The Time Sink

To fill in the gaps from the weekend posts: Daniel still has his fever, but we've changed management plans in hopes of both of us getting some sleep. Bradley's party went off well and Shelley survived the day. The van is still in the shop and one of us will likely pull a full scale rant about why the heck that can happen.

...and yes, for right now, this place will continue to contain the daily update for both Shelley's site and mine; she's too tired and busy to post and I'm so tired and busy trying to load balance that the tech stuff just isn't happening. The good news about that is of course that Tux and Wolf are holding their own and doing it well. That's a Good Thing considering the time constraints...

I'm slowly coming out of the fog of "The Night Shift" from last weekend. Work was most interesting; fortunately, I have a backlog of 'brainless' projects I can hack through with my dull machete of a mind...

...but today's been an interesting one simply because my game plan for the week got knocked out of the park by unscheduled non-events: something that was supposed to happen isn't going to. ...and that's cool. 'Cause if things stay calm (stop laughing Svenson!), maybe I can can clear the backlog that's spread all over the desk...

On the home front, things are slowly returning to normal, albeit 'normal' as defined in our household...

...and on the geek front: if you've received one of "those letters" from Verisign, today's UserFriendly pretty much says it all. ...and if you're looking at a block of time and have nothing better to do, <TimeSink!> yesterday Dave linked a search for a downed spyplane </TimeSink!>. No, it's his link; just go ahead and stumble down the rabbit hole!

Whooohooo! Seafood for dinner tomorrow! ...and no, I didn't set him up for it. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure where that came from. ...but I'm sure not arguing.

Here's hoping for some sleep tonight. I was almost back on track, but last night Daniel was up twice. I didn't even make it in to work until all the normal people were already there. Sheesh. So much for my preferred 'slow start to the day'...

...but maybe I can pull a slow shutdown to the day instead; Shelley had Daniel do most of his math homework during the day today (I'd gone over it with him last night) and all I have to do is review a few problems. That could work. I'd like a light evening to be able to relax and run some ideas up and around. ...and try to catch up on my net reading.

...an interesting day. As I type this, I am almost haunted by the most simple of things, a birthday. Most of the time, I really don't get into them too much. We didn't have parties when I grew up and I am totally mesmerized by Shelley's family and their penchant for several parties if that how it works out best for someone in a given year.

...but every so often, one of those sneaky little melancholy thoughts crawls up my spine and into my head and I have to stop and take stock of the event as not just another birthday or just another dinner out or just another party. Every so often you look at an age and it's no longer just a number, it's a milestone of some sort.

...and it doesn't have to be one of those "special' years: thirty was nothing to me; twenty-nine I felt every day of. ...and forty didn't mean much, although fifty did. ...and Daniel turning ten last year really didn't sink in. I mean, he was obviously taller and maturing and could now claim double digits, but it was just the birthday between nine and eleven. ...and he's the first born; I'd expect his to have an effect on me.

Wow, what a full day... I'm only posting this as a coda; I started a brief post early this morning, but it just didn't get off the ground. The nice thing is that Shelley posted it this evening <g>! Way to go, Shelley! Now I can just ramble for a moment about how the day at work was full, full, full. ...and about how an email exchange helped take the tension off as things went all wonky. ...and about how I finally managed to get home and blade and then to Brad's (evidently, now that he's eight, he's no longer 'Bradley') baseball game. ...and from there to the store and back home for dinner and only then realized it was almost 2200! ...and now I'm wound down like an anniversary clock on day 365.

Some sort of bizarre mid-day post... Due to the multi-party system. Brad (not Bradley) is now officially done with his birthday: his "kid's party" was last Sunday; his "family party" was Thursday; and his "grandma's party" is over and done with today (my suggestions for a consolidation of any of this has always been met with a flurry of rhetoric and intense logic; besides, I usually can bag three desserts from the deal...).

...and my roomie was dealing with Severe Nightime Cognitive Stress Reaction last night, which means I was dealing with her tossing and turning as she tilted at windmills. ...which means I totally blew what small amount of 'eptness' I have and fell asleep in a chair twice while we had guests. I finally gave up and went to bed once the presents were done (well, it's not like I'm needed for conversation with that crowd).

Summer's here. ...at least it appears to be: 88F yesterday and 90F today. ...with kids in the pool. Yesterday I happened to bring the chemicals into balance; and I woke up from my nap to hear the sounds of the neighborhood getting wet.

...and they were back again today. Man, there are blow up toys everywhere in the yard. ...and the first towels of the season blossoming on the backs of the deck furniture <g>. I guess I'll wander out and take the rest of the covers off.

My only gripe so far is that we seem to have missed that period when it was cool enough in the evening to have dinner on the deck. ...or was that the last coupla' weeks when we cycled though the flu?