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Freaky Friday III: Jason Lives

Today’s entry is not by me, and it’s not about my life. I asked the members of the Tyrtle Mumbles mailing list to write about what’s going on in their lives instead.

Amanda

On Fridays I volunteer at a local elementary school, just a couple hours in a first grade classroom. These kids are so funny. The first week their teacher, Jackie, had me sit in front of them on a stool so they could ask me questions. I got everything from “What food do you like?” to “Do you live with your boyfriend?” Later on the playground, three little girls decided they’d rather play with my hair than play the assigned P.E. game. One little girl collects phone numbers, so she asked me for mine. She doesn’t have a phone book, though, just scribbles on scraps of paper, so I think I’ll find her one.

Laur

What is that noise? It can’t be the alarm. The alarm never wakes me up. I always wake up before it does. Always. No, rully. Besides, the alarm was set to go off at ten AM, and the light falling on my closed eyelids is not nearly as bright as it should be, if in fact it is ten AM, which it isn’t. I can tell. So what is that noise?

My stuffed animals are laughing at me. They know I can’t see them with my eyes gummed shut, so they’re doing it silently, but don’t think I don’t hear their muffled snickers. *hmph*

That noise! It’s starting to sound familiar. Heard it somewhere before. Okay, let’s analyse it: somewhat high-pitched, repeating pattern of one drawn-out, um, what’s it called, ring?… ring… ring… Oh! It’s the phone! *whew* I was afraid I was going crazy here. The phone. Sheesh. Now that I listen to it, of course it’s the phone. How could it have taken me so long to figure out that that’s the sound of–

The phone!

Got to get the phone, got to get the phone, got to get the phone…

“H-hullo?” I don’t rully sound that tired, do I? What time is it. Seven. Hey, I slept till seven! A record; usually I’m up long before then. Who could be phoning me at this hour? No one else I know is ever up at this time. Except if my jum stayed up all night again– he wouldn’t do that, would he? He remembers how tired he was after that.

But it is my jum. Wull, there’s nobody else I’d rather talk to than my jum. Hurrah! “Heeeyyy, snidget.” Oo, my jaw hurts again. Maybe I shouldn’t smile quite so broadly.

He sounds tired, but at least he got some sleep. It’s not his fault that his roommate came in late and woke him up. Puir thing. So he’s been lying there thinking about next year… Next year. I’ve never been so excited about anything, ever. Les jumeaux will be reunited in one final dramatic slow-motion bus station scene, and then they’ll never be apart again. All I have to do is get through this summer’s jaw surgery and recovery, and then. Makes me breathe funny just thinking about it.

My stuffed animals have stopped laughing at me. They’re thinking about next year, too, and lying there in reverent silence. They’re pretty fond of my jum, too. Especially the little white bunny.

I can’t help it. I have to smile this broadly. Bursting out in song would wake everybody else up.

Tina

It makes the most sense for me actually to write about the last two days instead of just today, so that’s what I’ll do.

I’ve been sleeping very late these days–got in the habit again last week. So Wednesday late afternoon I was going in and out of sleep as the phone rang and the machine picked up. First Channel 10 and then Mike, both looking for Kate. Oh great, thought I. Phone rang again, and this time I picked it up. It was Jan. The AP found out about the marriage bill, and so Channel 10 wanted to talk to couples– any suggestions? I hemmed and hawed and referred her to Mark and Jonathan (they know everyone). Hung up and called Kate to warn her, but got her voicemail. Left a message and took a shower, hoping she would come home before church. She did, luckily. She called Channel 10 back, and they didn’t even know there were actually two marriage bills! She gave them some info, including the number at the rectory where we’d be after church, and I got dressed. I put on a nice-looking shirt in case they needed us to go on tv. I was fine with going on tv, but Kate does not want to in this particular context. So we went to the healing service. Kate was so rattled that she even had us all pray over her (this probably sounds Evangelical, but it’s an Episcopal church). She even cut out of the service for a minute when the phone rang, worried that it was Channel 10 again.

After the service we went to the rectory to check messages, find food, etc. Jan called Channel 10, and they said that they got Marc to agree to go on the air. I think he’s a bad choice, but originally she had asked J and K, who IMNSHO would be an even worse choice. Marc can do soundbites usually at least. I still wish Kate would let us go on the air about this. I can often think like a lawyer and come up with just the right wording. Oh well. We all had the worst time coming up with what to eat, but then we agreed on a restaurant nearby that I had never been to. Good choice. Not only was the food good all around, but we got to witness a random act of kindness. Susie loves her FiestaWare (don’t know if that’s the right spelling), and she noticed that this place had FiestaWare; in fact, the bread plates were the exact color of one of her sets, a set which had a missing piece because she had broken one of her bread plates. She asked the waitress who the restaurant’s dish supplier was because she needed to replace that plate. The waitress did not know, but she just gave Susie one of the plates! Very cool. Naturally, she got a good tip. :)

Got back to the rectory, and Jan called her pal the newscaster. She was still on the phone when Kate and I left. When we got home, Jan had left us a message. Apparently an unauthorized person had gone on one of the earlier Channel 10 news programs and spoken for the Alliance; he said some things that he shouldn’t have, and so the folks about whom he’d spoken demanded equal time. Kate then got on the phone with Rodney to try to sort it all out; I taped the news while watching it. They got to the marriage report; they gave it to a brand new reporter (Doug welcomed him to the staff). It was amazingly bad. He managed to get the names of both state representatives that he interviewed wrong in his report and in the caption. And then when he interviewed Marc and some others, under their names the caption just said “Gay.” After Kate watched it, she called up Channel 10 and complained about the state reps’ names (they knew about Mike’s name–no doubt he called them–but they didn’t realize they got the other rep’s name wrong too) and about the “Gay” caption. She asked them if they ever put “Black” under someone’s name. Later we made jokes that it was like The Daily Show, where they do those funny captions, so we came up with a few of our own (e.g., ____, Great legs, bad politics). After Kate went to bed, I logged on and did mail and web stuff and then later watched the soap (which was hilarious–Alex and Andy were sooooo “Single White Female”) and Grace, both of which I’d taped. I saved the soap so Kate could watch it later. I had trouble then deciding whether I should go to bed or pull the equivalent of an all-nighter. I needed to testify at a state Senate committee hearing on Thursday, and I was afraid I would just sleep through it if I went to bed. On the other hand, I’m basically close to useless if I don’t get the sleep I need. I finally decided to go to bed then and try to get up by 3:30pm. But then I couldn’t sleep, and so before Kate left for work at 9:30, I asked her if it would be okay with her if I didn’t make it to the hearing. She said yes, so I was relieved.

Finally fell asleep after she left, and I decided when my alarm went off that I would not go to the hearing. It’s a good bill in a good committee (except that Dragon Lady is on the committee, but so are many of our friends), so it probably wouldn’t live or die based on my testimony. So I snoozed some more. Spot kept getting on Kate’s pillow, so I had to move him (she’s allergic to cat hair). Around 5:30 Kate called. She said there were several bills in the committee, including the drunk driving bill that’s been in the news, and tons of people were testifying on that one. She wondered if I wanted to meet her for dinner since it would be a while. I vacillated between yea and nay for a minute but then decided that I’d better just take a shower and then go to the Foundation meeting. I had promised Shirley I would bring her that Freenet guide that I wrote for her (she is in her 70’s, and I am helping her get onto the Internet!), and I figured I should pass along the latest news developments to the others at the meeting. After I had my shower I realized that time was a problem–I did not have time to eat and get to the meeting on time. It was not a tough decision. The last Foundation meeting was stultifyingly boring, so I figured I’d better eat. Since I’m not on that board, it didn’t matter that I was late. Shirley was extremely grateful for the Freenet guide. The meeting was not quite as boring as last time and maybe got something accomplished. Kate came in around 8:30 and whispered to me that they did not have the hate crimes bill hearing after all, after she had sat there waiting for four and a half hours. The committee felt bad for her (even Dragon Lady, until she realized that Kate was a friend of Rhoda’s and Karen’s) and even offered to hear her testimony, but she said she would prefer a full hearing (and no one else was there to testify on it). She gave Sen. Walton her card, as he’s the lead sponsor. After the Foundation meeting was over, Kate gave everyone a rundown on the last two days’ events. I networked a bit with the other Jan and with Rodney, and then we went home. Watched the soap (Kate did indeed enjoy the scenes), and then Kate made a backup of all of the information about how PlanetOut screwed me over that I had downloaded. I decided it was time to clean it out of my mailbox, but I need it for future reference. Once the backup was made, I logged on and did delete the months of mail. I was hoping it would be a good symbolic cleansing, but I unfortunately did not really get that feeling. I guess I need to find some other ritual for that. So then I proceeded to go do the rest of my net stuff.

Just another day in the life of a lesbian activist!

Merry

My Mom called me at work today to inform me her sister had a stroke. Mom was naturally upset, and went on to say how her sister is the last one of her siblings still living. Her four brothers (and father) all died of cancer. I’ll need to check on Mom more often, to make sure she’s O.K. Mom asked me to scan an ornate letter “L” from an alphabet of the middle ages. I printed it out in color on paper with a nice weight and texture, for stationery for her to write her sister. I told Mom she could fly down to see her, if she wanted. I have frequent flyer miles, so it wouldn’t cost her a thing. She declined, but was thrilled by the paper.

It’s funny, just this morning when I was walking into work, I saw the headline of the Alaska Journal of Commerce. It read: “The Ten Most Powerful People In Alaska”. I was smiling to myself, yeah, they don’t know the power of my Mom, especially when she is wielding a wooden spoon. When I was a kid, it was the ultimate threat. I never got whacked, but just the thought of it kept me in line. It’s hard to see Mom older, and more dependent. Am I watching my future?

The view from the hot tub tonight was quiet exquisite. Comet Hale-Bopp is high in the dark sky and very visible with it’s long tail. The sky is clear, and the night is quiet. Last night the Aurora Borealis was out, a curtain of green light snapping back and forth across the mountaintops. I’ll walk out on the deck later in the evening, and see if Aurora dances for me again tonight.

Steve is spending the weekend at the ski lodge with “the guys”. He is working so hard, I’m glad his ski weekend is finally here. My week has been a tough one, too. I have a new team leader, and a new boss, all in the same week. I spent the day drawing maps of Russia for the Security Division. Amazing how many different ways a city name can be spelled, depending on the translation. Kamchatsky has been spelled with a “y”, two “y”s or two “i”s. Hum. No wonder they call the brain “gray matter”. All color and original thought have been washed from mine. I’ll spend this weekend in quiet moments of reading and daydreaming. I may even take the phone off the hook. Signing off…

name withheld

(how I hope my journal entry will read) [written on March 12]

March 14, 1997

Got up and had breakfast with David. We do this every morning, some days are more fun than others. I woke up in a very anxious mood - he only gets three minutes of head scratches before I jump out of bed. He had looked at my pill pack so he knew the state of my psyche. Being very loving and supportive he didn’t say anything about the egg sandwich I made him. It was runny. I am still learning to fry eggs.

Leaving for work David dropped exactly $6.27 on the top of my bag. I went to Starbuck’s for the regular morning capps. While making my capps, Kyle asked me how my interview went last week. I told him great and they’d asked me back for a second one. That was Wednesday and now I just had to wait to hear. Eek, was that the cause of my mood, on top of it being “that weekend” AND our two-year anniversary. Poor David - PMS-psycho-woman-from-hell, anniversary yes-no-celebrate-don’t, want-the-job desparately-no-don’t want the job - he should make tee-times for the entire weekend and leave me to work on stained glass projects. Kyle finished my capps and I was on my way in a semi-awake deep-in-thought daze.

Went to David’s shop and drop of his capp. He guessed right that Kyle made it this morning, kissed the top of my head, and wished me a good day. I waved good morning to the rest of the guys and headed off to work.

I took my time going to work . I stopped at the cross walk and let the walkers cross, waved a cheery hello to the very angry woman behind me. The three block walk from my parking garage to the building was a long one. It’s like I was in slow motion.

Made my way to my office, turned on my computer, and checked my voice-mail. Hmmm, one new message. Decided to wait until I checked e-mail to check voice-mail and hang up.

I got really busy and didn’t check my message on my phone until lunch. And, guess what? I got the job! I got the job!

Called David and spent the rest of the afternoon floating on air. Wrote my resignation letter, took it over to Sab and asked her to please proof it for me. I didn’t tell her what it was - the look on her face - priceless! Life is good for all of us!

Tonight we are going out to celebrate how good life is, he’s in the shower, I’m hungry, I’ll nap until he’s ready.

kiehl

still unemployed. . .it’s funny - you work so hard that you never have time to do anything (cranking out code for 12 hours a day for 2 1/2 yrs can really wear you down) then you suddenly have all the time in the world - but you can’t do anything cos you don’t know how long you’re going to have to survive on your severance/unemployment. grrrrr. i have so many projects i’d love to sink into but i can’t take that chance (how did i suddenly get so responsible?!). so, i spend most of my time (besides bugging my headhunter: “hi. just checking in….”) writing short stories, surfing the web (funny, i was so busy cranking out code for so long, i’d missed a lot of what was going on online.), stalking martha stewart (long story) and re-reading my favorite books. my current obsession is microserfs. if you ‘ve never read it, wired has a good excerpt online - check it out. and for those of you who HAVE read it; following are some of my Jeopardy dream categories:

*gay or eurotrash?
*school house rock
*late 80’s LA hair bands
*subpop: the early years
*boys named steve
*plot lines from “family affair”
*john hughes films
*andy warhol’s 60’s
*bitterness
*99.6 ways to make chicken in under ten minutes
*html 101
*aaron spelling tv
and the bonus round: *puma wearing indie boys and what makes them tick!

i also just read the new ethan hawke (i know! but give it a chance!) book, the hottest state; a good first effort. don’t slag him off, it’s a decent piece of work - a love story for the slacker generation.

if anyone has any good book recommendations, drop me a line. thx.

Kitey

Here’s a day in the dipper of time, and a wind in the sea of airs;
Solitary on one sandy stage, an upright stick serves to part them –
What was / What is not yet
That behind / That before
– Years can blow by.
An upright stick cuts the wind into perfect hemispheres;
Its shadow dials a known arc across the sand.
Am I a stick, clocking airspeeds,
Content in mesmerized identity to watch this finedrawn shadow
Tick precise degrees towards dusk?
Or am I sucking moisture from one sand crystal and the next,
A network reaching
(Rather than appearing).
Here’s a day in the dipper of time, and a wind in the sea of airs;
O traveler! A shadow’s but a symptom of elevation.
A rooting stick portends oasis.

Melissa

So it’s Wednesday,and the radio goes off at 6:45 so I can listen to NPR as I try to wake up. No matter that I have been woken up already at 5:30, before my teen son even gets up, for what reason I cannot fathom, except maybe to let myself know I have one hour and a half before I have to get up?! Today I have fallen back asleep and dreamed I had long hair growing out of the middle of my back, which I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with if I wanted to go swimming……(which I only remembered after I had gotten dressed, ack! what does that mean?) I am having a really hard time getting out of bed (typical), so I just stay under the covers until 7:20 at which point I drag myself to the shower because today IS the day I must take one, making me much later than usual. All of a sudden the radio goes quiet, signaling that an hour has gone by since it first went off and I’m still upstairs!!

Giving myself a little talk, ok you have to do this and this before you go , I walk down the stairs and turn NPR back on and almost trip over the trash bag which reminds me it’s trash day and wasn’t that so very good that my teen son remembered to collect it last night when I didn’t. I must remember to comment on how great that was, to him, when the bird screams let me out from under these covers, and I find that the teen has not cleaned out the cage and that has to go out with the trash too, and I’m not going to have enough time to do that, am I? I also take note of how he missed two trash cans and has left the kitchen a disaster and make a second mental note to have a talk with him about how we both live here and he needs to take more initiative in the clean up part…sigh…I’ll let him know the good note first.

Thank god we had leftovers from two nights ago and I just pack that for my lunch and eat a quick breakfast of cereal, take three vitamins, the mineral drink, and I am NEVER going to forget to take a squirt of echinacea/goldenseal which is keeping me healthy in spite of all the illnesses the kids have, which they try really hard to let me have too! It is really scary the stuff they are getting, not just colds, but viruses in their blood and pneumonia and the runs that last for weeks…..ugh!

I resign myself to the fact that I am going really slow today, and clean out the bird. No checking the email though, as I pass by the computer on my way to brush my teeth and hair! I finally get my coat on and now I am already leaving 15 minutes later than usual,remember to take the trash bag OUT and lock the door. Yes I am still walking to school I don’t care how late I am, I refuse to hurry, well my legs refuse. I breathe in the rainy air and begin. I take the alley ways because it seems like I am out of the city when I do,it’s quieter and that huge dog that would just love to tear off my head if he wasn’t on a leash, is NOT out today!(But on my way home the owner of the dog and her little angel child are walking in their house and I can’t imagine her with such a ferocious pet, but then, it’s the protection thing, I know). I hear a little pitter patter sound that seems like it’s following me til the end of the garage it’s falling off of and it makes me smile, it feels like a tickle… I just love looking at all the back yards that everyone thinks no one ever looks at and the jeep that has the back torn off and this picture frame of what I don’t know is STILL there and no one has stolen it yet..hmmm.

Today it takes no time at all to cross the main street, and I arrive at school 5 minutes before the early kids get there and all is well. Seems like everyone is in a really slow mode today and so we all blend quite nicely. I have the best job!

You know I could really just keep going on and on but I will stop here! It’s kind of comforting to go back over the day like that, I find I remember things I probably wouldn’t have thought of any more after the moment it happened…hmmm. Have a really inspiring day everyone!

Michael

Thought I would get started early with the Friday Feb 14th, this ought to hold me till March. I can see where this journal thing could get to be a habit, though… Valentine’s Day, shortly after midnight, stopping atWinn Dixie (all-night grocery, with a big logo next to the name proclaiming them as “The Beef People” getting cards for my mom & dad, brother in law & sister, niece & nephew. I would have forgotten, but my niece Amy made me such a pretty Valentine on red construction paper with that white lacy paper, that I had to buy all that and a bouquet. Then thought about the people at work but I am on the morale committee and had arranged to get a bunch of carnations with little cards for my immediate work group. And though there is one lady here who I could have a serious thing for if I felt like it were morally and socially acceptable, and then there is another one who acts like she feels that way a bout me, in actuality there is no point in doing Valentines because I also like everybody here quite a bit, and can’t afford to give that many (100+) cards even — well, I guess I could afford it, but I don’t feel like it.

– short break here, it’s actually Fri the 28th now, and I wanted to let you know, as I’m sure you’ve been told, that Pete Seeger wrote and sang Little Boxes…I think. I used to get Sing Out magazine, then I bought it for my sister, now I am thinking about the lifetime subscription they offered around Christmastime, but the last time I bought a lifetime subscription was to the Whole Earth Review–excellent, excellent publication–and they have disappeared. (spent a k on that - always wanted to use that phrase) anyway last night I went alone to see Barbra Streisand’s The Mirror has Two Faces, my friend Carol is the only one other than my family whom I’ve told about breaking up with Marie, if you can call what we are going thru breaking up. Anyway, she won a lunch at an Italian restaurant for herself and 10 co-workers, with the DJ’s from the nostaglgia station, and invited me. So she asked me how Marie is doing, and it is weird not knowing what to say because I haven’t been in touch with Marie, instead of not knowing what to say because the relationship is so messed up … anyway, during this movie, if you don’t like Barbra you will not sympathize, and she doesn’t even sing! But it was good anyway & got into some emotional feelings & expressions. There were a couple places where I thought she was going to burst into song. But she never did. I’ve always liked Barbra, and still do. Now this Friday, I am going to try to get to a 7 pm choir rehearsal on the other side of town. Worked all day. I am going to send you the memo I mailed my boss when they told me I was going to take calls in a different queue. My life of adventure looks closer… and yet we had a tete-a-tete that was not bad. well, hope you get this before the deadline! then maybe another episode in March. if you’re still doing it…I enjoy it. Hi other tyrtle fans!

Sabrina

Breaking up with your boyfriend has its benefits, especially if you’re in no real hurry to find a replacement. Case in point: I have naturally curly hair which I’ve straightened with a blow dryer for as long as I can remember. It straightens so well, in fact, that many people are astounded to hear that it is actually naturally curly. Well, I’ve decided to let it do its thing.

I guess I should qualify why I equate my curly hair with not finding a boyfriend replacement: I tend to think I look like Medusa with my hair curly. I have, however, heard from many people that it’s actually very pretty; I guess it’ll take a bit of adjustment on my part. It certainly takes a lot less time in the morning! And I’d love for it to get really long so it would look like Andie Mcdowell’s hair does — right now it’s shoulder length.

Wish me luck: I’m experiencing blow dryer withdrawals.

Megan

Wedding Thoughts

I’m getting married in a little more than 3 months. I’m not stressed, I’m not worried, and if I do become a basketcase over it we are heading to city hall and cancelling the whole thing.

I have been planning this wedding since August 1996 after a one month “post-engagement” period and I would like to share some of my observations about this joyous time.

Weddings are BIG BUCKS to vendors which is why the whole big white wedding myth was propagated. Brides are pushed to get the biggest dress, with the most do dads and do hickies on them, and to provide a dinner for 250 people as well as enough elbow room for all your guests to enjoy the duck l’orange and crepes brule. If you don’t have food, chances are people won’t bother with you.

And the number 1 rule is “the more tulle the better.”

I have found that vendors, magazines, and many web sites do not cater to my kind of wedding. I want to have a simple garden wedding, with less than 100 guests for a luncheon reception. I want to have a civil ceremony but not have it at city hall. I want to wear a simple dress with an empire waist. I don’t want to spend $700 on flowers, and I don’t want to expose my thigh to Uncle Charlie and Aunt Velma.

What have I had to do to make this dream a reality. Fight everyone tooth and nail. Why? I had to find a Justice of the Peace who was even willing to conduct this type of ceremony. We lucked out here. The JP had to write the Department of Justice to ask PERMISSION to conduct a ceremony off site. I had to find a dressmaker to make my dress since no Bridal Salons carry simple dresses under $1000. I found a village “elder” to take flowers from various people’s gardens to make 6 coursages - for free. (If you’re curious, my wedding dress looks like Princess Buttercup’s in The Princess Bride.)

And finally, we have had to explain our every move to all parties involved and justify our wedding plans.

If you don’t change your name you are a “radical feminist”. If you don’t throw the garter or bouquet you are breaking tradition. If you don’t get married in a church you are blasphemous. If you want to get married outside, you are asking for it to rain. If you don’t have your father walk you down the aisle you are disrespectful, and if you don’t wear a veil you aren’t showing your innocence.

It has now become evident to me that weddings are about crabbing, outdoing your neighbours, getting gifts in return for all the gifts you gave at other weddings, and showing how much money you are worth.

And all this time I thought weddings were about love.

Terese

March drags at me and pulls me into the pits of boredom. Today we endured yet another Minnesota snow storm. Yes, I know Minnesota means snow from October through April. Yes, I love winter. But I long for snowless days…

(Mom, when will it be summer? I miss summer.)

I miss it too, Erin. Let’s go sliding into the woods behind the house. Let’s pretend we are not tired of snow tubing, of ice skating, of walking Maisy and Chloe through snow packed trails.

(Can we plan our summer vacation?)

Sure, Adam, let’s do that. Let’s pretend we are way into summer. We are so far into summer that we wish for winter again.

(Camping up North and swimming at the beach and helping you plant your gardens. Waterslides. Yep, Mom, that’s it! Waterslides. Let’s go EVERY day. EVERY EVERY day.)

Wait a minute. I remember that waterslides are fun one time, not EVERY day, honey. Didn’t you get tired of all that last summer?

(I just wish it was summer and we could decide to go or not to go, Mom.)

Me too.

Christina

Title: The Habits of Highly Ineffective People - A very literal Friday Summary

My Schedule	My Reality
7:00 Get up and have a cup of coffee with husband. Discuss our day.	8:00 Get up. Clean previous nights dinner dishes while drinking coffee
8:00 Work until the baby wakes up at 9:30	8:00 Baby wakes up.
10:00-12:00 Feed the baby breakfast and play until naptime	10:00-12:00 Feed the baby breakfast and answer phone calls from telemarketers, insurance agents, clients, wrong numbers…Finallydecide not to answer the phone any more. Get an email from husband askingme to please pick up the phone when he calls.
12:00-2:00 Baby’s naptime. Get to work. Return client phone calls.	12:00-2:00 Baby wont sleep. Get frustrated. Go for a walk together instead.
2:00-3:00 Fix a nice lunch for family and eat.	2:00-3:00 Throw a can of soup in a pot and eat
3:00-5:30 Straighten house. Run errands. Start dinner.	3:00-5:30 Straighten house. Run errands. Start dinner
5:30 Husband comes home from work	5:30 Pace house waiting for husband to come home from work
6:00-7:30 Eat dinner, clean kitchen	6:30-7:30 Husband comes home from work.
7:30-8:00 Spend a few minutes together as a family. Put baby to bed.	7:30-8:00 Eat a cold dinner. Everyone feels crabby. Put baby to bed
8:00-10:00 Finish job on computer. Go to bed.	8:00-2:00 AM Finish job on computer. Crawl to bed.