An entry with no pictures?

Yes, an entire entry on my blog with nary a picture. I decided to go with the a thousand words builds a picture theory. As in a picture of what's going on in my life these days.

I can't go back to the last blog entry I did and recap every moment, but here's a few high / low lights

First of all, I'm on call this week for work, which makes me instantly grumpy beyond all belief. I've been on call in some way, shape or form for the last 13 years. Not continuously, mind you, just one week on, and right now, about 8 weeks off. But when I'm on, it's 24 hours a day, call me anytime someone sneezes, for no extra pay, no overtime, no comp time, zippo, zilch, notta, nothing. I hate being on call with every fibre of my being. It's an invasion of my time, a disruption of my family's life and my sleep. Tonight, while waiting for my wife to get home from work, the on-call phone rings, and in the two minutes it takes me to decide that the issue they are calling about is not worth looking into till tomorrow, the babies go from moderately happy, to wide mouthed, inconsolable screaming. Doesn't make it easy to talk on the phone, but it sure makes it easy to hang up and say they'll have to call someone else. Of course, just because you hang up the phone, doesn't mean the babies stop crying.

We now have a pretty good routine going around here. Lisa works Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, during which time we have the nanny take care of the kids until I get home around 3:30, then I take care of them until Mommy gets home around 5:15-5:30. Sometimes this involves going on a walk, or just playing on the floor, or maybe going outside and watching the neighborhood kids play 4-Square in the driveway. Reece and Lorelai are fascinated by kids playing. Strange adults generally make them cry if they get too close, but kids are a whole differnet story. They both love being carried around outside and just laughing at evrything they see. It's so much better to them than being couped up in the stroller.

Some weeks, Lisa works four days, and I stay home for a day and take care of the kids. A full weekday by myself with the kids is definitely tiring, but oddly enough, it's easier than when both of us are home with them on the weekends because you don't try to get any projects done. You might make a few phone calls, and maybe a load of laundry, but anything you get done is a bonus, whereas on the weekends, failure to get all your tasks done is cause for depression.

Reece is working on his walking, and Lorelai is crawling quite well. Their talking is limited to Da Da Da and Ba ba ba and Daaad deee, and sometimes Mum mum mum.

We think they're both getting ready to pop some teeth, but we've been saying that for quite a while.

We have been getting more time to ourselves lately, including last Saturday where we left the kids with Courtney and went out on a date. We had lunch on the Tacoma waterfront (Dukes Chowder hourse, very good food, but a bit over priced), then hit Half Price Books, REI and Borders Books.

Speaking (writing?) of books, I just finished one of the best books I've read in years. "Dies the Fire" by S M Stirling. Its a little bit of science fiction, mixed with a little life in a post apocalyptic world, mixed with boyish adventure. If you liked "The Last Canadian" (Mom, this means you), you will like this book. It's the first book in a series, and while I've got most of the series now in my possession, thanks to Half Price Books and Borders, I'm holding off reading the next one until I get a few things done around here. It's one of those books I couldn't put down, and I ended up spending a whole weekend on it. By the time I finished reading it, I was ready to move to the Willamette Valley in Oregon (where the book takes place), build myself a little place in the hills, and wait for the "Change" to come.

While I haven't been writing on this blog, I have done some other writing, which I am hoping to get published in a magazine sometime, as soon as I do some editing, and find a magazine that would be willing to publish it. I would so love to quit my job and write full time, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

Anyway, this post is getting a bit long now, so I'll sign off, and promise to write more frequently. And yes, I'll keep posting pictures and videos.