That aggravating well spun highly effective password you put on the router that defies memory or locate-ability.   Its still configuring itself, maybe that post it note under the desk has it…  You wonder about how much work it will take to reset all your wireless  devices’ passwords.  But you can’t because the kids are doing homework, too.  They have projects with deadlines, and angst and that ubiquitous ‘net is needed.

You suddenly realize that you needed a pre-planned network outage for your own home.   What poor planning, but who wouda thunk it was necessary?

Ok, one more attempt… 4th pet name mixed with favorite TV character, interspersed with birth months and voila!  We are connected.  [no, that isn't really my password clue, please.]  Like rolling a boulder uphill just past its apex, we are shaking and moving now.  Glue that sheet on the board for the science project.  Print that chart out.  Finish reading that chapter for tomorrow’s discussion.   The netbook finally is done loading.  It’s past midnight again.  Brush your teeth!  (I did have to reward all the hard work with sea salt chips, didn’t I?)

At least the kids are asleep now.  I kinda got a lot done this evening.  Took a short-ish walk and went over my to do list. While out I contemplated being a dog owner again.  The only fun part of that mental exercise.   In my mind I saw a scroll that would rival a toilet paper roll commercial- its goes on and on.  Hey, its OK.  There’s always tomorrow.   And I think there’s another movie opening soon that I want to see.  They are saving humanity, I’m just salvaging my sanity.  John Conner’s to-do list might just make mine seem lighter.  Robot Ducati’s seem very cool.

The distant intermittent drilling has finally stopped, disappearing along with my excuse to leave early.  Thankful for Laborers hours, that aural headache has ceased.  I was about to say banker’s hours, but that’s not true anymore.

It was a day off for most people today, but not for me.  Still I was able to jettison a work responsibility that has been like a ball and chain for far too long- so holiday it was.  I felt a foot taller and like a 100 pound weight was lifted off my back.  Sort of celebrated by opening some Sake with my chicken and pasta.  Chased that with some cinnamon buns and while my palate was confused – it was pleasured.

This could be the beginning of a new adventure down a long rice wine highway.  The stuff has a bit more of a kick, yet isn’t quite hard liquor either.   The clear stuff was pretty smooth going down, and  I hear the cloudy Sake is good too.  Memories from my younger days come flowing forward – when my grandpa made rice wine, and was pretty liberal with sharing it with his clientele.  I did try it a couple times, but no clear memory rings loud.

I wonder if the markets will finally take off here as the charts look like its leaning sideways and could break through to the upside.  Holiday today – but tomorrow might signal some clues to a new direction.  Long term outlook is still to the downside, but a little pop here is due.

It works at work and fills that niche when you want to be able to talk but not make longdistance charges show up on that bill.

Facebook seems like a great social, yet it seems more effort at times than I’m willing to do daily or weekly or whatever.

No coding break throughs but a nice steady learning curve.  It would be nice to be 10 pounds lighter, but running season isn’t far away.  Pitchers and catchers report in a couple weeks, so spring isn’t far behind.

Time to fine tune some goals for the next 7 weeks.  I’m dividing the year into 7 – 7 weeks periods.  The first 7 are almost over.  The second 7 week goals should be fun.

There is one more day of school for them, then the holidays.  Their energy levels and excitement are starting to rise, as they anticipate the joys of the year end- in spiritual as well as physical terms.  They wonder what presents they will get, and they think on some level about how they have changed throughout the year, or rather how the world seems to have changed to them.  They anticipate the family and friends they will spend time with.

Its easy to be jaded as the years pass, to not get swept away in the excitement, or at least vicariously.  That is a shame to not allow ourselves the fine moments that we can experience each and every day.  To be present, to be mindful such that these daily gifts aren’t lost.

I’d much rather find it in me to perform a random act of kindness than to curse my enemies, or think poorly of another.  I’d rather work to find the beauty in each moment – as hard as that may be while on line at the bank, or store, or crowded into a train or bus.  Our thoughts and actions are such things that carry on and get duplicated.  Like the saying how we treat our children is how they will treat society.  How we treat each moment is how we will see how empty or full our lives are… and so on to the next person.   It can be contagious – for the better or worse.

Its quiet now.  But otherwise I couldn’t hear my little ones breathing and experience the simple joy that brings to me.

Despite reaching a mature age and above average knowledge – in the form of books, people and in the ways of how the world works, I sometimes feel like a pup.  It might be the weather, or the lack of sunlight.  It shouldn’t be the lack of social contact, as the holidays provided me a full serving of that.  It could be the weight of many responsibilities heaped together into a dish I can’t quite chew all at once.

Still I feel like I’ve had a relatively good time lately.  Saw a couple movies, went out for meals with friends, had many long walks in parks and new neighborhoods.  Been keeping up with my running regimen – and that hasn’t been a small feat given the windy coldness.  Been blogging enough, keeping up with my coding ideas and learning.  What I haven’t been doing enough of is drawing, morning pages, taking photos, and the weekly remoteness appointments (times where you spend an hour or two alone at something you normally would not do- go to a museum, wander into new stores/ nabes, browse sections of bookstores/libraries you normally wouldn’t.  I like to think of that line from Monty Python’s Flying Circus when I embark on this journey, “And now for something completely different…” ).

Ritually, Sunday nights have always been my “Gap analysis”.  That moment when you focus on what you want and what you have and see how wide that gap is.  This is a term I borrowed from the MBA types, it was hot about a decade ago.  I like it because it describes what I naturally did most of my life.  You see what that gap is and you build a bridge, or think about the ingredients to build that bridge to connect the present with the intended future.  Lately I feel like that beagle pup looks- which could be a good thing- there is a metamorphosis going on, whilst being scary in its uncertainty.

In the last few years, when I developed the habit of an emotional laundry basket, that got me through some rough times.  I try to identify those sticky, stinky smelling, emotional to-do’s and I put them into the hamper.  Then when I have the time and energy I take out some laundry and wash and spin and dry so to speak.  I like it, since it allows me to put it ‘there’ and not worry about it for a while, and then I know to come back to it later.  Its somewhat like the basic tenet of GTD (Getting Things Done),  make reliable lists so that you can free your mind for more creative thought.

Sometimes, I guess the really dirty emotional laundry sinks down to the bottom of the hamper and you just have to make the time to flip it upside-down and take them all out and do some extra work/cleaning. Deep breath in, and set an alarm – emotional time doesn’t work the same.  Wouldn’t want to get stuck in an emotional wash cycle.   During might not be so special but afterwards is nice.  Its like that feeling when you get all the fresh smelling clothes folded and put away.  Then you have that cup of tea.  Exhale.

My phone was out of service due to a bad power adapter – my own reluctance to wait on the line and diagnose the problem with my phone company caused me to not have phone service for almost 4 weeks.  Its a statement about how important I deem that legacy landline (actually its Vonage now and no, that’s not my actual phone).  In the end it was only a 15 minute conversation with most of it on hold.  Express shipping and no cost to me and 2 days later my 212 number was back in service.

What I don’t miss is the incessant cold calling around dinner time.  By my annoyed count that was 5 tonight.  I know enough to not automatically answer, but to stop what I’m doing and walk over to the caller ID gets weary that fifth time.

I suppose if it wasn’t one of those times in my life when I absolutely need to see who is calling it wouldn’t be so bad.  I’d just let it ring and not mind it so much.  Which is like the pesky people in our lives – they may not “mean it” and say “it will just be a few minutes, but could you…” and not realize that it just took you 25 or 75 minutes to reach this point in your thought process…

When my phone line was out, I could still get phone messages that callers left via an attachment to my email.  I set it up also to text me on my cell.  I knew which I could delay (forever) and which I should answer sooner based on the phone number.  If only we could shield ourselves similarly with pesky people.  I’m not being rude, just efficient with my time.   I know what I know because I made the time to learn – and they are intruding upon that precious time.