Busy as Bees Doing Sweatshop Labor

A strange metaphor, perhaps, but it seriously seems like someone found the Busy Dial and cranked us up to eleven.  What Busy Dial, you ask?  I'll tell you.

Firstly, our tenant moved out of the cottage, allowing us to empty both of our storage units and begin Project Studio.  Figurative fires were lit under our figurative asses by the imminent arrival of summer vacation for the kids, which means that if I didn't have an actual office to go to work in, I would more than likely get zero work done while the kids were home all day.  And more imminently was the visit by my old high school buddy (and co-founder of our experimental college music project, Mozart Air Raid) Gordon and his wife Heather.  The great thing about the studio is that it can do double duty as guest quarters, as it has a very comfy (custom-made) pull-out sofa, and is self-contained with a kitchen and bathroom.  It ain't big, but it's private and comfy.

 

The reason for Gordon & Heather's visit to Seattle (from Portland) was a surprise weekend getaway for Heather's birthday (turns out she was born a day after Raechelle, same year even), spurred by the appearance of Florence + The Machine at the Showbox...

[insert all sorts of wacky antics - or "wactics" having to do with digging out last-minute tax records for the accountant]

[also insert Raechelle's birthday, in which she turned 35 and I assured her she was still gorgeous, because I'm good like that]

Now, about F+TM.  Raechelle has already put her thoughts to pixels, and it pretty much coincides with my experience.  The Showbox was the wrong venue for a theatrical show like Florence, mostly because the stage is in front of an open dance floor, so when there's a large crowd (like for Florence, for example), nobody under 6-feet tall can see anything.  In the future, Florence would do well to seek alternate venues like the Moore and Paramount theaters.

Just before the opening act for Florence took the stage, I checked my voicemail to find a message from the accountant.  Turns out Raechelle's first-time home buyer status last year + my second-time buyer status + Raechelle's new car + filing married = sweet!

We had a swell weekend, mixing casual hanging out with Gordon & Heather with being productive, including the Barmoire project and some general household organization and tidying.  We also had a fun Guitar Night: Special Birthday Edition.  Kayleigh brought her friend Lydia, and many strings were strummed.  Kayleigh has outgrown her small blue guitar, so she is now borrowing the Ovation acoustic Samantha gave me for my 22nd birthday.

Finishing off the weekend, Raechelle and I went to see The Miss Firecracker Contest, Twelfth Night's Spring production, at Youngstown.  It was directed by my stage manager on Deathtrap, and was really well done.

So now we're back to the work week, and I'm juggling several flaming batons at once:

• Writing the proposal for an anti-spam PSA with Dan
• Putting the finishing touches on the Game Master section of Arrowflight
• Making tweaks to the cover of the RADZ hardcover edition
• Working on the OA series pitch materials with Dan
• Storyboarding a music video for Kirby Krackle, which I am directing
• Getting Tyler re-registered for school
• Getting bids from contractors about the Studio (electrical, foundations, etc)
• Awaiting the arrival of my new workstation
• Awaiting the arrival of the high-gain wi-fi adapter for said workstation
• Trying to get the new website up and running

That's the Busy Dial on 11.

Aaaaand scene...

Life's Checkpoints

From what I understand, you're not supposed to combine more than one Major Life Change in a single year, as it stresses the body (and presumably the mind), and can impact your immune system. So, the more Major Life Change in a small amount of time, the greater one's chances of getting ill.

And yes, we knew this before we started stringing Major Life Changes together like so many popcorn garlands on a Christmas tree. And of course, we decided to select the biggest Major Life Changes in the book, right behind Death of Family Member. Yes, Getting Married and Buying a Home are #2 and #3, and we're doing them simultaneously. Which means we're incredibly cocksure, or we've been secretly lobotomized.

The re-wire on the house is complete. I did the final walkthrough with the electrician today and gave him our punch list of little finishes I wanted to have, and he arranged to have a drywall guy come out and patch any access holes totally free of charge (which they normally don't handle, and aren't obligated to handle). So needless to say, I'm very pleased with the quality and customer service of Eagle Electric/Mister Sparky (serving the greater Seattle area).

In the midst of all of the wedding and home improvement hubub (which is not quite a fracas and way short of a hullaballoo), it's good to get some good news: the windows are getting installed two days early. That's like a 50-gallon barrel full of win. And Randy flies in today for a pre-wedding home improvement hootenanny (my GOD, I'm folksy today!). We saw Randy last summer on the Cali trip, and it will be good to get a week and a half to hang with my big bro.

TFMD had her bachelorette party last Saturday, which was (according to the girl herself) extremely fun and chock full of closure. She was kept safe by her good friends, and for that I'm extremely grateful.

We're now down to 10 days until the wedding. We continue to unpack and organize, to put up some last-minute Halloween decor, and to prepare for that next checkpoint.

It's Not Brain Surgery

Or is it? The rewiring of the new house began Monday morning, and will continue (likely) all week. This is, for all intents and purposes, giving our 87-year-old house a brand new brain and nervous system in the form of all new wiring and a new 200-amp service.

As crazy as it looks from the pics, it's really less invasive than I would have thought, thanks mostly to the technique of fishing Romex cable through the attic and crawlspaces up and down wall studs - as opposed to opening up the original plaster-lath walls and having to patch them up later. They're going to run my surround sound wire as well, so my 7.1 audio will be up off the floor and not have surface wiring running everywhere.

The downstairs bathtub surround was installed the first week we were here, but because it bolts to the studs, they had to cut some drywall out and then tape and mud, prime and paint. It looks like now that portion is done. Tyler got a wall and door (whose frame is ridiculously out of square due to everything being built around an original mammoth weight-bearing floor beam), and the painter is finishing up the touch-ups today. Then the carpenter will rough in a counter top where the cabinets will go when they come in. And the new windows should come in at the end of next week.

All of this keeps us focused on the day-to-day, and doesn't allow us to obsess over wedding details, which I consider a real blessing in disguise.

I've been really distracted with the move and the moving in, which are two distinct things. Apologies for being tardy with some updates. Hopefully I will get back to a normal output when we're done with the whole wedding thing and get back from Hawaii.

A Moving Experience

I know that statistically, TFMD and I are still on the young side of midlife, but we like to joke about being old and crotchety. Turns out, a move that would have taken twenty hours had we attempted it the old fashioned way (and resulted in none of our friends ever speaking to us again) was done in less than nine hours and spared us both our bodies and our friendships. It wasn't cheap, but it was well worth the expense, especially since we now get to unpack boxes and rearrange furniture until the cows come home (something that would've been impossible had we done the major moving ourselves).

We unpacked just enough to find some clothes and toiletries before rushing off to Bellingham for the weekend. The first public performance of Buzzkill Bride was, appropriately enough, at a wedding. Without electricity. Fortunately my gigging weapon of choice is a nice loud Ovation, and the woman has a fine set of pipes. So we were set. And because the DJ could not play the processional music, I just strummed a few bars of the song we sang later in the ceremony.

It was apparently well received, and we got lots of nice comments. Not a bad debut. Followed by a vegetarian buffet by lantern light, and, once the power came back on around 9PM, some drunken booty-shakin'. The weekend seemed to be crammed full of small annoyances that, when lumped together, made for a kinda cranky time. But I think it was a good reminder that we have each other and not to sweat the small stuff.

We got back home to await the arrival of our realtor with the new house keys. In talking with the neighbor just to the south of us, we discovered that the two neighbors across the street are both fellow Twelfth Nighters. Small town, West Seattle.

And thus begins life in the new place. My stepmom came over last night and helped organize the pantry, while Rae and I walked down to the new QFC at the Alaska Junction to get dinner stuff. Made a nice meal of soups (butternut squash, chicken noodle), salad and rosemary bread. If I'm not home unpacking, I'm running to the hardware store or Target for storage options. Today someone is supposed to come check out the leaky washer downstairs (we need clean clothes!), and tomorrow the cable guy comes to hook us back up while the contractors start framing a wall and door for Tyler's room and running a new water line so we can move the fridge.

We just need to have the rewiring done before the wedding. Heh.

SOLD!

Now we pack. And sweat.

And maybe whimper just a little.

Onward...

Generic Blog Entry

Aaaaaand another week flies by. How do they keep doing that?

I suppose it might have something to do with the last go-rounds of negotiations on the sale and purchase of homes, the last "just one more thing" for the lender, the "oh yeah, we'll need to think about"s for the new house. You know, the usual.

In other news, approximately a bazillion and three friends have been knocked on their asses by der Schwein flu. Yikes. Now my brother and sister-in-law have it. Poopy. Seems like just earlier this year I was in the ER, getting hydrated from an all-day vomipalooza. That piggy flu doesn't mess around.

So far, the kids have re-adapted to school. Tyler is actually going, which is a huge improvement over last year. Kayleigh switched her band instrument from the clarinet to the alto sax (along with two of her friends). I expect to hear a lot of Pink Panther Theme and Yakkity Sax in the near future.

Last Friday, I joined some old friends at the EMP/SciFi Museum at Seattle Center, including a couple I'd not seen in over two years. It was good to get caught up, and it made me realize I need to be better at keeping in touch with the people in my life, whether they live here in town or across the state.

Now we just wait for the whole house process to finish. Huzzah.

Curb Appeal

The last week or so has been an exercise in beautification for the front of the house. My stepdad came down from Bellingham twice to help me get a porch rail and banisters constructed for the front porch. We also poured a new concrete step and spread bark in the planter areas in front of the house. Once the painting is done, the curb appeal of the place will go way up. Just having the railing on makes the place feel more secure and focuses the flow up to the front door.

Our greatest challenge turned out to be when we discovered there wasn't a square angle on that old porch, considering the posts are 80 years old. So we started square and then fudged on the side of visual appeal, realizing that if we made the new construction 100% square, a) it wouldn't match up; and b) it would accentuate to older non-plumb angles. So at least the new construction looks like it belongs on a restored 1922 craftsman home.


This last weekend was also the opening of The Music Man. I'm so proud of Kayleigh. She's in a bunch of the show, singing, dancing, acting her heart out, on her cues and really in the moment. This will be her last show with the younger kids. From now on, she will be in the teen groups, which she's looking forward to. Soon she'll be getting lines.

I can't say enough about the show. The performances are all terrific, and there's no lack of vocal talent. My buddy Raff was made to play Professor Harold Hill, and he owns it throughout. And once again Travis steals the show with his Chaplin-esque town magistrate.

Things have been settling into a groove on the wedding and home fronts. It's a welcome change, and it's made the relationship with TFMD quite a bit more comfy. We've been making time for the occasional dinner or cocktail date. She's less stressed, I'm less stressed. And lo and behold, we have more energy and focus. Go figure.

Sunday was the rescheduled Duo: Issue #0 shoot, and it went off pretty flawlessly. It was a joy to be working with my OA crew again (Anthony, Dan Humphrey, Eric Riedmann and Trish Loyd Heinrich). It was my second time being on set with Dan Heinrich, and the experience cemented for me the necessity of working with such a competent, creative counterpart. It was also momentous because Khanh Doan and I had not been on a set together before, and she'd been cast in the role five years ago. Aside from one scene rehearsal prior to shelving the Duo feature in 2005, she'd had no outlet for her character. So it was truly great to finally work together.

It should be noted that just prior to the Duo shoot, Eric Riedmann had auditioned for a featured role in an episode of Leverage with Timothy Hutton. After we wrapped, he got the word that he got it, and he's currently in Portland on the Leverage set, working opposite Hutton and Jeri Ryan. I have to say that's pretty cool. Nice work, Mr. Eric.

Life is good, and I am grateful for it.

"What're Ya, YELLOW?"

Kayleigh had her first belt test last Friday, and was awarded her yellow belt at class on Wednesday. I could not be prouder. I even got to hold the board she split with an axe kick - on the first try.

Two open houses scheduled for this weekend. We had five agents at the broker's open yesterday. And next Tuesday my stepdad is going to come down from Bellingham and help me install a wooden railing on the front porch and pour a new concrete bottom step.

And last but not least, the heatwave broke last night. We awoke to overcast skies and a gentle breeze. In other words, the weather we Seattleites are used to. Back down to a nice, summery 82F.

Welcome, weekend!

[Witty Heat-Related Title Here]

Looks like Seattle's looking to break the all-time temperature record today. According to King 5 News (and other local sources), we're supposed to see 101F today. If we do it, it'll break the official record of 100F set in 1891.

Of all the things to take pride in, beating a heat record is not on my list of priorities. But I count my blessings, and among them are ceiling fans and a cool downstairs master bedroom.

Plenty of interest in the house listing, although no traffic. Maybe things will pick up when the heatwave breaks. We have a broker's open tomorrow, and open houses on Saturday and Sunday. Sounds like a good excuse to go mall walking or sit in an air-conditioned theater for a couple hours.

Muy Caliente

Sure, temps in the 90s are no big deal if you live in the Southwest. In Phoenix, for example, it's downright cool and breezy. But in Seattle, where the all time record high of 100 degrees was set back in 1891, it's pretty much as hot as we can go without getting pissy. Pacific Northwesterners are acclimated to colder temperatures as a matter of environment. When the mercury hits 60, we're donning shorts and flip-flops and shedding our layers of REI sweaters and Hanes hoodies (showing off piercings and tattoos - and fat reserves - that are often best left to the imagination). And home air conditioning is almost unheard of here.

Well, this week, it's supposed to get hot and stay there until we dip back under 90 for the weekend. Add the fact that Seattle is essentially an inland metropolis, despite its position on a large body of water. Socked in by mountains on either side, our air tends to heat up and stop moving, and when that happens, the air quality quickly goes down the tubes. And on top of everything else, Seafair is this week - a festival dominated by hydroplane racing and Blue Angel aerobatics, all of which add to the carbon in the the general breathing supply.

Short version: Seattle is one of the cleanest and most beautiful cities in the country when the air is moving. When it hits high summer and decides to stop, however, it's kinda lame. Not California or Texas stupid-hot, but lame nonetheless.

I think Robert Smith described the situation perfectly.

Of course, the moment it started to broil, I decided to get on the roof and start sweeping off the tree crap and moss that had accumulated in the last three years. It took most of four hours and ended with me getting dizzy and thinking that a pointy roof over a two-story drop was probably not the best place to be dizzy. But the roof looks oodles better, and Sunday our agent hosted an open house while TFMD went to a baby shower and I took the kids to the movies and lunch at Blue C. It was a first for both of them (the Blue C sushi, not the movies), and it was quite a hit.

Later on, Dan & Trish came over to talk shop and we ended up having a little "deli dinner" (french bread with deli meats and cheeses... and wine). Then we retired for the evening and tried to stay cool.

I predict popcicles will find their way into the grocery cart this afternoon.

First Time For Everything

Sure, I've moved before. Heck, when I was a kid, we moved every three years or so.

I feel a story coming on. Might want to go get a refill of whatever you were drinking.

There you go. Comfy?

After my parents' divorce, we moved every couple years (sometimes more). Once I moved out with Samantha, we spent 6 months in a Mountain View apartment - then she went to San Francisco State and I studied animation at Mission College, so I got a room in a friend's house in San Jose for 6 months, a sort of bachelor pad situation. Moved back to my dad's for a year while I went to school and worked, saving up for the family trip to the Caribbean in 1989, and shortly thereafter moved back in with Sam and another couple in Fremont. That lasted a little less than a year, and Sam & I moved into our little 500sf apartment on the Mountain View/Sunnyvale border (which we christened with the extremely geeky epithet The Keep on the Borderlands), with the Slumlord from the Lower Circles of Hell.

We survived the 100+ degree summers in an upstairs sauna with no air conditioning for two years before we finally snapped. All we wanted was "reasonable". And the Bay Area had ceased to deliver "reasonable".

Once we hit Washington, it was two weeks of couch surfing at our friends' place in Bellevue before we got a nice apartment in Renton, where we were for a year and a half while we got established (we had the "Cascade" two-bedroom floor plan). Sunnyvale Slumlord kept our deposit, by the way, knowing it would be too inconvenient for us to come back to California and take him to court. $500 was not insignificant to a young married couple who'd just moved out of state.

While in the Renton apartment, we befriended Buffy, who was NOT a vampire slayer, but rather a sweet young Bohemian girl who was the perfect friend and roommate for a sweet young Bohemian couple, all of whom had embraced the granola and flannel Seattle "scene" in the early '90s. Ever see the film Singles? More accurate than not.

Anyhoo, we were looking at sharing a place in the city, and West Seattle was a sleepy little community of artists and musicians off the beaten track. We ended up renting a huge Craftsman house on the main strip of California Ave., just above a custom auto parts shop - a storefront that would become the Nail Time salon. The rent? $625. A hundred bucks less than our first apartment in Mountain View.

When we arrived in West Seattle in the January of 1993, I had no clue what twists and turns were in store, both for myself and the neighborhood. On the downside, there was a Denny's. There were two gun stores and a porn shop on the Ave. On the upside, we were a block from Jefferson Square and could walk to the store for groceries. We had a view of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains from our living room window (a view that was replaced in recent years by high rise apartments). There was a mom & pop cafe and a brew supply store across the street, and when Ron and I launched The Gamut (the hobby store now occupied by a Garlic Jim's pizzaria) that summer, I could walk to work.

Buffy roomed with us for a year, keeping up a close friendship afterward. In fact, she was present at Tyler's birth, acting as my sanity check (gophering and making sure we both kept hydrated). Buffy was followed by Erica, Samantha's manager at Pegasus Book Exchange and a regular at The Gamut. Erica shared the house until Tyler was about 3 months old, then Tyler moved into the second bedroom and we occupied the enire house by ourselves - a complete family unit - until we found this little updated Craftsman just off Westwood Village. We bought the place for under $100K and moved in on March 1st, 1995.

With the exception of living across the street during the post-fire rebuild, this is the only home I've lived in ever since. It's the only home Tyler can remember. It's the only home Kayleigh's ever known. It's been through flood and fire, and rebuilt to a magnificent state. And it goes on the market this week.

[blink, blink]

It actually came about pretty suddenly. Raechelle and I (and the kids) have been house hunting for over a year. But we found a good opportunity to move in a good direction within West Seattle, and we made an offer. And since the offer is contingent on selling this place, we now have to make that happen.

So suddenly I'm boxing up extra stuff and getting a storage space, and cleaning out the garden window in the kitchen, and recycling a bunch of leftover Deep7 books I had in the carport.

And getting ready to sell my first home.

There's a lot of memory and, yes, some baggage in the last 15 years. And while I'm absolutely thrilled to be embarking on a new adventure with my family and the woman I love... yeah... it's a bit heavy, sure.

TFMD and I were the first ones to ask ourselves if we were just a wee bit loco to be trying to move four months before a wedding and honeymoon. And given other circumstances, that's probably very correct. But this was an incredible opportunity - a situation that would not be present had we waited until next year to continue hunting. We'd have been crazy not to give this a shot.

So, while nothing is final yet, we need to get this place all prettied up for Baby's First Listing. This move will be the physical representation of Life 2.0. I'm excited and terrified and sometimes a little sad, but I ultimately feel very peaceful and serene about this new chapter.

Yeeeeeehaw, my homies. Yeehaw.

Reason #4,557 Why I Rule.

And no, it's not my staggering level of modesty.

I've always hated leaving projects unfinished. And for (I believe) two weeks, there's been the nagging gap in the master closet, just waiting to be addressed. So today, I consciously pulled myself away from the OA script and fixed the fallen curtain rod. A few bullets about said project:

• I followed Ryan's advice and screwed two 3-foot lengths of 1x4 to the studs, one above the other.
• I love having a large level.
• I love my Dust Buster.
• I really REALLY miss my circular saw.
• I don't know where my drill recharger is - that needs to be addressed soon.

Anyway, closet is "go", and Rae's clothes are all back where they belong. Huzzah.

While I'm thinking of it, why was I wide-friggin'-awake at 4:30AM this morning? It was weird. And I haven't crashed at all today. Am I gearing up for our impending old fogey bedtime? Or is this that stupid Mars thing passing and leaving me with an abundance of creative energy?

Ah well. We canceled some less-fun plans tonight to get out of the house and do some Southcenter browsing/shopping. I've got a slight case of cabin fever and want to get out of here for awhile.

Weekend Update, a Day Late

Yeah yeah. I know. But we've been busy.

Friday, we postponed movie night so that we could go see Bullshot Crummond at Youngstown. As expected, it was a four-bucket-o-cheese production. What's nice about Bullshot is that it's surgically bad, intentionally slap-dash, and it gives the actors opportunities to really ham it up and chew scenery for an hour and a half. And if any technical gaffes occur, they are easily masked due to the inherently low production values.

Plus, seeing Travis Pavey with a shaved head and Heidelberg scar was totally worth the price of admission. Awesome.

We came home and crashed straightaway. It had been a long, tiring week.

Saturday we slept in! Finally got up and cleaned a bit in preparation for Ron to come and shoot some family photos in the media room. We've got the holidays upon us, and needed to show off the change that's occurred in the lives of four individuals. And a cat. I'm not one for posed photos, thus Ron's ability to capture some really cool candid moments was a nice asset.

After Ron left, we cleaned and organized some more, and we may have wandered down to the mall for some exercise and house supplies. I put up a secondary clothes rod in the closet for Raechelle, a giant wall-hanging coat rack in the hallway between the kids' rooms and two smaller ones in the corner by the carport door for Rae and me. Doug and Ann came over, partly to get their fondue pot from the Halloween party and partly so that Doug could get Rae's computer on the network. Kayleigh got invited to stay the night with a friend who had been having a rough emotional time, and Tyler was going to spend the night at Miles' house, but that plan was squashed at the last minute, much to Tyler's dismay.

Ron and I had talked about going to see Quantum of Solace that evening while Raechelle was at her friend's bachelorette party, but I'd been fighting a bug and ended up staying home and watching Dogma with Tyler. Then he decided to hole up in his room, and I put in Rollerball and Eraserhead, which is kind of like marinating ribs in dish soap. But I hadn't seen either in years, so it was kind of a fun refresher. It reminded me that David Lynch has always been a mad genius, and although I retain a love-hate relationship with his work, I have to admit Henry Spencer would be a really cool (and easily done) Halloween costume. And the award for Most Obscure Reference goes to...

Rae came home just as the tree was gushing blood and the guys were drilling core samples from Henry's severed head. I decided I'd had enough weirdness for one night and turned Eraserhead off, and we went straight to bed.

Sunday morning, Rae slept in while I went to coffee with Ron. He showed me the pics from Saturday and burned me a DVD of them right there in the cafe - gotta love technology. Came home and found the girl in a cleaning frenzy, desperate to organize the bedroom so that we could have a sanctuary while the rest of the house was being organized. We had the Hawks' game on, but there's only so much torment a fan can take. I want to root for them, but it is so very hard when they suck.

I removed part of the pantry area baseboard so that Rae's bookcase could slide in perfectly, and hung pictures. We printed out a few of the black & white family pics and, after a brief trip to Northwest Art & Frame, put them in frames to be put on the wall. Yes, the girl has made the wall. Only appropriate, since she's kinda living here and all.

Tyler and I were supposed to play City of Heroes, but his computer was possessed by demons, so we had to bag that plan. We were both very disappointed. But we had a soft taco assembly line dinner with the kids and Sunday night television before heading to bed to kick off a new week.

I think it was late Sunday night or early Monday morning when the secondary clothes rod in the master bedroom closet popped the wall anchor clean out and collapsed under the weight of many girl clothes. I kept hearing Scotty in my head: "She cannae take no more!" We're looking for alternative shelving for sweaters so she can fee up dresser space for pants, thus taking a lot of weight off the clothes rod. Meanwhile, I will try to repair the bracket and strengthen it, but there's only so much a drywall anchor can do.

Monday was back to work & school. I was a mad, errand-running fool. With a gift for rhyme, apparently. Raechelle mentioned wanting to go out to dinner for the Dine Around Seattle promotion, wherein participating restaurants offer a frou-frou three-course meal for $30. So I got Kayleigh to hang-out with another friend for the evening and we went to Etta's and had a lovely dinner date.

Today is more proactivity, with a Goodwill run and hopefully a lot of writing on the OA pilot. I have my goth playlist blasting in the office as I type this, trying to get me into Angels mode. We have a script meeting Thursday night. Then movie night on Friday, Rae's friend's wedding on Saturday, and the Hawks/Skins game on Sunday (aka Suckfest '08. Sigh).

And Monday, dear readers, will mark our six-month anniversary. Where does the time go?

Birthdays and Teenagers and Houses, Oh My!

Last night, we took the kids to the house we saw on Sunday. They were thrilled, running around and fighting over bedrooms and playing little possibilities in their heads. Pretty much what adults do in those situations, only less apologetically. By the end of the tour, however, Tyler was starting to develop an attitude.

In the car on the way home, the question of ice cream with the homemade blackberry pie was raised, and I said I would stop and get some on the way home. The kids had been involved in some sort of distracting wrestling match in the back seat, and I had already warned them that if I had to reprimand either of them once more, there would be no ice cream.

Tyler, who had been pointing out fault in the extreme all day long, said that we should have stopped at Husky Deli for the ice cream. I replied that it was too far back to warrant turning around. He then chose to tell me that we had been closer to Husky at one point (in that very accusatory way that says, "not only are you not giving me what I want, you're stupid for not giving it to me.").

Which warranted a reprimand. Which meant no ice cream. Which meant tears from Kayleigh and a stream of verbal abuse from Tyler, which included the shock of my life: being repeatedly called an asshole in front of my daughter and girlfriend (who sat quietly in the passenger seat, looking shocked).

Now, keep in mind that Sam & I were all about attachment parenting and creating as non-corporal an environment as we could. Even so, Tyler has been spanked upon occasion by both Sam and myself (although not for years now), and as a parent who has tried both corporal and non-corporal methods, I can honestly say that corporal methods do not work and have never worked, with me or either of my children. So, when dealing with genius level kids in a non-corporal household, we are maneuvering on a much higher, cerebral plane.

I was very proud of myself. I told Tyler that he needed to shut his mouth immediately for his own good, and that when we got home he was to go immediately to his room pending a very intense discussion of his atrocious behavior and what penalty he would pay. My tone was ominous and authoritative, and I could tell by the way both kids shrunk back in their seats that it was being effective. But I never once lost my cool. No slamming of brakes, no fist flying wildly into the back seat in some half-assed macho disciplinary motion.

We got home and Tyler went to his room, and I consoled Kayleigh, then said goodbye to Raechelle after she assured me that I'd done the right thing and that, contrary to the way I feel sometimes, I am a good father. I informed Tyler of the severity of his transgression, and put him on restriction for the rest of the week, and took away his cell phone for a whole day (Tyler responds to gadget deprivation much more strongly than to physical coercion). After that, he was docile and contrite, and he went to bed shortly thereafter.

Kayleigh has a birthday camping trip to attend this afternoon, but before that can happen, we need to get her cell phone SIM card replaced and get to the store for a gift for her friend.

I got the inspection report from the home we looked at, and there is an action item list that will need to be attended to. A potentially expensive list at that. So I don't know how possible a move will be at this point, unless one of our projects gets a green light and I start drawing a regular paycheck again.

On the upside, four days to California!