4 feb 2000

Hello again Larry!

I finally actually had five minutes to sit down, and thought I'd fire off a quick missive while I was enjoying the sensation of being stationary. It's quite strange really...but in a nice way. Problem is I've been racing around nonstop for so long now I can't seem to adjust my eyes to this sitting down stuff, and the world feels like it is still spinning around me at a furious rate.

Quick summary of the day:

I first woke up when I heard Kathrin mumbling something, and looked over to see our new dog (Lucy) laying with it's paws on her face, so I jumped up and took the dog out of the room.
Lukas was waiting for me outside because he wanted to go to the beach, but it was only 6:30 a.m. and rainy so I told him we'd wait.
Made breakfast for the two boys, took a quick shower, threw them in the shower, yanked them out of the shower, dressed Eli, dressed myself.
Fed the dog, took her in because it was raining, got on all fours to clean the mud off the carpet that she had tracked in.
Stayed on all fours to clean the mud off the carpet that Eli tracked in after he went hunting for worms.
Put the worms I found on the kitchen table back outside. Washed the table and Eli. Consoled Lukas after he was accidentally bitten by Lucy during some rough play.
Grabbed the boys and drove to Home depot to get exactly one million different things we needed for the house. Finally gave in and bought Lukas another cactus (he always wants cactus). Spent five minutes picking up half a million parts that had fallen out of the holes in the bag that the cactus spines had made. Spent another ten minutes pulling cactus thorns out of my knuckles when I got home...(the cactus thorns had imbedded themselves when I'd shifted into fourth gear on the way home...turns out Lukas thought the console behind the stick shift would be a good place for his cactus.)
Spent an hour making homemade parts for the freestanding basketball hoop...the movers had lost most of them. Finally got the hoop up, only to watch it come crashing down on our car because I'd forgotten to put ballast in the stand.
Took Lukas, Eli and Lucy for a hike in the Santa Monica Mountains (right behind our house). Consoled Lukas after he was bitten by a potbellied pig he'd tried to pet through a fence. Kept tripping all over each other because Eli and Lukas both insisted on holding Lucy's leash, and Eli also insisted on simultaneously holding my pant-leg because of "mountain lions." Spent most of the hike untangling the leash from between our collective legs. Am sure the '"mountain lions" appreciated having their meal all tied together and prepackaged like that.
Made it home, and ran to the auto store to get headlamps for the third time this month. Also bought epoxy for the small hole I'd finally found in the headlight that had been allowing water in to short the lamps. Also bought new windshield wiper to replace the one that had come flying off during a late night drive through the mountains during our first rain. Also bought antihistamines to fight the cold I'd picked up while driving through the rain with my head stuck out the window. I told the auto parts dealer they should carry antihistamines, and should put them right next to the windshield wipers.
Fixed the car.
Shoveled all of the sand (four garbage cans full) out of Eli's sandbox so I could move the sandbox out of the way of the garage. Grumbled at Kathrin and Eli and Lukas after they sat down to drink lemonade and watch me shovel sand. Grumbled even louder when they laughed at me and told me I should sing "Nobody knows the trouble I've seen." Moved the sandbox and refilled it with the sand.
Told Eli to stay away from the fungus and worms my moving of the sandbox had uncovered. Went inside to wash up and use the restroom. Went to the kitchen for a snack. Decided I wasn't really so hungry after spying the worms Eli had in the mean time put on the kitchen table.
Consoled Lukas after he was accidentally bitten by Eli, who'd just wanted a bite out of Lukas's quesadilla. Cleaned kitchen. Spent 20 minutes hunting Eli down, who had gone into deep camouflage when I mentioned it was bath time. Wrestled him into the bath. Wrestled him out of the bath when he decided he didn't want to come out.

As of now, they are all still awake, and it's almost 9:30.

Send reinforcements.

Charles