Quiet

Hi. Still adjusting to the new schedule. I work 8:30 to 5, which means I get up at 7 and get home by 6. They give me a half-hour for lunch, which I appreciate, since it gives me that extra half-hour in the morning, but as a result I can’t get much reading or writing in at that time. So, my real day begins a little after 6 pm. Up till then I’m just payin’ the bills. My real day lasts until a little after 11. Five hours a day.

The first week I went back to work my parents took the little ones up to their house for a week-long summer vacation. Me and my wife took advantage of this, and while I spent the days acclimatizing to my new job and all its duties, we spent the free nights together doing things we normally don’t do anymore. Twice we went out to eat. Nothing too fancy, but fun nonetheless. Once we went to see a movie. Once we just drove to Barnes and Noble, two adults, and browsed around.

Though we love our children dearly, it was nice to have five days off from constantly feeding them, cleaning them, cleaning up after them, entertaining them, refereeing between them, teaching them. Oh, and no one got us up in the middle of the night or with any 6 am impromptu a cappella concerti.

Saturday they came back. Patch was a little sick, so the wife took her to see the doctor. Me and Little One did our recently-neglected errand run, and what a great time we had! On paper it doesn’t seem so – post office, dry cleaners, recycling center, library, drug store. But we ended it with lunch at our favorite local pizzeria. My God, she was so funny! This little thing, not quite seven years old, is making me hold my sides in laughter. Crazy. Want her to stay this age forever.

Then, I got it in my head to build a model with her. When I was a kid, I did lots of models – dinosaurs, Universal monsters, tanks, Star Wars ships. I was positive I could find something she’d be into, and we could spend about two hours later that afternoon working on it. So we drove to Toys R Us, and, wouldn’t you know, they don’t carry models. Haven’t for at least a decade. I’m at a loss where to buy them locally, so I need to do some research.

Sunday morning I drove the wife and the girls to LaGuardia, and they flew in nasty weather down south to my in-laws, until Friday evening. I’ve got a four-day work-week and quiet evenings ahead of me.

Which is okay. I don’t mind being alone. In fact, I can get a lot done, and have. Sunday I cleaned the house, primarily the kitchen, while it teemed outside, and went to the grocery store for a week’s worth of supplies. Yesterday I did the yardwork: mowed, weeded, clipped the hedges, swept the driveway. I put away close to 70 pages of Riders of the Purple Sage and nearly a hundred of this new book I’m reading, which I’m thinking of blogging about tomorrow. Finally finished the BBC production of Henry IV part I – phenomenal and superb! Watched a bunch of bigfoot teevee shows and got all spooked. Went for walks and meditated.

Some interesting posts later this week. Something grim on the Aztecs, something weird and speculative on Nothing. Some interesting comments on Riders, though I may save those until I actually finish the book and review it. Maybe a movie review; saw a bunch recently. Might do a compare and contrast on them. Whatever the Muse moves me to write; I do this for love and not a paycheck, and it’s the part of the day I look most forward to.

So, I’ve plenty to keep me busy.

But boy is the house sure quiet.