fallout

friday 24th:

the discipline it takes to floss your teeth at 2.20am when your eyelids are drooping

dreams of unwittingly peeing into an child's occupied tent at a nature party with a crèche that seemed to be in the latrine, then travelling in a giant airplane and dealing with a mega-swarm of locusts

barely sleeping then up at 7

dropping gd off at the chiropractor and driving to the bed store to pick up the one gd was happiest with only to learn that the idiot saleswoman had quoted us the price of the mattress and not the whole bed. dumbfounded, i drove back to pick her up and look at a place i'd seen on my way: how can someone trying to sell furniture be okay with smoking in the entrance to the store that infuses the stock with its smell? they didn't have stock, so we tested our second option again and decided to go for it (the black friday sale helped)

we met up with my sister, fought back an entitled french activewear offender, then went home for emergency chocolate cake; i napped in the new dip in the couch in front of michael che matters: what an absolute phenomenon.

feeling a little rested i went to my mom's to work for a couple of hours, then returned in biting wind to take the family to the park. mr smear and our friend's kid played really well together, and gd finally received the call from the school director that she'd been stressing about for two days and was thrilled to report that she'd arranged to have mr smear back in school the following monday and transferred to the new school next year.

a lightning fast shopping, dropping mr smear of with my mom on the way to the temple, the sitting and singing bringing fatigue and relief to the fore after an exhausting week

buying laffot for dinner, showering mr smear, kiddish with gd's freshly-baked challah, planning a trip to namibia, a tough goodnight for a wired-tired boy and going to bed straight away

saturday 25th:

up early and tired for a restless morning, the hunt for blue train parking, home five minutes later than the bed delivery men, a stressed setup but with satisfying results
no naps (and only mommy allowed on mr smear's new bed), my mom arriving for mr smear's second haircut - it was difficult keeping mr smear distracted, even after creating a shooting gallery with a spray bottle and a rubber scorpion - then doing a quick shopping run with my mom and coming home to a fantastic nap time.

waking up tired but feeling good, mr smear waking up to the new lorax (i rather like the extension) before taking mr smear for a quick walk to the promenade to see the sunset, home to try feeding mr smear (he was disinterested) before putting him to bed which took a bit longer than usual (acclimatization)

feeling pretty good and doing something productive, then settling down to watch godless and slowly falling asleep on the couch

sunday 26th:

waking up at 2.30am with a sore neck from a dream: living on a starship and secretly directing it to collect "science" from up high in order to switch places with our other dimension selves back to our home; being misplaced turned out to be the root of our biggest problems.

mr smear's overheating waking me up, hunting for the old school friend i'd seen in my dream and continuing to be productive in php until 4.50am

strange dreams until 7.15am, climbing out of bed with a stuffed nose, climbing back in but unable to sleep, a rushed sunday morning waiting for mr smear to finish with the potty (one drop in half an hour, i guess a watched potty never fills), it was way too windy for a blue train party but we had a good time anyway even though we had to leave before mr smear got to actually ride it

couch napping to great music while i worked on my little project, which is officially the first that i've told my mother about that's received an enthusiastic response! mr smear waking up hot and unhappy but gd brought his temperature down and his mood greatly improved. it still hurt my feelings that he only wanted his mommy around, but considering this is the first time she's really been able to hold him for an extended period of time without hurting herself i guess it's fair

driving out to century city to meet a really nice cousin and see her father for the first time in a while, mr smear was mostly quite manageable, coming home to shower - i think i handled his screaming at me badly by making it funny - then saying goodnight when my mom arrived so i could go out for pre-birthday drinks

that moment when you're running a bit late in crazy winds and you get locked in to your parking lot...

a very pleasant evening of talk, whiskey tasting (and hand washing), beer, good food and jalapeño poppers that brought tears to my eyes

coming home to funny stories about mr smear, and not-so-funny stories about inappropriate interfaith activities

completely bombed by 11pm

monday 27th:

sleeping most of the night, but low quality due to a stuffy nose and at one pointing hurting myself by staying in an angle that was bad for my neck

a sing-along morning, ready early to go to the school with my mom, mr smear happy as always, a little scheduling and work, gd's chiropractor visit, completing a section of my project before picking up mr smear

an intensely uncomfortable meeting with the principal who appeared unable to decide whether to shout at me or cry, awkwardly navigating the encounter then feeling anxious and dirty afterwards; composing a politely agreeable email with gd then going to my mom's to work

progress, and a long chat with horseman, then going home to work until taking a sunset stroll with mr smear

his first time waking up from his nap and just coming to find us, screaming himself hoarse, and telling me he didn't want a kiss goodnight

gd's first falafel (delicious, but closer to "hummus fritters") and brilliant vinaigrette

heavy rls / nerve discomfort, stretching for a short period on the floor before climbing into work

tuesday 28th:

going strong until 1.30am

uncomfortable sleep, ending at 5am with mr smear's screaming and fake crying; gd letting me lie in for a couple of hours but i was restless and sore

mom taking mr smear to class, diving back into work and finally figuring out how to manage connection strings in azure just before picking mr smear up again: the amount of effort required for something that should have been straightforward is absurd

ignoring stupid parents, mr smear playing nicely (managing to stop his screaming pretty quickly), coming home to a difficult nap time where i eventually lay on the couch with him on my chest - that would have been awesome if the couch wasn't sagging and when i finally managed to extricate myself my back was hurting badly

hunting nutritional studies for a baby site, more work, taking mr smear to the park for a little while before taking him back home when he began misbehaving, mr smear laying hands on cleaning detergent that the nanny had left in his reach and the tension erupting after i'd cleaned him up; fortunately it appears i got the job done but it was really scary at the time

dropping gd off at her class; feeding mr smear, showering, tidying up, brushing teeth, reading, and then the attempted delay tactic of "i want laffa!" becoming shovelling down a decent portion and going to bed with almost no fuss

money management - one visa card cleared!

gd coming home, a long and painful resolution, discovering mr smear sleeping on the floor by the foot of his bed (huh! we could have saved the money :P), learning that bitermom was crying over a post that didn't mention her and has taken revenge by spreading lies about us throughout the jewish community (well, the idiots amongst them at least, so it's a good filter)

mosquitoes having a field day on me (at least i hope it's mosquitoes)

working until midnight

wednesday 29th:

half an hour on a personal project, then crashing

a better night, which was pretty okay, waking mr smear up "still tired", getting a little more personal project time in while readying him for my mom, planning a functional drive into a vacation, thankfully having enough battery on my phone to waze to my new therapist

a long background session that ended in unrelated tears, then heading back to the school and being confronted by bitermom and her buddy and then the principal, all of whom made it clear that we were not welcome. that set off another incredibly stressed day, although it also added more pieces to the puzzle and some things make a bit more sense now

working a little in spite of my buzzing brain, taking mr smear shopping for bamba (all we found was tasteless fake bissli), a large grocery haul and bumping into a few people along the way, home for a mix of anxiety and delight with a lentil dinner, a pleasant shower experience, a positive bedtime, achieving a new goal on my personal project and enjoying the first episode of the new punisher before diving into work

thursday 30th:

intending to go to bed early on my birthday and calling it a night around 1.45am

...

up early but feeling pretty good, leftover anxiety from the day before but not unmanageable

going to my mom's and FINALLY doing the code test i'd been assigned months ago; messing up one out of three parts but overall enjoying it and my turkish coffee

home to find mr smear asleep, my mom falling asleep on the couch just as i woke him up to take gd to her MRI

a long, long wait but mr smear remarkably well behaved (minus a couple of small moments)

gd and me sitting like two idiots struggling with our helixes and the mysterious case of the missing ball

stopping at home to pick up swimming gear and heading to my cousins for lovely bubbly by the pool - mr smear initially afraid of the water but easily convinced to get over it :)

an important conversation with sailor followed by a related one with my cousin, interrupted by the rush home to drop off mr smear with my mom and get to gd's class

a boring hebrew class but a fascinating one on kashrut, then home for birthday messages and the punisher, a little flower and then bed just around midnight

friday 1st december:

4.30am waking up to the cries of his first fall out of bed - we have a big guard installed along the side, so of course he managed to fall off the bottom :/

7am waking up full of adrenaline to the heavy thumps of a boxing class exercise (they stopped when i complained, but the adrenaline didn't)

a slow morning before being taken by surprise by gd's appointment, the drive there powered by the start of the day 0 revelation, visiting the post office, picking gd up and catching her about to say "voldemort" in voldemort's presence, a long and intense discussion about bullies and options and choosing when to be silent rather than being silenced

just enough time at my mom's to refactor the code i'd tweaked for my coworker a couple of days before, coming home to an unhappy and stressed gd; my mom stepping in for our evening plans, buying ice cream and (allegedly) shocking the guy who printed my shirts, walking mr smear to the park in the blazing sun, his wearing my sunglasses with his cap backwards and singing a new hebrew song all the way home

recognizing the happy birthday tune when he sang it in xhosa

bedtime prep before taking mr smear with me to my cousins for a really nice friday night dinner, mr smear playing nicely with the cat, peeing twice in the toilet rather than in his diaper, not sleeping until we came home late

my three really itchy bites and the creepy-crawley "i'm under attack" sensation, tekken time

saturday 2nd:

personal project time and crashing around 00.50am

almost certainly flea-infested again [or bird lice, or something apparently called "thrift"]

a disturbing ios bug, a long period of the screams (mr smear timing himself out), supremely funny naughtiness at the temple, the vegan market full of great options but the music too loud, the woman with the impossible-to-not-stare-at goiter handling my food with her bare hands, mr smear being bashed from behind by another kid and falling backwards off his bike

starting to fall asleep on the way home, complicated drinks scheduling leading to postponement, a fun couple of hours with mr smear at the aquarium and getting great coffee, back home to watch ratatouille while being eaten alive on the couch

another round of screaming, shower and bedtime (with a little pushback, but not for long), "fixing" the couch's sag temporarily after gd's back took more damage, returning to ffix to be annihilated after a long and frustrating effort, clearing my desk and doing a little personal work, then beginning to fall over just before midnight

sunday 3rd:

a good night's sleep but waking up tired, a quick morning and still leaving late
a nice farewell breakfast for biggles and his family and inheriting a toy train collection
sunday afternoon crash bandicoot after waking up from a beautiful nap completely exhausted
coffee with osdoc and her fiancé, mr smear largely well behaved, the music becoming unbearably loud
a quick grocery run and him singing a hebrew song together loudly when bumping into an israeli parent
shopping at pick n pay for the groceries checkers didn't have, the security guard letting me in even though they'd closed the doors already
dinner and shower time
an awful bedtime full of stress and delay tactics
finally buying a little digital currency (i'd instructed SxS to use my christmas party winnings to buy bitcoin long before the bubble early this year, which didn't happen)

tekken (devil jin looks exactly like the psychotic american), then jurassic world

monday 4th:

until 1.30am - a mostly good movie, but significantly undermined by the fact that miss zero-EQ magically manages to flee dinosaurs with her heels on

working until 3.30am, painfully getting out of bed five hours later, dropping gd off at the chiropractor, putting petrol in the car, readying mr smear to go outside, finally getting a hug from him instead of a shrug, working at my mom's

an important couch nap after lunch, waking up tired but definitely feeling a bit better, finishing complex work and returning home

attempting to walk to the park but a nasty wind coming up, having to carry mr smear most of the way and really hurting my back (activating my sciatica on both sides)

mr smear's little friend coming over for a late play-date, an appreciated progression from not sharing to teaching and protecting

a mixed shower and tooth brushing - i find it hard to balance getting his teeth cleaned with not putting him off doing it himself - and another long and late goodnight

tuesday 5th:

waking up at 3.15am feeling awful, managing to get back to sleep, then beginning the day with some good work before heading to town to hunt down replacement wedding helixes (gd was NOT amused by my walking in to the body mod parlours with my son in tow asking if they did infant genital piercing)

a big lunch at plant with sailor; the v-lox salad was disappointing, the mexican dishes were good but the bobotie was fantastic!

mr smear's behaviour was a mixed bag, pretty exhausting towards the end. stopping by alliance francais to borrow children's books, then home for napping that didn't happen

mom's visit to plan our trip, gd rushing to study and mr smear being pretty demanding (i eventually gave up and played goat simulator with him), dropping gd off at her class and mr smear passing out on the way home before eating, showering and brushing his teeth

work, paused for some of the punisher and to freak out about the official return of the not-fleas, then continuing

wednesday 6th:

until going to bed around 1.15am

up at 7 to a busy household, a chiropractor session for gd followed by fast clothing and grocery shopping at the waterfront, rushing home to prepare for mr smear's first casting (including me lying down for ten minutes because i was dizzy), then rushing into town through crazy traffic that would only become more absurd as the day wore on
mr smear literally running circles around the other little girl, we were so impressed and proud to see how cooperative he was and how he not only understood everything but tried to coach the girl as well!
rushing to the waterfront (a long shortcut, but still shorter than the regular way) where the parking was full (on a wednesday afternoon?!?), running out the building only to smell mr smear needing a change, running back to an occupied changing station, waiting impatiently, running back to the car, luckily having cash for a broken ticket machine, and finally leaving at the time gd should have arrived for her appointment...

... phone troubles seeing me arriving at my mom's coffee shop as she arrived where i'd dropped gd off, stopping for water (it was 30 degrees) and iced tea, picking gd up, picking up my mom from the car rental, dropping gd and mr smear off at home, taking my mom to the panel beaters to pick up her car, driving home through rush hour with my sanity preserved only by fools of the prophecy, shower time before a big pre-trip grocery shopping before putting mr smear to bed, packing and trying to learn about azure AD

thursday 7th:

up at 5am to learn that the heavy construction had kept my wife awake the entire night, a long, rough four hours getting ready for the trip and slamming my thumb in a door just before leaving

a long day of driving in mid-forties heat, mr smear being amazing (two naps!), arriving at a beautiful lodge (vioolsdrift) with unnecessary anxiety, a very pleasant pool experience, a comfortable - and, for mr smear, very grownup - shower and tooth-brushing, but generally an awful evening

friday 8th:

waking up pretty early and taking mr smear to see the frog that found his granny, then starting the day with coffee by the pool while taking turns showing mr smear all the animals (tortoises, chickens, rabbits, and a young buck), moving out to the border and getting through relatively painlessly, then a long and dusty drive through a magnificently deserty desert to ai-ais

a couple of hours at the hot springs, everyone having a good time, then another long and dusty drive down to norotshama - stopping at a store in the middle of a strangely beautiful informal settlement to be impressed by the general sense of community. we finally arrived to discover that the lodge was not self-catering; back down to the border to learn that i'd foolishly used the wrong passport for mr smear that morning and caused entirely unnecessary drama...

... getting back to south africa just after sunset, setting up and showering mr smear and celebrating shabbat in my mother's room, a very nice microwave dinner followed by a relatively smooth bedtime

saturday 9th:

getting up at 4am with gd uncomfortable from the air conditioner and me having been unable to sleep because i was being eaten alive by insects, an early but very slow morning lazily preparing for the drive home, mr smear doing another animal tour, playing with the sprinklers, and very kindly passing out for a particularly long nap in the initial phase of the drive home

a much faster drive, an awkward bathroom stop (good we had almond milk for our coffee, and baby wipes to remove some of a particularly persistent beggar's handshake), a long next phase with grumpy mcgrumpface

coming home in a raging south easter tired, sore, and with unpacking and an infestation to contend with, picking up a well-received laffa

passing out early right after putting mr smear to bed,

sunday 10th:

pretty much sleeping through until morning and waking up feeling pretty good, starting the day trying to install littlebigplanet 2 (why do i have to install 21 massive updates when i've just downloaded the game from a digital store?!)

heading out to the museum on a beautiful sunday afternoon, an exciting conversation with gd leading to a terrible fight and me taking her home then returning to take mr smear through the museum by myself; calming down over shitty granadilla sorbet before we went out to the waterfront, insane traffic but managing to shortcut a significant section when i realized that they had blocked all the entrances but allowed us to sneak through an adjacent parking lot

getting the shopping done relatively quickly and being convinced to eat at col'cacchio's, stress over the bill - long story, but they have really screwed up their loyalty program - turning into another terrible fight

resolution before bed but absolutely emotionally exhausted so turning in for another early night

monday 11th:

starting the day preparing for the exterminator, dropping off laundry and coming to my mom's but having to wait outside for the nanny to pick up the stroller that we forgot in the car... an hour or two knocking items off my todo list then sinking my teeth back into my work until home-time. deploying and testing before leaving, then arriving at home to discover that the testing magically passed at my mom's and failed everywhere else... after a scramble to resolve the issue, i realized that it was far too windy to take mr smear outside so we played some littlebigplanet while eating gd's weird but tasty latke experiments

it's all fun and games until somebody takes a dump on the carpet

the elation of mr smear's first real interest in moving a character around on the screen marred somewhat by his enthusiastic insistence on repeatedly pressing the PS button to stop and resume the game, a lengthy but not unpleasant bedtime, some good comedy and then grinding until late

tuesday 12th:

mixed success and posting this, now going to bed because it's 2am and i'm done. it's not clear why gd and i are still feeling the not-fleas, either.