Publishing, Painting, and Pooping

I do have a few interesting topics simmering on the back burner, but I have a feeling they'll have to be put off until next week when I'm sure to have more free time (yeah, right!) For now, here's a few quick highlights of a day in my so called life:

1. Game Carnival #4

New collection of game articles from around the web was just published by Yehuda. It features two of my posts from Splitting Eights and many other interesting stories, many of which I have yet to read (but will in the not so distant future). This is just getting off the ground, so please take a look and comment on what you like.

2. We're Home Owners!

The Mrs. & I just closed on our new house this past Friday and have been packing, cleaning, and painting in our free time ever since. This is my first real experience painting rooms and boy has it been an eyeopener--painting is a ton of work! We've worked the bulk of two full days and a few hours here and there shopping for supplies, cleaning walls, spackling nail holes, taping rooms, applying primer, waiting for paint to dry, and finally...actually painting! It's been fun, especially when we've been able to do it together, but we sure haven't made much progress. Since we're moving the bulk of our stuff into the new place on Sunday, much of the painting will have to wait. Oh well, it looks like we'll have two rooms painted anyway, which is better than none.

3. Potty Training Hell

When I picked up my son from daycare today we were informed that he had pooped in his pull-up, and this absolutely must stop right away. Apparently when a child reaches three (he will do so in September) and he isn't potty trained, his parents go to Hell. As if the entire potty training 'battle' wasn't enough, we need a little extra pressure from the peanut gallery. From my reading on the topic, potty training is something that you lead a child to, but the doing is up to him. I can't force him to do it, I can only help facilitate the process. So, I guess what I'm saying is...I want this as much as anyone, so do something constructive about it or shut the f&@$ up!

So, to sum up: 1. good 2. great 3. grrrr

Maybe one of these days I'll actually write something about games again. I think I need a muse.

Back To Work!

After a fairly brief summer off from work, I'm back to the grind on Tuesday. It is quite unfortunate that we weren't able to close on our house a couple weeks earlier (we close this afternoon) since we have a lot of work to do before it is move-in ready. Now with both of us working full time while we try to pack, paint, clean, and move, and only having two weeks to get it all done before our lease ends on our current home, we're sure to be more than a little stressed out. Hopefully work will be slow and I won't have to put in outrageous hours right away as the semester begins.

My emotions are a little mixed as far as returning to work is concerned. Certainly I had a lot of fun at times and did manage to relax a little when the kids weren't screaming bloody murder. Also I had a little extra time to do some reading, and lots of time to jump start this blog. I have some doubts as to how frequently I'll manage posts in the coming months; my current feeling is that two articles each week will be a good number to shoot for. Last week when I returned to work for most of a week I had a tough time working up the motivation to write anything at all. The issue isn't necessarily finding the physical time to post, but rather a combination of having mental energy enough to brainstorm ideas and motivation to get words down on (virtual) paper. I can find the time but it has yet to be determined if I can find the desire. Stay tuned!

There have been downsides to having the summer off as well, and not just the fact that I haven't received a paycheck in a couple of months. Although I loved the idea of spending lots of quality time with the kids at first, as the weeks passed my patience with them grew considerably shorter. On bad days I felt I should be committed (oh, the peace and quiet of a nice clean place with no kids! I can deal with the mentally ill.) On good days (well, day, I think there may have been one of those) I could sit back watching my brilliant, beautiful children and think how wonderful it is to be a parent.

Maybe an even tougher aspect of the time off is that I don't know what to do with myself when no one structures my days. I'm so used to being busy enough that free time is at a premium and it always feels like I need to make the most of it. When I'm here at home all summer one day leads into the next, I feel like I waste too much time just fiddling with the computer, and I never seem to really get anything accomplished or very often have much fun. I need structure! Sure, you'd think I could have self-imposed some structure on my free time, but if that's the case you obviously don't know me. Maybe I should have tried to get committed, I hear there's lots of structure there! Maybe next summer.

After saying all this it might appear that I am just an ungrateful bastard that doesn't fully appreciate a great gift that God knows how many busy Americans would love to receive in my place, but really I did enjoy the summer, and I am grateful to have had it.

But I'm still ready to go back to work. Of course, catch up to me in a month and ask me what I think about that, my answer may have changed by then.

Cooling Off Party

This past Thursday, the Mrs. and I attended a cooling off party at the home we are purchasing. It was an odd feeling to be hanging out in the house we'd just bought with the sellers and many of their friends. In a way it makes sense since we needed to learn how to deal with some of the house's quirks before we moved in, but it was also quite strange since our perceptions of the party were quite different from that of the other guests. While everyone else there was recounting memories of the sellers and the home, essentially celebrating their time there, we were studying the layout, brainstorming paint colors, and considering furniture placement.

Perhaps the party allowed us a short glimpse of the life our place will have once it is filled with our friends and memories. A couple of odd moments--

The sellers' two year old dumped his drink on the hardwood floors periodically throughout the evening. Each time he did we would cringe just a little. "Those are our floors!" yelled the voices in our heads.

We talked with a woman at the party who we had met once before and discussed in conversation with friends another time. We were bound to remember her since her name is Rainbow ... needless to say she's the only one we know. She lives in the town we are moving to and has a daughter the same age as ours, so perhaps the second meeting means we are bound to become friends.

The house is truly beautiful with lots of natural light and great features, but it has really begun to sink in that there is lots of work to be done in the next couple of years. Most of this is cosmetic, but will still prove to be quite time consuming. I'm sure when all is said and done the finished product will be spectacular, but getting their might just take a bit of elbow grease.