we agreed to help out a friend in a pinch and keep his two dogs.  one is great.  the other is a rambunctious, teen-aged male.  because of the male, we have generally had to pass on keeping the dogs.  porschea keeps him in line well enough (having 50 pounds on him and no patience for the breaking of rules in her domain) but we can't control him and his penchant for relieving himself on the carpet, so he stays "in the box."  crated.  at all times.

i do let him out at regular intervals to run around the yard and all that jazz.  friday night after one such run, he came into the house, sprinted past me and headed straight into the dude's room where said dude was sleeping in his crib.  this was 10-ish in the P-to-the-M.  the dog in question jumped up and tagged the crib freaking out the dude so badly that he wouldn't go back to sleep for about an hour and a half.  this was more likely due to being in severe dental pain than the scare from the dog, but whatever.  i took said dog into the hallway and introduced him to fear.  real fear.  he was then my bitch and he sat in the box for the remainder of his stay.  no reason to physically hurt a pup if you can put the fear in him.  it was a done deal.

but the dude did not sleep well.  not cool.  saturday rolled around and he was in no mood for letting us sleep in, so we got up around 7 and did our normal routine.  by 10 a.m. he was ready for a nap.  pbs disappointed me by not having ming or america's test kitchen on, so while stacky napped with the dude, i did some light reading and surfing.  and some other crap, but i don't remember.  post-nap, stacky went to have her spa day that the dude got her for mother's day (thoughtful little guy, ain't he?).  i figured we'd do some stuff and then grab a nap around 2-ish and then mommy would come home and we'd resume our lives.

nope.

the dude started to crash on schedule, but was too fussy to sleep.  the dogs were too loud.  there was a car alarm.  the phone rang.  any excuse for him not to sleep was good enough for him.  whatever.  did you know that spa treatments take for-fucking-ever?  i didn't.  my mental ETA for mommy was off significantly.  but she had a great time and sleep is for the weak (and i am weak, lord...i am weak).

at about 8 pm we escaped the bonds of parenthood and grandparents came over to watch the dude...um...sleep while we went to a pub and watched stacky's cousin's band.  not a bad show.  sound system sucked, but that's to be expected.  we had a good time and were fucking exhausted when we got home well after midnight thankyouverymuch!

of course we were up at dawn again sunday to go to breakfast with my dad (why not?  we were going to be up anyway!).  we're busy people.

i have to say that i did get my nap on sunday.  the dude and i crashed out for about 2 hours.  we're horrible.  every time i wake up, he looks at me and makes a little noise that indicates he's not done sleeping so i should shut up and close my eyes.  i, of course, do the same to him.  we're addicted to sleep and we enable each other.  yeah, being a dad rocks.

all that good stuff aside, we did the budget last night.  by "we did the budget" i mean "stacky sweated over a spreadsheet while i pureed pears and folded laundry because i hate games based on numbers where i know i'm losing."  the verdict is in:  i can't afford my job.  80 miles per day is too far and too expensive.  options: move closer to work; change jobs in this city; move to another city that is more commuter friendly and has something to offer culturally.  i like that last one.  we'll see where it leads.  in any case, the plan, already in an expedited state, needs to be further accelerated to minimize burn rate and deficit spending.

watching the numbers is fascinating though.  our food and fuel line items have taken a significant jump in just the last month and we're not eating more or differently (though we will be).  the best part is that i'm talking to other people who are just now noticing that things are getting "a little more expensive" but who obviously aren't awake yet.  we're a bit ahead of the curve, but that is only useful if we act on that information in a way that provides us with future benefit.  so i'm actin' like a mofo.  i can feel the change in the air.  i always had a suspicion that i'd wind up living more like my grandparents than my parents.

all of that talk of money and numbers can be depressing if you refuse to see the opportunities.  i don't mind change.  i don't mind being more self-reliant.  after all, good coffee and guitar strings are the last of my extravagant habits.  i'll settle for bad coffee or give it up altogether if i have to.  strings?  well, fuck that.  i'll likely never give up my pickin' and grinnin' so i guess that's not so much a luxury and a necessity.  i'll eat less, i guess.

speaking of pickin' and grinnin', i've been whipping up tunes in short order.  i have a couple of tracks up on my main site.  check 'em out if you want.  lots of work in progress now.  being inspired is a wonderful thing and i'm going to ride the wave as far as i can.  anywho, if you check the tunes, let me know what you think.  i have about 8 done now and i'll be starting the re-recording and generally f'n around with tracks portion of this project shortly if i don't get distracted.