2am bedtime
everyone up early, gd angry because the meds messed her up and the nerve blocks have done nothing for her
a waterfront mission for party toys, mr smear managing to hold his own with bigger (and rougher) kids on a giant slide
making satisfying progress with my telephony project
an afternoon at the "mikveh", feeling worn out and in great need of an extra weekend, mr smear having a grand time with the other kids
gd's support snail
submerging mr smear into the freezing water to great protest right after gd (a minute later he wanted to go again), scraping my knee on a poorly designed step while trying to hand him over at awkward angles
a long drive home, being sent shopping, then being sent to pick up food with no menus and gd complicating the options
falling asleep at the table waiting for the food to come out
a disappointing potty training failure, a big, delicious dinner with my mom, a naughty mr smear, a really nice bedtime
dark tourism, sasha baron cohen, and more satisfying telephony project progress
monday 30th:
a reasonable night's rest, waking up slowly with mr smear sleeping in, dropping him off an hour late, heading to the printer, then the police station to certify the copy, then the gym for a half-hour session before realizing i was out of time and rushing to shower, snack and get to the fingerprinting office (while yelling at my phone for being completely useless when needed)
a big pick 'n pay lunch (i bought and ate way too much food) and clearing my virtual desk at my mom's coffee shop before picking up mr smear - needing a short nap in the car before going to get him, then another short nap at home
a really enjoyable walk to the lighthouse playground, both of us having a good time
dropping him off at home, then heading to my mother's coffee shop to (poorly) finish installing the shelf
coming home for a traumatic shower experience, but a really sweet bedtime story
my frustrations with bad writing: watching some of the night of and finding myself utterly incapable of sympathizing with naz because every action or reaction of his is literally unbelievably stupid and he's supposed to be the tutor
crashing until midnight (so one or two hours)
tuesday 31st:
getting up to work, and finally going back to bed just before 4am
everyone still tired, jumping out of bed at 8 for a marshmallow delivery - an enormous box of vegan marshmallows for mr smear's birthday party that nobody really went for
not as late for school as the previous couple of days, heading to the gym for a "relaxed" workout before settling down to work
relatively good news for mr smear's allergies (there's a chance that he'll outgrow his dairy allergy after all)
picking up a happy boy, home, a pharmacy run that utterly ruined the day, helping my mom with the shelf again, shower and bedtime and a long time convincing mr smear that his bed is just fine
from unpleasant to bearable
wednesday 1st august:
an uneasy morning, mr smear eating his breakfast heartily and enjoying new israeli songs, dropping him off late, heading to the gym and diving into work instead of working out
rushing to pick up gd on the far end of sea point then rushing back to town, encountering unusually bad drivers all along the way
a straightforward meeting with the neurologist, feeling more willpower-depleted the closer we got to home and crashing for an hour before rushing to pick up mr smear
a long handover meeting, a quick bug fix then joining gd for her graduation ceremony rehearsal; mr smear and one of the bigger kids playing really nicely, a positive urinal experience with mr smear, my first "hagba"
an insulting response from my soon-to-be ex-boss to my resignation letter that insinuated that they could have made a plan to pay me better after two years of giving me stories when i explained i was in financial distress
meeting our brazilian friend to pick up mr smear's birthday gift early and having a really interesting conversation about nutrition
mr smear's third birthday superman muscle top is like my third birthday superman outfit on steroids
working hard and running through chores
thursday 2nd:
until 2am, in bed just before 2.30
meeting our cleaning lady's "sister", another late morning
a good workout in spite of the gym music being demoralizingly bad - my first time remembering to put on very loud psytrance to cover it up
good work, picking up mr smear, picking up gd's tallit and get mr smear home and into bed for his skipped nap
working until he woke up, then resting a bit before taking him shopping with me; a walking stick, a bicycle helmet, birthday stuff
dinner, a good chat with horseman, a good shampoo night experience and a really nice bedtime storytelling which included me reciting poetry to him after lights out for the second day in a row with good results (him relaxing)
an episode of captain underpants (great!) before crashing heavily for a couple of hours,
friday 3rd:
up around midnight to work and debate online, finally returning to sleep around 3.30
up at 7am for a half hour attempting to coax mr smear out of bed (successfully), leaving late but really early compared to the previous week, working for a bit before exercising
good but high-pressured work, lunchtime reading coca wars (interesting, but not amazing), picking up mr smear and learning he'd called the new kid "harry hadeda"
an extra ride to get him to sleep a little, another long handover meeting, a rush to get everyone ready for the temple
mr smear being pretty amazing for the two hours of gd's graduation ceremony and service, generally playing well with the other kids and sometimes even enjoying sitting with me and singing
losing my cool in the car on the way home (the suggestion of going to the chinese place that caused a fight last time) and finally remembering not to let that stuff get to me - "i don't care" is not a bad strategy when you've got anger issues. and i have anger issues.
a not unpleasant evening, very quickly showering mr smear and brushing his teeth and reading howl [what?! i'm sure i mistyped] until ten
crashing around 22.20
saturday 4th:
up at 7am to pick up the birthday cake, a lot of noticeable potholes between observatory and my mom's fridge, mr smear in tantrum until i finally got him out the door ("i - i - i - i wa-want to be-have"), a very long morning service with some great moments (mr smear in his batman onesie running to gd while she read the shema), a very long brocha with very little vegan food, plenty of alcohol and a lot of talking
mr smear's late and long nap, taking full advantage, overeating and playing a bit of samorost 3
a long waterfront mission: food, mr smear holding his own with bigger kids on the slides, balloon hunting, sneaking into the alcohol aisle just as they were locking it up
losing the beard (i suspected that that was why mr smear was calling me "grampa"... i was wrong), a late shower and bedtime and falling asleep while trying to get him into bed
10pm and mr smear putting on a show, finally getting him calm and climbing into bed myself about half an hour later
sunday 5th:
2am sudden anxiety because we were throwing a birthday party for three year-olds with lots of sugar and no activities or toys
a mad rush for grocery shopping, picking up mr smear and delivering him with the party gear before paying the plastics store a quick visit (i brought the random to the party, and it appeared to work)
arriving just in time for the party, non-stop craziness for two hours and an incredible amount of gratitude to my cousins for not only letting us use their house but for really pitching in to make things work; a morning filled with friends and family and mr smear thoroughly enjoying himself, another dolce vegan cake success
no naps in spite of our best efforts, a long afternoon and a lot of enthusiastic gift opening, mom visiting before i set about taking mr smear to the aquarium: it's become a thing, this falling asleep just as i park the car...
napping uncomfortably myself after getting him home, unwinding a bit (about half of the huntsman: winter's war) then diving into work
monday 6th:
finally getting to bed around 1.30am
mr smear getting in a solid 11 or 12-hour sleep, and waking up ready for action around 5am; gd taking one for the team and letting me sleep to alarm-time
another stiff neck day
the final gift unwrapping after gd had opened all the surprise mini-figures (so *that* was an expensive early wake-up), gd's foot-in-mouth voice message to our cleaning lady that couldn't have been worse (fortunately it turned out okay)
getting mr smear to school reasonably late (ie 5 minutes or so) in spite of cape town's drivers making a magnificent case for autonomous automobiles, walking to my mom's coffee shop for a coffee and a few important messages then walking back to celebrate mr smear's birthday with the class
the birthday crown
candle enthusiasm
the kids loving the sorbet
all manner of lovely moments, peaking with "how old are you?" "i'm SAN!"
the excitement of receiving my first work communication from my new employer, a lot of pleasant desk clearing before completing an important handover task
lunch comics: john allison's that is pretty good
picking up mr smear just before the heavy rains began, an afternoon of him playing nicely with his new mini figures and watching spirited away, then chores and work
dinner documentary (bbc's "life" - amazing!)
good shower and generally positive bedtime
duct-taping vents and windows, work, a bit of crayon physics deluxe, and my eyelid twitching from exhaustion
tuesday 7th:
until calling it a night around 2am
...
or 2.50am...
early up, feeling a bit better neck-wise for the first hour or two, discovering the yard on my way into the gym (and their delicious but overpowered coffee)
a good workout, some productive time and finishing that over lunch, picking up a happy mr smear
what i wouldn't give to see the silly look on my face:
"what were you just singing?"
"this is the last time, okay?"
telkom visit, a long handover meeting
mr smear's first bicycle outing and enraptured drone watching
exhausted and going to bed early
wednesday 8th:
a terrible night's sleep
putting sunscreen on mr smear when he pushed the autistic kid who fought back furiously; the difficulty of explaining to a three year-old that it's his fault while simultaneously protecting him
the yard's coffee improved by being single-shot, a solid workout (unrecorded) with the biokineticist, more handover documentation and a nut replacement for my salad that almost broke my teeth
another handover meeting and concern building that my coworker is *not* getting it
mr smear's great ride to the blue train, great train and park time, but a half an hour to get him on the way home and having to return in the freezing cold wind with him complaining of a sore knee
SxS's frustration and my frustration with his frustration, requesting an intended implementation before the end of my notice period because my coworker's not ready
late night timeouts (no throwing batgirl)
mom reading mr smear to sleep
the good place (cute, i guess) before crashing early
thursday 9th:
a better night's sleep but a grumpy wakeup
finally fixing the shelf at my mom's coffee shop (satisfying)
taking mr smear and his bike to the park
running into an old schoolmate and his family, then into our old neighbours and teaching the husband about game shopping
smoothie and gym equipment
mr smear passing out in the warm car
coming home to a packed up apartment, getting a tiny amount of work done before rushing off to my mom's apartment for the last handover meeting
freezing with a ski jacket and upset that my mother's been suffering an awful bathroom for six months
cold and heavy winds
returning home to a quick and desperate coffee, taking mr smear to the waterfront and realizing on arrival that i'd left his ready bag at home (!), quick shopping and rushing home to drop him off and head out to he sheng; finding myself too early to pick up our food and having to wait in the car
my deepest thanks to https://fpv-freerider.itch.io/fpv-freerider for allowing me to discover, along with the aid of a playstation controller, just how easy drone control isn't. also for demonstrating just how good a decision the guy on the promenade made by ignoring my three year old's persistent requests for a turn
a delicious dinner, an easy shower, an easy bedtime but too tired to read and unable to nap because we needed to pack - packing and working
friday 10th:
until 1.30am
painfully up at 7am, rushing out a bit late with big boxes and arriving on time to discover that the agent was running late
a startlingly well-run building, only one serious handover issue, a very awkward and unwelcome congratulatory hug, a 9am discovery that our movers had misunderstood my instructions, the caretaker cleverly pre-preparing gd's tag
emergency shopping, a quick stop at my mom's before a tiring series of back-and-forths while the movers delayed twice (passing out for five minutes in the car, waiting for ten or fifteen in the cold wind)
a simple first move, a massive second move and at 1pm rushing off to let in the bath fixers, picking up three lafot (accidentally ordering four but converting the last into falafel and fries), meeting our cleaning lady's daughter who came to babysit and who instantly clicked with mr smear
losing the movers on the way out the parking lot, eventually getting sorted (it turned out they were pulled over for a traffic violation)
a superette run for drinks, an embarrassing moment realizing that i was supposed to have organized lunch for the movers, macdonald's for everyone (their veggie burgers are better than i remember their "meat" burgers being)
rushing to get gd to the temple for her first truly voluntary temple service, packing up some of the loose bits then picking her up and returning for an initially tense evening
no showers, no toothbrushes leading me to do another run in spite of my exhaustion (and they weren't there)
mr smear blessedly going to bed easily
saturday 11th:
a slow morning with mr smear, then heading back to meet my mom and pack some more while a new cleaning lady helped gd sort things out, a quick shopping mission (a chai at my mom's coffee shop while gd shopped and my mom chased mr smear), taking mr smear out for a mostly fun hour at the company gardens
showertime: not bad, but mr smear almost scoring an injury in the slippery tub
the shocking news that a young girl who'd graduated the previous week with gd had passed away
a really tough bedtime with mr smear (i was tired and stressed about work and he was in test mode)
successfully integrating web api side-by-side with node.js before midnight
sunday 12th:
working until 2.30am in spite of my intentions to get some rest
5 hours of relatively decent sleep with some intense dreaming, an easy start to the day, then hurrying mr smear to meet my mom and do another trip
full-scale meltdown, eventually appearing to be move-stress related
getting mr smear and the boxes home, rushing to get to game before closing time, picking up the stuff and being conned into a handshake by a beggar, then negotiating with competing "car-guards" who i'm fairly certain weren't guarding my car
taking mr smear in the stroller to the holocaust museum, taking a walk to determine the best way to the school (i'm pretty sure i found the worst), a visit to the museum and discovering that they DO have membership options but operate them ass-backwards, getting caught in the rain, realizing that there're no ramps at all in our building for the disabled or parents
home, kashrut conversations, installing a panel heater and being deeply satisfied by the new drill i'd purchased, dinner, positive shower, not unpleasant bedtime and then a long night of mostly working really hard
and eating far too much junk food
monday 13th:
finally going to bed at 3am on my first day of a new job, but handing over a pretty complete solution and feeling REALLY good about it
tough getting up, a mostly pleasant start but some last minute stress on mr smear's part, dropping him off and coming back home to set myself up with my new work
sore feet from my first day back to working on my feet
the pain of hearing about mr smear being wild and mean at school (understandable, but sad)
a long and sometimes painful mall mission, sudden waves of exhaustion, taking our cleaning lady home on my way to pick up more things before realizing i didn't have keys for my mom's apartment; napping for five minutes until she came to the rescue and braving the particularly cold sea air to sort out another delivery.
feeling ill
affixing the mezuzah, teaching my son that ghosts aren't welcome in our apartment and aren't allowed to make scary noises, eating, showering and putting mr smear to bed - passing out myself while wishing him a goodnight (he didn't start relaxing until around 10.30pm), chugging a mug of coffee and going to bed for twenty minutes...
tuesday 14th:
... waking up after midnight, spending an hour hunting through chat history (skype makes that difficult for the past year and a half, and impossible for anything earlier) and putting together a final email to SxS after discovering that my company account had been deactivated, firing off a prorated invoice (i had to learn how) before receiving a positive response from him. then deciding to post this and now actually publishing it more than half an hour later...
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