White Lightning Axiom: Redux

Okay guys, this is going to have to be a quick update. I'm a bit under the gun with a schedule that, as is the norm, makes no sense on paper and even less in reality. At the top of the micro-timeline in a bubble, we had Fabulous Friday. This is where the Outing that the Mrs was going to desert me for ended up being cancelled due to an unforeseen illness. Not the Mrs mind you, she has a stainless steel immune system. I spent the evening after we put the kids to bed watching BattleStar Galactica. A bit of a waste of time, but I can see how they are developing Baltar's character now. A bit of a sympathetic character but and absolute ass none the less. Speaking of sympathetic, Jake was up about 10 times between 0030 and 0145 before he finally woke for the last time at 0500. It's a plot to wear us down I tell ya. Well, mostly me since I had to nearly push the Mrs out of the bed the last time to get her to wake up. The activity in the wee hours of the morning are not exactly her cup of tea. Not that I find this entirely amusing or enjoyable myself mind you. The alternative is not especially enticing either. Until his little bladder grows a bit or he learns that there is nothing to fear in the bathroom other than me forgetting to put the seat back down, this will be our lot in life. I'm starting to understand why parents seem so ... simple minded. It's the lack of sleep and an overwhelming desire for just one mundane event to go as expected.

Later on in the morning, Jake and I head off to the Outdoors/sportsman show at the Expo Center. A little Father/Son type of thing. He LOVES it. Race cars, tractors, ATVs, Trucks, Boats, animals (some alive, most not) with the added benefit of archery and fishing ... INDOORS! He tried his hand at the archery range and was thrilled beyond words. His description of how he shot the arrow was the most impressive display of using three English words to compose a 30 minute discussion. Sound effects were copious in number. He also did a bit of fishing and learned how important it was to tell the right fish-tale. How a no-catch evolves to an almost-catch of 6 inches to 6 feet. It was a pretty interesting time for him. Turning on all the faucets in the RVs was absurdly involving. The idea of a bathroom in a vehicle was too much for him to resist. Wait till he discovers urinal mints.

Since Ted Nugent was there, the crowds were abnormally large. While the masses were trying to swamp the building we made our way to the back to enjoy some jerky, dogs (hot and cold nose variety), hooters girls and chewing tobacco chachkies. Either way, having a charming and affectionate son along will get you places you don't belong. Better than a dog indeed! But I kept out of trouble for the most part ... Okay Hon? Mr Pete, our family friend was there and can vouch for me. Interesting thing about Mr Pete, Jake is really fond of him and prefers to tag along. I think it has something to do with Jake thinking Pete does not know the mind set of a 3yr old and might let Jake get away with things that Daddy does not. Daddy, what a hard-ass he is. Sheesh, I just wanted to stick my hand in that machine full of spinning blades and bone grinding gears. Nope, don't need that. The Mrs would not let me out of the house with the kids ever again. At least not without a proctor or a monitor.

Four hours later, we find that the booths are becoming quite similar and there is only so much jerky a person can possibly eat. We head off to meet the Mrs and contentious daughter at Wallmart. Apparently, Alexis was miffed that she was not included in the Father/Son outing. She does, however, point out that Jacob and Daddy are boys while Mommy and Moi-Moi (Little sister) are girls. After being reunited, chastised and then forgiven, I set about to do a bit of agricultural shopping. They already have the garden seeds out so I picked up double packs of spring veggies and an assortment of other delectables. This means I'll have to clean all the pine bows off out of the Haupertonian Agricultural and BioEngineering Test Grounds so I can till under the compost and throw in a bit of sand to get things ready. I'm going to have to pick up new tomato cages since the ones I've been using for the last 5 years are starting to show battle fatigue. No peppers this year either. I've got enough dried, canned and pickled peppers to make Peter go into convulsions. Oh, and speaking of convulsions, we just got our PECO bill ... $290 USD for Dec/Jan. Ouch. We even used less power and gas than we did last year even though it was 3 degrees colder this year. Of course, seeing that we slapped down 90$ on dinner last Wednesday night, I really should not whine.

Ahhh, Sunday Services with the Twins. Something peculiar happened though. It may be that since we did not give them any breakfast, they were hungry and thusly, well behaved. They sat semi-quietly and dipped into their snacks while playing with the few small toys I brought along. Even Jake was polite enough to let me attend the entire mass before becoming bored enough to want to go to the bathroom. I let him know that if he waited till AFTER, he would get the tootsie rolls that the ushers leave for the kids at the back afterwards. They are luring me into a false sense of security. I know it ... I just don't know what they have planned for me. Here is where things start to get fuzzy though. I spent the rest of the day sanding the master bedroom and cleaning it to get ready for the first coat of polyurethane. Now I'm fairly certain that I put the first coat down since the Manor smells like an industrial accident in China, and the floor is coated, but the activity escapes me. I actually used the last of one can and started in on the last one left. I'll probably have to buy more but work only when the weather is nice. The rain required me to keep the windows closed and, well, the results are obvious. Geting up this morning was rough and the upper floors still smell fairly awful. The Mrs noted that when she took a shower, the fumes combined with the hot, humid air made her eyes sting. Yeah, try doing that for a few hours and you'll get the idea. I'm just glad that she did not come home and find me face down in a 5 gallon bucket of the stuff. Preserved forever like a pre-historic skeeter in amber. Can't wait to do the second coat.

# posted by mdmhvonpa @ 2:24 AM