melog-20101128.log.0

well, after eating mc donald's, the kids went back into a frenzy of play-- running though the house.

and then, my son's neighborhood friend rang the door bell.

so now, i had four kids running though the house. i'm turning into daddy daycare, here.

then, my son finally decides to go down to his friend's house.

but, that alienated my daughter and niece.

my niece wanted to leave my poor little daughter high and dry and go down the street, too.

but, i told my niece to stay with my daughter and i'd let them play on the computer.

as a matter of fact, i hear my some coming back now . . . without his friend. i wonder how long that will last.

not long. here he comes, now.

i found out that my nephew spent the night at his mom's house. when his mom comes to pick up our niece, she'll drop him off here. apparently, he didn't have to work today, so he went back to, as he called it once, "the original crib".

my wife called and is picking up some grocery items to bring home. the kids will be hungry later, for sure.

my son is wanting to preserve his cake, and eat it, too. he wants to kick the girls off of the computer now that he's back at the house. i told him to let them stay on the computer. he can play something else with his friend.

he started to have a sulky look on his face. i reminded him that he has a lot of options-- xbox, nintendo, going back down the street. all of that as opposed to sitting on the couch in silence after i send his friend home because he's displaying a poor attitude.

now i hear them playing again. i guess he talked the group into playing something together. i suspect he'll jump onto the computer getting them all distracted. he's a crafty one sometimes, my son.

well, gotta get some laundry done. work and school will be waiting for us all tomorrow. vacation time is over.

still gotta get around to giving my daughter a bath.

melog-20101128.log

my wife went to church today. she took my mom for me. she wanted to show off her hair. she asked me if that was a bad reason. i told her that i couldn't really think of any good reason to go, so it probably doesn't matter much.

my nephew never came home last night. but his stuff is still here. he went to work as far as i know yesterday. his sister is over her still because she spent the night. so, i've got the kids again.

i hope he's ok. i suspect he's found the company of one of his girlfriends or stayed out with a buddy. or, maybe went out of town with his mom-- after all, that is part of the reason why his sister spent the night with us.

i'm not thinking the worst at this point. but, i would like to hear from him. he's a grown man. but, he's not invulnerable. i don't really care so much what he does as long as he's safe and isn't getting into any serious trouble.

well, the kids ask for hotdogs. i only have corndogs. they don't want corndogs.

what?? i'll even eat a corndog, but i don't like hotdogs.

so, we're getting ready to go through the drive-thru of the nearest mc donald's and bringing it back here to the house.

after that, i'm giving my daughter a bath. when my wife gets home, i'm going to try to really go hang out somewhere. i didn't go anywhere last night like i intended to. i told her i was thinking about going out of the house for some quiet. my wife found a way to quiet them down, and seemed like she really wanted me to stay home.

but this time, i think i'll go regardless. i think i'll hang out at the bookstore or something.

they kids are running though the house again with their toy guns. i don't mind it, except that it's just so loud. well, i'm glad they're having fun at least.

just don't break any of my stuff, and most of all-- don't break anything like your finger, arm, leg, or head!

melog-20101127.log.2

i gotta get outta here. they've taken over everything. they've taken over my pandora station and playing it really loudly over the tv. i can't listen to anything i wanna hear.

they're begging me for food and i can't think.

my wife is back there in the bed room somewhere.

i think it's time i go somewhere for a change.

time to wash up and go out somewhere for about an hour or something.

melog-20101127.log.1

wow. now my niece is spending the night tonight. she's my nephew's brother.

my sister-in-law is giving away all her kids to us, i think.

so, now I've got six people sleeping here tonight in a three bedroom house.

it's so loud right now. three kids with toy guns, running through the house blowing each other away.

shirking, yelling, laughing, running, stomping . . .

so much for listening to my mp3 player.

my wife brought home our extra visitor after staying at her mom's house all day. she brought home a slice of cake as a peace offering.

somehow, i suspect i got the short end of the stick, here.

ah, well, as my boss sometimes says-- i could be a pregnant woman in pakistan, standing on a rooftop in the middle of a flood.

see-- having all this noise isn't so bad when you look at it that way.

melog-20101127.log.0

well, the days off have been nice. but now that it's saturday, the time seems to be quickly slipping away. monday will be here before we know it.

my son punctured my nephew's air mattress on thanksgiving day. so, i owe him an air mattress. that's another one of those expenses i was not anticipating.

well, i bought a new one last night. my son slept in a sleeping bag on the floor. that was part of making him take responsibility for what he did. maybe it was an accident, but still, it was a costly one. he needs to learn that consequences follow our actions.

anyway . . . it seems come cartoonists have revitalized the old pink panther cartoons. they try to follow a lot of the same layout of the older shows, but their are new voices for many of the characters. any it seems that for the most part, the pink panther still doesn't speak.

somehow, to me it's not as funny as the older ones. my kids watched a lot of pink panther after we got our roku player. they're playing the hell out of these new ones.

they watch constantly, but they don't seem to laugh a lot.

i ate some dressing late last night before going to bed. i work up around 07:30 this morning with the beginnings of some super acid reflux. i've had this a few times. worse than heartburn. it seems that acid comes back up your esophagus. as it burns, you cough and try to clear your throat, but it only gets worse.

tums is worthless against this stuff. i had to gulp down a good bit of pepto bismol the slow that nasty stuff down. i felt better in about 15 minutes and went back to sleep after sitting up for a bit.

now i'm ravenously hungry, but worried i'll set off that acid reflux again.

things like this make me feel like an old man.

or, maybe my abusive diet is just catching up with my and my body is trying to tell me something.

time (again) to start tying to get back into better shape.

melog-20101127.log

got home not long ago from my mom's house. my wife was waiting on me so I could see her hair.

her hair is gorgeous! the stylist did a wonderful job.

she's all smiles.

i'm glad to see a big smile on her face.

i had to take the money over to him. my wife wasn't able to take enough money with her when she went to see the stylist. i thanked him for doing her hair, especially on short notice after a holiday.

my wife says the stylist thought that was odd. i guess he wasn't expecting a woman's husband to thank the him for doing hair. there is a tendency to grumble about the expenses of seeing a beautician. a guy pays $10 to $20 for a haircut and shave. if you know somebody, then you can get one for free.

however, my wife's hardo was $185 in all.

then again, the stylist just didn't realize how much importance was hanging on this hairdo.

he did a really good job. my wife shouldn't have any trouble feeling beautiful tonight.

as a matter of fact, she just went to get her camera. i think she's about to update her profile picture on facebook.

melog-20101126.log

well, the fun-ness of thanksgiving seems to be waning away. my wife seems to be self-loathing again. she's found someone to style her hair today. hair is a very big issue and a very sensitive topic for many african-american women. keeping hair healthy often means keeping it natural-- avoid perms, hair coloring, wearing braids for extended periods of time. but, the natural look is very difficult to maintain and keep attractive in the eyes of many men. but if you do decide to perm and do all the other things i just mentioned, people accuse you of abandoning your african roots, hair becomes damaged and unhealthy and starts to literally shed and fall out over time, and then you have to resort to things like wigs, hair weave, and wearing braids for an extended period of time.

and other women, too, who seem to be their toughest critics at times.

so then, this becomes quite a vicious cycle.

i hope she comes back happy, and not disappointed. to come back disappointed is really to say she'll come back depressed and totally defeated. i think she was already like that when she left. so, i hope things don't get any worse for her. i hate to see her struggle with this difficulties. they are so painful for her.

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i'm trying really hard to get my finances in better shape. it seems that the harder i try, the harder it is to get things in a better condition. i've taken care of one debt that's been haunting me. now i'm trying to get to the next biggest one, but it's hard to even pay on it when you're bleeding out money in all the other places.

the holidays are a mixed bag of family-fun, memory making, nostalgia, and money hemorrhaging.

i wish i could have a holiday season where i didn't have to spend anything extra.

but that might mean not having a family. so . . . i guess i had better keep my mouth shut and stop complaining.

time to go visit momma. didn't see her yesterday and she didn't want to come by our house for thanksgiving dinner. so, i guess i go see her and take "the grandkids" with so they can see her, too. since she cooked, i'll have some of her food today, and maybe take some of ours for her to sample, too.