That’s the new tagline of Battlestar Galactica this final season, since it’s been years since the Cylons had a plan. I’m pleasantly surprised that the show remains compelling even in the wake of some real forced suspensions of disbelief.
I’m also one of five people in America excited that M. Night Shyamalan has a new movie coming out:
Leave the kids at home.
Haircuts. All five of us got haircuts today. Piper is particularly adorable.
Job is better. I’ve caught up a lot from the schmoe I replaced and have been promised a promotion and raise. That’s always good.
Sleep management. Leah’s sleeping problems have been tackled by a sleep study place. She now can’t use the bed for anything but sleeping (except that). She’s to lay down when she’s ready to go to sleep and not before. And she’s to get up at the same time every day. I’m very glad she’s on her way to sleeping better at night and less in the mornings after the kids and I leave, because it wasn’t healthy, but our time together from nine o’clock on in bed has always been extremely important to both of us. Now it’s like we’re dating and at the end of the evening I go home to bed and she goes home to hers. I should say that the last couple nights we’ve gone to sleep at the same time and it’s worked out well. Hopefully the trend continues.
The car won’t start. Ok, that’s not new. And it will start with a jump, so I should stop complaining.
Taxes are paid. Well, no, we’re on a payment plan for Georgia and we got a 120-day administrative extension on our federal taxes. Why? I don’t want to talk about it.
Bell X1. Listen to “Rocky Took a Lover” below.
So. Possible tornadoes just after 10pm last night downtown. Most nights, we would have been 20 miles away and unaffected. Last night, the kids went to the airport for a 9:30 flight, that was delayed til 10:19 by the time we got there. They boarded the plane on time (for the new departure time), and the plane pulled away from the gate, and I left. (They are not considered unaccompanied minors on Airtran, I think it’s an optional $50 fee, otherwise I would be required to wait til the plane takes off, a rule that starts to make sense after nights like last night.)
I’m driving home through hellish weather, lots of police cars with sirens blaring, lots of lightning. I try to call Muffin, because I saw Junior turn his cell phone off before he got on the plane but I thought Muffin’s might still be on, but I didn’t get her. I wanted to find out if they were, say, for example, still on the ground because of the weather.
About 5/6 of the way home, Junior calls and says they’re still on the ground because of the weather. They may have to go to an empty gate to refuel and wait til the weather clears. I think about turning around and heading back to the airport just in case, but I’m close enough to home that I continue there instead and check the weather online. As best I can tell the worst seems to have passed. I’m hopeful the flight will soon take off.
Then Junior calls and says that they’re going to tell everyone in the next 45 minutes whether the flight will be canceled or not. I get back in the car and head back toward the airport, figuring if they take off, I’ve lost a little time and gas, and big deal, but if they cancel the flight, I’ll be there quicker. Sure enough, 15 minutes later, Junior calls to say the flight has been canceled. (Sorry: delayed until the next morning. Fewer refunds that way.)
Then I’m talking to a nice woman named Barbara from Airtran who is telling me where to get a gate pass that late at night and where she’s going to be with the kids when I get there. As she’s talking I can barely hear her for the rain pounding downtown Atlanta and I’m at that point extremely grateful the plane didn’t take off.
I get to the airport and I arrive at the top of the escalators just as Barbara and the kids are getting there. She decided to bring them and meet me at baggage claim because the trains stop running at 1. Muffin is tired and upset, but Junior has been such a mature, responsible, calm, adult young man through the whole thing that I’m swelling with pride. Or maybe that’s just all the yawning. Its late by now.
On the drive home I and many other motorists have their hazards on and are going about 30 on I-85. We get home and I tell the kids they can sleep wherever they’d like, and they pick the couches. Muffin has a snack. I get to bed around 2, and to sleep around 3.
I spent three days over 140 pounds. Big fat hairy deal, you say, so here’s some background. A few years ago I weighed 116 pounds and was sick of being so thin so I made myself a goal of gaining 25 pounds. I used protein shakes, free weights and tried to stick to a schedule where I’d actually eat three times a day. I got as high as about the mid 130s but sank back into the 120s and mostly gave up.
When I moved to Atlanta in January 2007 I was, again, 116 lbs. Stress, etc. I redoubled my efforts to gain 25 pounds and owing to a couple major life events, a wedding and a job change, I “only” managed to average about 136 for the last several months. Well whether it’s settling back into a routine, or stress relief and better sleep techniques I’ve been utilizing lately, I made my goal for the first time in my life on Sunday, March 9. I didn’t want to count it til I was over 141 for three days, and unfortunately that didn’t happen, but a 140.2 yesterday meant I’d been over 140 for three days, and I’m pretty happy about it. (138.6 tonight.)
I wear pants three waist sizes bigger, and the buying of the new clothes kind of stunk, but I feel like I’ve made myself healthier and probably more attractive, though that’s a low bar. I’m still gunning for 141+ and if I continue to gain I may target 150, though I can’t really sling money around on even more new clothes just now. Anyway, go me.
In honor of my three days in the 140s, I’ve added that incredible Lucinda Williams song to the playlist.
Junior has been working hard on getting his grades up the last couple weeks. He and I are going to see Cloverfield tonight. I think he’ll like it.
We picked up the Juno soundtrack while in line at Barnes & Noble this weekend. I really like it. I’ve added three songs, Anyone Else But You, Piazza, New York Catcher and I’m Sticking With You to the playlist widget thingy below.
Everybody’s always asking me. Matt, they say, who are you voting for for president now that Rudy’s dropped out? I thank them for asking and then have this to say.
A, the world is dangerous enough and we have enough foreign policy challenges on the horizon — Iran, Pakistan, China, and that one place we invaded a few years ago — that I want grown ups in charge. It is difficult for me to envision supporting a two-term State Senator or someone whose chief experience was sleeping with the president in the present climate.
B, John McCain is this close to being a mostly benevolent despot, and I’m not that interested in any kind of despots, particularly ones that think the government should regulate what people say. His unpredictability is described as one of his chief virtues. I suspect that’s so of people who agree with how he comes out on certain issues, and the very second he comes out in a way they don’t like, he’ll be a tyrant. McCain is scary.
C, the man is, what, 72?
D, I’m the last person to overinflate the virtue of schooling, but considering how we’ve managed with presidents whose understanding of the Constitution was somewhat… unique, it might be good to have a former Con Law professor in the White House.
E, I’m too lazy to go find who made this point originally — it wasn’t me — but it’s true: About the only way the Democrats are going to get on board with there being a global terror war is if they’re the party that has to do something about it. The opposition party can hem and haw about this and that but when they’re in charge they can’t avoid tough decisions by bleating about how badly the grown-ups are doing. This would be a good thing.
So I don’t know. Could go either way.
Junior and I got haircuts. Then to Bruster’s. Then we built spaceships out of Legos. Junior’s was cooler but mine looked more like Serenity. Then we played XBox.
In a few years (or less) he won’t be caught dead doing any of this stuff with me. I feel lucky.
Leah and I watched the last third of High Fidelity last night and had a discussion about the top five songs we’d want played at our funerals. There are a couple obvious ones — Across the Universe is probably the only one of my top five favorite songs that would be remotely appropriate, and how can you not consider Zevon’s Keep Me In Your Heart — but I came up with a few others. If Leah outlives me I like the idea of Thank You playing. Find the River is the song I decided 15 years ago should be played at my funeral — listening to it now it’s lost a little of its shine. And Funny How Time Slips Away is grossly inappropriate, being as it is about a lost love, but at least it would be memorable. Click below to hear the songs.
For the adults, Jersey Mike’s subs. Make mine the one with gabbagool! For the kids, a choice among hot dogs with mac and cheese, popcorn chicken or pot pies. Hot dogs received 67% of the vote.
