This morning is the perfect example of why I love fall. I can sit and write outside on the deck—yes, the rest of the family is out right now—drinking my coffee and munching on an H&H everything bagel and sipping my coffee. It's not cold, just comfortable. It's not humid and it's quite relaxing, refreshing and invigorating.
I think my love for fall really goes back to being a kid. There was just always a sense of excitement, a new beginning, for in the fall was always the New Year and the beginning of a new school year. So, it was always an exciting time of change and renewal. So, that makes fall my favorite season. Do you have one?
I've I mentioned the last few weeks, since our return from vacation, have been just an overwhelming period of time with the amount of work and stress in our lives. And even working late adds to my stress because I'm away from the kids and K, and I know she doesn't love it when I'm not there to help out with dinner and baths and stuff. It's funny how a work is such a Catch-22. On the one hand, all the extra stuff is really necessary, especially the freelance work in terms of strengthening my portfolio and bringing in extra money. The extra hours at the office are just part of who I am. And the AIGA stuff is just something I really enjoy and is also a good networking tool. All of it adds up to less time at home. Which again puts more pressure on K and she doesn't always appreciate that part of it. I guess it's just what they call life.
The church bells are playing down the street, another one of my favorite things. And I've got Janis crooning on ITunes,Ball and Chain from the album 18 Essential Songs by Janis Joplin.
Feel really bad for friends as well as the general population in the state of Floridaas Jeanne becomes the 4th hurricane to batter the state. I think I've heard that it's the first time in over 100 years that four hurricanes have hit the same state during one hurricane season. We've been quite lucky not to have a repeat of Isabel from last year but all eyes will be on the next moves of Jeanne as she turns northward.
Well, I guess it's time to end my little period of self-involvement and get back to the real world where things need to get done. (And to the fool who parked behind my neighbor's garage, you'd better wake-up and move your SUV before he has it towed away. )
Follow-up: The young woman who missparked her truck saved it from towing, very apologetically by the way, before the tow trucks were called in. Lucky girl.
StuffIt is busy stuffing the three brochures that I am sending out tonight. Tonight which is about to reach into tomorrow morning. And I told K I'd be home by, say, 7:30 and now its' five hours later. I can't believe this took five hours. It always amazes me how long it takes to get a file ready to go to print. The purchasing of the images, the switch from RGB to CMYK and then naming them so that they make sense to the layout. And then, replacing the low-res images with the hi-res images. And consider I had to do this for three brochures, you get an idea of why it took five hours.
So, now I'm just waiting for this file to be stuffed and then I can go home, run to the grocery store for milk, bread and assorted other must haves before morning wake-up time and then I can go to bed. Somewhere I should fit in dinner, since I've been basically eating my office stash of jelly beans, Resees' cups, non-pareils and lots of water. Seriously, I haven't had a Coke since lunch. All I can say is thank goodness for ITunes which is keeping me awake and somewhat inspired.
Tomorrow Morning from the album On and On by Jack Johnson
Speaking of ITunes, I can now say that I've listened to every song in my collection, 2.061 songs in my library on this machine, at least once. (16 minutes and counting, can you stand it?) I guess I should be concerned that my web browser isn't working. Not sure why that is, and if it's not working, chances are grand that my FTP sotfware isn't going to work and I'll be stuck trying to find somewhere to send these files from. Worse come to worse, I can let them crawl over my DSL line, and crawling is the word when you are comparing a T1 line to a DSL line. But at least it's an option.
(About 13 minutes to go) So, what else is new. Am headed up to NYC next week for several things. One is to meet my new boss in person, second is a meeting at Lippincott with their creative director and financial business development person. The CD is a friend from AIGA. Also on the schedule is the AIGA Medalist Gala. A black tie affair that should be a real blast. I'm quite disappointed that I won't be attending the GAIN conference but maybe next year. Who knows? (About ten minutes left)
Well, the trick now starts. Restart the computer when the files are done being stuffed (about six minutes to go) and check all the connections, make sure a plug didn't come lose from the wall, all that kind of stuff. Okay, we are done stuffing. Now, to see if restarting the computer cures my connection blues.
(6 am, Friday) Well, to be honest, it didn't work at all. Seems our DNS servers went down and there was nothing I could do. Oh, and believe me, I asked. I even called our Tech group to see if there was an alternative server I could use but to no avail. So, after waiting around until 1 am, I gave up and went home. Got back here a little after 6 am and now everything is working and I feel oh so much better. Well, no, I won't really feel better until I know the files have been received and we're only 25% of the way there. Now, I have to run back home and help get the kids off to school. Have a great day everyone.
Well, $3K and an essentially rebuilt engine later, our beloved car is back in our driveway where it belongs. And guess what, it's not overheating anymore.
Of course, after a month of renting (making this year's summer vacation just a tad over budget) SUVs (first the Hyundai Santa Fe and then a Jeep Liberty—the Liberty I got at the mid-size car price because the didn't have any mid-size cars available). So, now I know that my next car will most likely be some form of SUV. One that's a bit bigger than the Liberty but not as big as something like the Navigator.
More later.
Izzy is still asleep, Liam is coloring and cutting—with kid's scissors—paper over at the art table, Karen is out riding her bike and the rain is gone. The wind remains but the rain is gone. Hope all my friends down south are faring well in light of Ivan and the damage he left behind.
Since my last entry took the opportunity to take to task another father for 'not being' there, I should admit that it happened to me yesterday. I had made a commitment to K to help her with the kids at gymnastics yesterday morning. As it turned out, the only help I could give was giving them a ride and them dropping them off. I had responsibility for AIGA's booth at the Baltimore Book Festival and due to my not getting up early, the weather, a little misinformation, I had to go set-up the booth and coordinate our volunteers during gym time. K was none to happy when I picked her up at 12. I had even apologized for my mistake of not getting up earlier and taking care of things earlier in the morning—but since the kids got up earlier than usual and I had gotten a erroneous message that the event had been cancelled—the morning schedule got a little messed up.
In any case, we all had fun last night going to the Irish Festival last night. Izzy and Liam had a great time dancing and playing with other kids there and we all enjoyed the food. Karen and I enjoyed the Guinness. Today promises to be almost as crazy, with both Festivals still going on, the first home game of the season for the Ravens . Well, Izzy wants to eat breakfast, so off I go.
And as for one last comment for today, go Yankees!!
A friend of mine was writing about how her husband wasn't carrying his weight when it came to taking care of their kids, and I felt inspired to show that not all guys are that insensitive. Here's what I scribed in her comment box:
Okay, from a guy's point of view (man, there are some angry wives out there) this was a totally unacceptable thing to do. And the excuses just make it worse.
I travel some and work more late nights than I like (and my wife works three days a week) but I really do try to spend time with the kids, give them baths, make dinner and do what I can to be a good Dad. (Today was a four-hour 'BIG EVENT' with three six-year old girls (Brownies) and one other parent who had her four-year old and her eight-month old with her. I spent part of my time with the girls, part of my time babysitting the two little ones and a glorious hour waiting in-line for food. Next year, we are packing lunch). Oh, I volunteered to go and was not drafted, forced or coerced. No 'deals' were made. It was my choice.
But that doesn't make me perfect and I know my wife could list too many times that I've acted or been a 'jerk' in her estimate of things. And let's face it, women and men are just two very different creatures when it comes to raising children. (This in not an excuse either). But I don't have much patience or understanding for any guy that would pick golf, or anything else, over his wife and kids. (Work is not included in this, because without it, most of us wouldn't eat).
It's funny that I wrote that thing about work because really, if it came down to it, despite the pressure and anxiety, I'd pick my family. Personally, I think this attitude hasn't really helped me terms of moving up the corporate ladder. In the last six years, I've had at least two bosses who really didn't seem to think that me taking helping out with the kids when they were sick was compatible with being a responsible manager. Personally, I disagree. I never let my family responsibilities stop me from getting my work done, and it's not like I needed to hold the hands of my co-workers. Well, who knows. The corporate world is a wacky place and playing the game just takes a lot to make it all work well. (And of course I'm sitting here at 2 am taking a break from doing work).
Speaking of which, it's time to get back to. Hope everyone had a great weekend.
Okay, I'm am just too busy right now for writing everyday. So, as soon as things settle down, I promise to update this in more detail. But for the basic, Liam started school on Tuesday and is essentially fully recovered from the trauma of his injury (and seems to have forgotten that he used to sleep with a pacifier, YEAH!!!). Izzy seems to be really enjoying first grade which is good and she's going to have a very busy fall.
On the me front, I stupidly messed up my laptop by removing some of the system fonts and then having the restore disk (not my fault) be damaged, so I can't update the software. So, right now, it's starting using System 9.2 which means nothing to most of you but let me tell you, it's a pain in the butt. And the Mac technicians have yet to return my call. And as for the car, it's still in the shop, but should be done tomorrow. Firestone is getting my rental car bills for their lack of proper diagnosis and then trying to say the problem didn't exist.
More soon.
Of this week's biggest problems, the most important, Liam and his poor teeth are showing steady improvement. He ate his first solids, on the side of his mouth, on Thursday night—his favorite, homemade mac & cheese — and has found a way to use his sippy cup without causing himself too much pain. He even ate spaghetti with a fork, by himself, last night on his own request. Today, he even ate a lollipop and drank water straight from a cup, no sippee top or straw. And his mood has certainly improved, he's back to his own rambunctious self. I cannot tell you how much more relaxed the whole house is now. Everybody, Izzy included, was just too stressed out and anxious earlier in the week when he wasn't eating and spent more time yelling and crying then being the sweet kid we know and love.
As for the car, well that's another story. It's now been two weeks of renting a vehicle, I did manage to negotiate a lower rate for the weekend, and our car still won't be ready until middle of next week. K is really annoyed and me, being me, kind of take it a little more in stride. It's always challenging to balance our differences in these types of situations without it becoming an argument. Especially during a week when our stress levels are higher than usual.
Well, my five-minute break from the things that need to get done around the house is done and over. Liam's playing Ants in the Pants and I'm about to clean the steps. Then it will be Liam's lunch and then a nap, I hope, while I mop the foyer, 1st floor bathroom and the kitchen and bath upstairs.
So, to all of you out there, have a great holiday weekend.
What started with major car problems the day it began ended with Liam intruding his top front teeth the day after we returned from vacation. And that last 72 hours have been incredibly stressful and demanding on the entire family. He ate no food from Sunday until late Tuesday night (chocolate ice cream) and all liquids have been given via syringe. Up until today he was pretty miserable even with Motrin. Today was the first day where he was relatively 'calm'.
As for the car, well it will hopefully be finished being fixed this weekend. The part it needed, new head gaskets, took about five days to come in and then the repair is going to take another couple of days. Meanwhile, I've become addicted to driving a SUV. First was the Hyundai Santa Fe, a surprisingly nice vehicle though a little stiff on steering into curves, and now a Jeep Liberty. The Liberty handles well but in the long-run would not offer enough space for a family with two kids. Might make a nice 'second' car. But in any case, I've got the SUV bug and our next car will most definitely be in that category. I personally like the Toyota 4-Runner and the Honda Pilot might also be nice choices, at least they make nice fantasies for now.
Taking a week off from any writing was both refreshing and in some ways, difficult. And right now I'm just tired. So now I'm going to go to sleep.