So, I fell asleep on the sofa last night after catching up on a lot of shows – GH and the pilot of Lipstick Jungle.

Sometime in the wee morning hours, Zevan came downstairs and cuddled in with me. I only woke up briefly, cuddled him in, and felt right back asleep.

When I was waking up this morning, Zevan’s face was right next to mine, and I could feel his warm breath on my face. When I opened my eyes, I saw his little face grinning at me. I got a tiny little smooch, and then he moved down to put his ear to my belly.

I love mornings with Zevan. He’s just all quiet and cuddly and totally lovey. He tries all configurations of getting his bare skin on my belly. His hands, then his feet, then his ear, and then all over again.

It’s rare we get this time alone together anymore. This morning, I just felt like I need to cherish the feelings and the time.

He’ll be 4 in April, and I’m not going to get this kind of quiet devotion for much longer…

A long day at home for me – something I guess I needed.

We slept in a bit, then Doug made everyone breakfast. After eating, we puttered around here and there, and then it was chore time.

Doug and Zander did their routine on the main floor. This week, Zevan and I spent our chore time going from room to room and removing things that didn’t belong and putting it in the room/place where it did belong.

The last part of chores is to take the recycles to Recycle America, and get donuts. Zander went with Dad, but Zevan opted to stay home with me.

So, we all finally got out of our pjs and Zander & Doug headed out. Zevan and I stayed home and hung out together. We played and cuddled. And ate lunch.

They came back with our donuts, although Zander himself opted out – “too much sugar,” he said! Of course, he ended up taking a bite out of everyone else’s donut.

And, finally, it was the time that the boys have been waiting all week for – VIDEO GAME time! They played Mario Kart for a long while. Then took a stab Pokemon Stadium, where they could play the side games, but not the main battles, because apparently we need game packs for that!?

We had a snack/lunch break. And the boys helped me with putting their laundry away (their socks & underwear). Then we had more game time. We took a peek at Super Mario 64, and then finally a few rounds of our old favorite, Yoshi’s Story.

After we pried them from game time, Doug played Chutes and Ladders with the boys.

And then we sent them outside in the backyard to get some fresh, cold air.

Nice, low key family day…

On the whole, I think I’m fairly strict when it comes to parenting, and that’s where I want to be.

I just want to be more rationally strict, than shrill strict. I’m working on that.

I do find that if I plan the day, however loosely, and describe it to them at the start of the day, things are much easier to manage.

Consistency is definitely key. Things always get better for us when I “tighten the leash” which happens because things get out of control – as a result of me not being consistent and slacking off/checking out for a while. It’s a vicious cycle. We’re on a “tight leash” cycle right now, which means things are pretty good. I can’t seem to keep it up indefinitely, though.

Being consistent is hard work. Between work and running and climbing, I don’t have the energy to always be exhaustingly consistent.

This is where I get to choose my battles/priorities. My kids already accept the rules that I have been consistent with.

• Vegetables with lunch and dinner.
• They ask to be excused from the table when finished eating.  And they clear their plates and cups to the sink.
• Family Chores on Saturdays.
• Video games only on the weekends.
• Screen time can only happen (tv, computer, video games) after 2 PM.
• Screen time is EARNED, not a privilege.
• Screen time only happens if their toys are picked up and put away.
• Tantrums/disrespect result in loss of privilege or allowance (their choice).

If nothing else, I have these things.   

So, we went for a “long” run today. Although May did actually protest, believing that she would only run 3-4 miles, I convinced her to try for the bridge/overpass and back, like we did last week.

This role reversal is amusing to me.

Anyway, it went by quickly because we were discussing a possible new venture together, where she does the dB back end and I do all the web interface stuff in PHP.

Today is my day to myself. Doug takes the boys to school, and Grandpa picks them up from school. I can do a long run, have a coffee with May, and get a whole lot of work done. Which is good because I had to finish up the Tillie work today, and also do more work on the Rocky Mountain ASHRAE site.

And, I spent a good chunk of time today making appts – for a facial (Monday at 12:45 PM), an appt with the optometrist (Tuesday at 8:30 AM) and for a mammogram (2/25 at 3:00 PM). The dental office was closed today, so I have to make that appt next week.

And I even called a potential client to get an idea about the project they would like me to work on. That I would like Mike Jackson to help me out with if it turns out to be an ASP deal.

I finished off the chili that I made on Sunday for the Superbowl party. And watched “Make Me a Supermodel” as I ate lunch.

Then I worked some more on client projects. I’ve got a couple new ones starting next week, so I have to finish up the ones I am working on now ASAP.

When the boys came home, I was actually glad to see them and was able to focus on talking with them about their day. It felt really good. My other work days are shorter than this, since I have to pick up the boys from school and have lunch with them first. I need to prioritize better on those days…

We had an informal playdate today – I was watching Paxtin for Megan, and then Shanyn called me to say that no one showed up at Thorndale Park so I told her to come on over. Then Megan and Alexa joined us after their appt.

So it was the Doans (including Jeff :)), the Carusos and us. While there was the usual amount of refereeing involved (between Alexa/Zevan and Elijah/Zander), it was actually quite manageable. The kids even played outside for a bit.

I was a little pre-occupied because I had Tillie to work on. But I think I was able to stay present and sociable.

As soon as everyone left (around 3 PM), I offered the boys a movie so I could work. I didn’t feel TOO guilty since they didn’t have any screen time during the day and got to play with their friends. They chose Madagascar, and I set them up in their room while I got some work done. I could hear them laughing at the movie while I worked. The movie only bought me about 90 minutes of work time, though, which wasn’t quite enough.

I worked hard to disengage from work and interact with them after the movie (and a few extras) were over. It’s tough, but I’m really trying to balance.

After my run, I picked up the boys, so we could head to grandma & grandpa’s for lunch. When I picked them off from the office (I was late), Zevan was crying and wanting to back to the playground for more recess. I had to carry him to the car, with him protesting. That was pretty annoying.

Then I got another call from an unknown long distance number on my phone. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to be Harish, who is on the XML team for DHL. With Zevan crying in the background, of course. The life of a WAHM, right?

So, we’ve been going through this nearly comical fiasco trying to get international shipping to Canada through their API. It’s been a disaster. Mostly because there’s a breakdown in communication between Spence (who I thought all this time was our DHL rep, but he’s actually a reseller) and the DHL XML team. Wow. Talk about bad customer service skills. This has been going on since early December, and both parties take 4-5 to answer my emails, if they answer them at all. So, getting a call from Harish was a shocker.

I’m not sure what lit a fire under him today, but he was all of a sudden trying to get to the bottom of things. He was surprised to find out that I actually have a live, working web page with domestic rates. I promised to send him all my account information as soon as I got back to my office. Yes, this whole conversation took place with Zevan crying and whining in his carseat behind me. Sheesh!

We got to grandma & grandpa’s and all was well again with the world.

After lunch, I headed home to work. And I had a phone meeting with Vijaya from Cartoon Books to talk about working on their site.

I’m very excited to work with them. I just love Jeff’s work, and they are really friendly, warm people. I actually did a little happy dance when we finished up. Comic book related sites are just the most fun for me!

UGH – after ArtSports was difficult for me. I’m just really cranky. I made them dinner and then put them in the bath, and they got water all over the bathroom floor – not just near the tub either. I nearly slipped and that just pissed me off further. Good grief! It was all I could do to hang on until Doug got home so I could go to one of many choices of evening activity

PTA meeting about magnet school status – nope.

I’ve already decided not to participate in the PTA until both boys are in school full time. I’ve got years of that to come and I don’t want to start earlier than I have to. I told Johanna my magnet school concerns (exactly HOW MUCH parent participation?), though. Besides, it started at 5:30 PM and Doug got home after 6:00 PM.

Democratic caucus – nope.

After Edwards dropped out of the presidential race, I only recently decided who to support. Well, that’s not entirely true… I’ve never been a big fan of Hillary Clinton (though I still am one of Bill’s), and her campaigning has left me flat. Too scripted, no heart, and I’ll never believe that tear was genuine.

Besides, I know Republicans who would drive through sleet and snow and nails just to NOT vote for her, and that’s the biggest issue of all. So, I’m backing Obama. I’m not on the big Obama-rama-Ding-Dong Bandwagon, but I also know that there are actually Republicans who would vote for him, so there is a chance there to get a Democrat back in the White House.

And, truth be told, if our Republican ends up being McCain, I can live with that, too. Go figure.

I personally don’t believe that Hillary can take Colorado tonight. So I’m not caucusing either… which leaves me -

Climbing night and Shuga’s – yes!

So instead, I went climbing with Lisa and met Tiffany at Shuga’s (after she caucused).

It was actually a good climbing night – except for one particularly tough 10+ that I wasn’t even able to start – and I feel like I got a good workout. I also had a mental block in this one dyno at the start of another climb. I totally psyched myself out somehow. I was finally able to pull it off, but I took a long time to be able to let go.

Tiffany’s caucus ended before we finished climbing, so she was waiting there when I got there. Lisa joined us.

I was eager to hear about the caucus procedures. And the results. And in Tiffany’s precinct, the majority was for Obama, BUT the delegates were split 50/50. Which made me feel a little guilty for not going to my caucus, but only briefly.

We had a nice night of food and drink and laughter. Totally what I needed.