Author: djuggler

This write up of the True New Zealand is very thought provoking since both my wife and I have thought “What a wonderful place it must be to live!”

* Decided to take the 13 yr old, the 20 mth old, the wife and myself to Old Navy and buy the kids some clothes. The 13 yr old of course stays in the car knowing that most shopping he finds boring and usually ends in disaster. I think he simply gets over stimulated by the crowds, the lights, the noise (particularly the noise), and entirely too much information to process at once. In this way, he and I are very similar. There are times that I just have to get away from that kind of environment.

* After shopping, (we forgot to go in the pet store) we headed to Texas Roadhouse to discover a 45-50 minute wait..this is Knoxville of course – land of more restaurants than people but somehow they are always a 45-50 minute wait..except for IHOP which had immediate seating and knows us by name. Not only KNOWS us by name but knows when the baby was born!

I am altogether too intolerant of the 13 yr old right now. Far too quick to call names and allow myself to be irritated by his presence.

Right now I feel hollow inside. I have that urge to do something but am lost as if I was in an enclosed stadium with the lights out and I’m looking for the key to get out.

* Just dropped a log on one of our wood chairs and dented the chair. I guess I should be grateful that it didn’t splinter the wood; at least I don’t have to take 3 hours out of my day to repair it..I just have to live with the constant reminder that I can’t do something as simple as carry a log without screwing up.

Read an article that the current thinking is that we use about .01 percent of our brain. I feel like I use .0001 of mine.

* After I got over being so groggy I got to realizing how much I really enjoy getting up and working with the kids in the morning. I began to feel guilty about leaving the baby to play in her crib so long. I also began to feel guilty over the role reversal concept. My wife does so much to make sure the kids are ready for school and to hold this family together. She deserves more.

Rushed to dress from 9-9:15 went to meeting on the 13 yr old’s theaputic horse riding and was there 2.5 hours. Stopped at a friend’s house on the way home to discuss how we should handle the 1099’s we are receiving from joint work done this past year. Found a gas station with a slopped parking lot and got gas. Must look funny to bystanders to see this guy in a dirty jeep and cowboy hat get out and put the jeep then run to catch up to it as it rolls down the hill, jump in, have tires squeal, then engine start.

Now heading for diapers and pickup the 7 yr old from a party.

A New Day!

Let’s start the day off with a PayPal donation link:

This Morning

* Head real heavy. Almost a dull throb. Wanted to sleep in some but the baby was crying. Wife muttered that she thought the 7 yr old had rescued her and was playing with her. Instead the entire family ignored her pleas to get her. When I got up there, she had thrown all her stuff animals and toys to the floor. I just wanted to sleep in a little one day out of the week. I know my wife probably has similar wishes (dishes, cleaning, etc) Perhaps she would trade me sone such wish so that one day out of the week (or even 1 day every 2 weeks) we do a little role reversing.

Last night

* Followed that tea with a beer

* Could not get the candle lit

Something’s wrong with my head! I went upstairs to get a beer and mellow in front of the tv instead I return downstairs with a large glass of extra sweet highly caffeinated tea. (washing machine sounds like a barking dog—budget another $400)

I find it quite amusing that our heavily medicated child thoroughly enjoys Fantasia (last chance to buy for 7 years) while our unmedicated children would rather have nothing to do with it. (sic. not entirely true. The 7 yr old in stunned amazement declared “It’s a cartoon!”)

* We decided to load everyone in the car, go to McD’s then pick up the 10 yr old’s sleepover friend and drop the two of them at the grandmother’s…we actually loaded everyone in the car, picked up the 10 yr old’s sleepover friend, had to stop the car once because the 13 yr old wasn’t the center of attention and decided he needed to threaten to make himself throwup. This angered me and changed the tone in the car from fun and jovial to tense and unpleasant the rest of the trip despite many efforts to turn it around again. Found out the friend doesn’t eat meat but Burger King was ok. Drove through for food. Dropped the girls off with the grandmother and returned home where the family is now watching Fantasia (on sale while supplies last then not for another 7 years).

           

* cat napped. stared at the computer. Then went and chopped some wood. The 7 yr old joined me. Then the 10 yr old joined me. I walked down to the creek to discover that the “entrance” to the cave has developed into a sinkhole and has gotten larger. It’s concealed by leaves and debris but I’m going to have to make it a priority to see just what it has developed into. On the adventurous side, it may be an excuse to pull out the old haress and ropes and do a little spelunking. It’d be really cool if there was a half decent cave system to play around in. The negative is that the entrance is definitely not on my property which is good and bad.

The 10 yr old was in a very good mood and very helpful with the wood spliting and hauling it closer to the house.

Ambivalence

Here’s that thought process thing that gets me in so much trouble.

I can’t work right now because my mind won’t calm and I’m tired. I figure the best thing to do would be to remove the starter from the Jeep so that I can take it by Autozone to get the new one; however, the Haynes manual to the Jeep is awol. Could be in the garage; could be in the boxes in the bedroom; could be in my messy desk; could be somewhere else in the office. The act of trying to find the manual could lead to any of several multiple day projects. So instead I am frozen.

* I’ve reached that stage of the day where I am historically unfocused and unproductive. I have a longing to be doing something but can’t put my finger on it. I definitely need a change of task for a few but it needs to be entertaining and rewarding. Perhaps this is the time to remove the starter from the Jeep.