Do I delve once again into the depths of my own self-doubt, fear of failure, and fear of success? No, I don’t think that this lifelong battle needs to be rehashed here, once again. It is sufficient to say that I now know more about myself and my more adult coping mechanisms, and that I am pulling myself out of the quagmire. It only takes the smallest misstep to trip and fall headlong back into it.

Sleeping like a BOSS

Acelyn knows she’s the boss.  I’m convinced that she’s acutely aware of how in control she is of our sleep, of the relative amounts of pain in her mother’s arms, and whether or not Nikki gets to accomplish anything while I’m at work.  She then purposefully activates her cute in massive waves that leave everyone around her stunned for hours.

With Google+ coming on the scene, I’ve noticed that my social networking behavior has changed a bit.  I barely visit LiveJournal, and will probably be adding those with active accounts to my RSS reader.  I may even import its history here.  I keep in touch on FaceBook, especially when it comes to kid updates.  A lot of my extended family reads there, as well as friends that are out of town.  Most of my technical and political stuffs have moved over to Google+, which seems a more intimate and friendly interaction, thanks to the structure of its circles.  Twitter ends up being for announcements and retweets.  Overall, I’m pleased with this setup.

Aidan and Cian in their Fall duds.

School has started again.  Hunter is incredibly excited about and pleased with his new school, which is a godsend.  An environment in which he can learn and not feel marginalized would be amazing.  Not that he doesn’t require -all- of the attention -all- of the time to not feel marginalized, but that’s neither here nor there.  While I’m getting on his case to pick up after himself, turn off lights when he leaves the room, and for the love of all that’s holy, CLOSE THE SHOWER CURTAIN, I’m silently rooting for him to blow us all away this year.  That boy makes me proud.

Aidan is starting Pre-K this year, and has already butted heads with his new teacher.  He loves doing homework and is very proud about which school he is going to, and that he’s going to a “big kid” school now.  I think I’ll always be grumbly about him being in his other home during the week, but the stability has done him wonders.  The feather in our caps of being able to do what the other family said couldn’t be done makes things a bit more tolerable.

Cian wants to be just like Aidan.  He loves doing his “homework” when the other kids are doing theirs, but hasn’t yet started complaining about not being able to go to school yet.  He can point out Hunter’s school as we drive past it, though.  Who knows where we’ll be when he gets to school age… wherever it will be, it’ll be another fun ride.

I cannot tell you how inspired I get when I listen to the Flobots.  Whether it’s on 88.9 the Impact or on Pandora, every track I hear makes my chest fill up with hope and confidence in my ability to change the world.  This feeling, this is essential.

We’re getting hit with a second round of severe snowstorms.  I didn’t even think about the weather as I left Lansing, because while the clouds were low and dark, there wasn’t a hint of snow.  I made really good time in my commute, until halfway there, when I hit a wall of snow.  I made it just after my start time, thanks to several stretches of 25-mph travel as I-96 and I-696 parted ways.  I’m just hoping that the salt (non-salt?) trucks don’t run out.

I don’t think that I’ve gotten around to sharing my good news in my little bloggy corner of the intertubes.  As you know, Bob, my wife is pregnant.  There’s been a parasite in there sapping her energy and destroying her appetite (one-two punch!) and, recently, kicking her square in her bladder.  And, now we know what gender the little bladder-destroyer is.  I’m going to have a daughter!  This, apparently, explains how different this pregnancy has been from the boys’ hormone-induced trips through candyland.

Any tips on how to best improve my sword and/or warhammer collection in the next twelve to fourteen years for maximum date intimidation factor are more than welcome.  >:)

I’m back to reading about The Boy (he HAS a name, you know!) in Eyri, whenever I get a few spare minutes to rub together.  I’ve rated and reviewed the new Dark Tower graphic novels over at GoodReads, and they were well worth the read.  By the way, so is The Magic of Eryi.  I plan on doing a full review once I’ve finished.

In geek news, I’m starting to think that attempting to install Windows Server Home Edition on actual server hardware might not be the best route.  On the flip side, the quick restore CDs for Hunter’s PC have been shipped.  I’ve got my fingers crossed, as there is some small doubt about whether or not they’ll like or reject the PC’s BIOS entries.  Two slightly different models of that machine, one with a v, and one without.  So, like I said, my nerd-Dad fingers are crossed.

Today, I leave you with some advice from a Michigander:

Don’t drive like an idiot.  I don’t want to end up in a ditch.

I can’t tell you how many loads of laundry and dishes I’ve done over my weekend.  I say my weekend, because my work schedule shifts my days off to Sunday and Monday.  Hence, my weekend is not the same as everyone else’s weekend.

I’ve mostly caught up on the laundry, and have entirely caught up on dishwasher-safe dishes.  I’ve spent nearly an entire day shopping and putting away the procured items from said purchasing craziness.  When you live paycheck-to-paycheck, the day of your wife’s student loan’s arrival can be a second Christmas, let me tell you.  Speaking of, it also allows us to finally purchase, put together, and schedule each others’ belated holiday gifts.  I’m trying to find the best local spa that is certified to massage pregnant women so that she can be pampered for a day, and she’s creating (as I type) a blanket with fabric that I picked out.  She has warned me that the blanket is just Stage 1.  Exciting!

I have some hopes regarding work that I’m going to keep to myself for a bit.  I can’t stop planning and trying to improve the systems in which I find myself, it seems.  I’ve got my fingers crossed that my ideas will (1) be adopted and (2) turn out for the best.

I’d like to thank Izzy for my replacement mouse.  My Microsoft Bluetooth Mouse 5000 bit the dust in such a way that its sleep function would randomly enable.  Reading forums and blogs turned up that this is a common fate for that model.  Izzy happened to have upgraded recently, and I now have a shiny black and purple Microsoft Wireless Mobile Mouse 3000.  I do enjoy using that which can no longer be used by previous owners.

In the photo, Cian is sitting on the bench behind my computer desk.  He often shouts suggestions that I show him videos and pictures of people that he knows.  It makes both of us a bit happier to see the people tied to us by blood and by friendship.