I'm supposed to be making bottles right now, but damnit, it's my weekend off and the babies are sleeping, so I'm going to have some time to myself even if I have to kill for it!

Incidentally, the other night I had a tough time sleeping, and I thought it might be interesting to share the experience because it showcases me and a crazy person. So anyway, having to work at six in the morning means having to go to bed at 10 at night, which is really some evil form of punishment bequeathed to me by the gods. I went to bed that night, thinking that I was going to get my 7 hours of rest in, and wake up on time, and be ready to work. But no.

At first, it was pretty harmless zombie dreams. Either I was being chased by them, or people I knew turned into them, I dunno. It didn't startled me too much, I just woke up a little, switched some gears, and went back to sleep.

The next dream tried to one-up my zombie affair with some role playing, this time in the form of Lizzie Borden. Yes, the same Lizzie Borden who whacked her parents with a hatchet over 40 times each about a hundred years ago. I had somehow brought the old crime photos to life by having Lizzie perform the gruesome hatcheting right in front of me, and then for added effect, I was the father who was being hatcheted over the head in my dream. Needless to say, I woke up pretty quick after a minute or two of that. I actually saw my outstretched hands reach outward to pull myself out of the dream.

Boy, I was cranky as hell after that dream. Just didn't feel good at all. I woke up when my wife came home, when my mom came home, and a couple times after that. And the last dream I remember that night was about me. I had more control in this dream this time. I had committed a murder (don't worry, I believe it was someone bad), and I was in the process of covering it up.

So, fun.

Betcha didn't expect to read this on a baby blog.

Anyway, morbid dreams aside, the transition into Redmond-hood has been okay. The conflicting work schedules between my wife and I is certainly undesirable, but we're just hanging in there until a pattern forms and a routine falls into place. Next week is going to be tough - we're both working quite a bit. Right now I'm covering someone's vacation and essentially doing the same job I was doing up in Bellingham, which is auditing. It's not bad, actually gives me a chance to go around, meet people, and throw my weight around. It's strange, but there's truth to what people say about acting like you're the man, and people start treating you like you're the man. I walk around with this false confidence like I know something, and people generally treat me like I've been around for a while. I also find it odd that anyone can basically start working at a store, walking around and doing stuff on the computer, and nobody actually questions whether you're supposed to be there or not. I did quite a bit of stuff and nobody really asked where I worked or what I did. Everyone just assumed I was working somewhere else.

I've been watching the kids a bit more, and I'm rather enjoying their company. Alex is having a ball exploring all the different things and toeing the lines of proper conduct, and Zoe is just having a ball walking around, acting like a silly person. I think I'm definitely my happiest when the two of them are running around the living room, laughing at each other acting like goofballs. I just sit there and revel in my parentness.

Haven't had much time for the business, but starting the week after, things should start settling into a routine. In a week and a half, it'll be Zoe's birthday already. My little girl will be turning 1. Boy, time sure flies when you're on fire.

The Big Move

It's almost been a week since the big move from Bellingham to Redmond, and it still seems a little surreal of an experience. It's like this extended vacation because we've been eating out more for convenience, and sleeping a bit less because the babies have a slight problem adjusting. Except this time, there isn't a home in Bellingham to return to, and that's a little strange.

Neither my wife nor I have ever really been that attached to a house, but somehow, as we were packing up the last day and thinking about all the little things we've done in the house, and all the strange experiences we've had together, it made the house seem a lot like losing a part of the family. After, this was the house that we first moved into together as a couple. I still have the video of the place being in shreds, with nails still sticking out of the staircase and we had to have everything jammed into the garage because the interior of the house wasn't ready yet.

Since then, a ton of stuff happened in that house that defined our new life together. We had a few Thanksgiving dinners, 2 babies were conceived and brought home from the hospital there, my wife and I were married there, we've entertained tons of friends and family there, played water games, food fights, crazy superball fights, just plain temper fights... just tons of strange little things that happened when we lived there. Like Franklin getting stuck on the roof and me climbing out there to try to get the cat down; or when I myself got stuck in the bathroom and had to escape through the 2nd story window; or when we saw our neighbor have a domestic dispute right outside the bedroom window and we had to call the cops (that was fun); or when Brendon and Maralise always come over and we'd sit around and watch the tube, Pre-babies...

Of course, we were going to have to move someday - it wasn't meant to be forever, but we just didn't expect it to be that hard.

Anyway, moving itself was an adventure, when our 24 footer truck got wedged into the pavement on our driveway, which is on a hill. It took 2 neighbors, a Ford Explorer, and a lot of truck damage to get the damn thing out of the ground. The hitch was even picking up asphalt, leaving out indelible mark on Bellingham. Packing was a cinch, since I had a high fever and total fatigue. Lucky for us to have friends like Brendon and Maralise, who helped us do a lot of the packing while I was either out of commission, or simply moving too slow to be anywhere to being productive.

I was better the next day, thankfully, to at least make it through the afternoon, which had been my biggest hurdle. I worked okay in the morning and evening, but the sun pretty much disabled my sick ass. So we got packed, headed out in the giant deathtrap, which flashed a "Check Engine Soon" indicator on not 10 miles on the road, causing me to panic. Furthermore, I was monitoring the engine temp, which was a notch below "Exploding Hearst of Death." When I finally reached 60mph after 10 minutes of flooring it and gaining some decent momentum, I had to deal with idiot drivers, all of whom seem to think that a 24 foot truck is anywhere close to manueverable.

When we got to Redmond, we found out that we couldn't park the Uhaul truck anywhere, so we would have to do all the unloading that night. So we hauled ass, and got it done. At 3am in the morning, the truck was returned, and we were exhausted.

The first few days we were surrounded by boxes and boxes of junk, living out of them and keeping the kids from eating/handling/maiming anyone else with stuff in them. So far Zoe's tasted a lighter, several electrical wiring, and a whole battery. Alex has had a field day just going around, taking assorted hazardous and sharp materials out of boxes and waving them around.

We're just starting to get into a slight groove - today's my wife's first day of work, and unfortunately, it's also her first day of the fever that I've been nursing for the past week and a half. So she's been napping for a while, and we'll see how she does today. I work Wednesday morning at six, so we'll see if I'm even able to function quite that early.

But the kids are well, as are we. Photos later.