the row overlooking the highway and watched cars pass. This was more fun that it sounds. Later, after arriving home, I ate Wednesday’s leftovers, watched a quarter of football, and read until Lunesta guided me into ten and a half hours of blissful sleep.

This morning I skipped black Friday, for the most part, and didn’t leave the house until 10 or so, when S wanted to hit Target (DVDs for me, overrated mint M and Ms for him, lines not long) and Half-Priced Books (two more Calvin and Hobbes collections, N can’t get enough of them). Later M and I worked out before I lifted at home and we took the boys back to the Y to swim, but they wussed out (easy for me to say, I didn’t swim) after about twenty minutes so we’re in for the night. T is off sleeping over at Nolan’s while Tanner is sleeping over here. I’m drinking coffee, 6:38PM. Don’t worry, this coffee is only guaranteed to keep me up until about 8PM. These early dark sunsets, esp. on grey days, kill me. Did I mention we have two full spectrum lamps now? They rule. You should get one.

I’m concurrently reading Steve Almond’s Rock and Roll Can Save Your Life and Barnhardt’s Woodcutters. I’m not in the mood for Moby Dick. I’ll get back to the novel eventually, it’s not hard to put down and pick up again.

Ok, that’s it for now. I hope your Thanksgivings are going well. More later. Stay inside.