Haven't talked much about kids, but it's a bit overdue, so here it is.

The kids have been rather cute lately, picking up odd little things wherever influence seeps in. They spent pretty much most of today chanting, "I don't like Candy Corn, no I don't like Candy Corn" which is rather cute.



And yesterday, they were signing one of the Snoopy songs from "Snoopy, Come Home," one of the lesser known ones that I just happened to rent. The one mystery song still remains whereby the two of them will start singing:

"I'm notttt perrrrr-fect. I'm nottttt Perrrr-fect..." I don't really know where they got it from, but it seems aptly appropriate most of the time, which is pretty ironic.

And one of the best ones so far that I think would be perfect for a trip to the bar is actually from me. Sometimes Alex gets a little overexcited while drinking and he'll choke on the water and cough at the dinnertable. So when I say something like that, it's appropriate. But just imagine what people must be thinking when they're out in public, and out of the blue they'll just say:

"Take it easy with the drink."

They might guess that's why Mommy always says about Daddy.

Oh yeah, yesterday during the refreshing walk, this happened: toward the end of the walk, even though I had my iPod on, I heard them giggling and laughing back there so I glanced back and say that they had a new game. Kissing. They would lean in, kiss, and fall back laughing. It was really cute, and sometimes they would go in, linger, maybe have they mouths open, and then kiss, and then laugh heartily. I thought it was funny - at first.

And then they kept doing it. And we were in public.

I didn't want to overreact about it, being how they've never done it before and it's not like they were making out, but it sure felt a little odd after they kept doing it. I know that it's completely innocent, but in my mind I'm thinking, it's always a bit fun to be doing that. After all, that's why we all do it, don't we? So I just gently told them they were being too crazy and by the time we got home, they were done. But it was a strange moment for me.

Kinda like this I suppose.

Oh, and Alex started Playschool a few weeks back, whereby he'll be at a facility whereby he'll interact with other kids, doing fun activities, and squeeze in some learning. He's been saying some cute things too, when a teacher exclaimed after noticing Alex's head that he was sweaty, Alex replied, "Oh. I'm sorry." Zoe started gymnastics, which is just a bit of jumping and climbing. She's doing pretty well, except she does want to constantly embark on her own agenda.

We were feeding the ducks today and Alex and Zoe were conversing with a two year old. Then Alex turned to the Mom and asked, "What's your name?" "Ronnie," she replied.

"That's a good name," reassured Alex.

We've been trying to teach him about talking to strangers. That's not going that well, as you can see.

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I took the risk and applied for a different position at work. I don't know if it'll come to anything, but it's a good company and I'd like to stay with it, although not in the same position I'm in now. I just think things won't improve and my patience will once day implode if I stay at my current position for any longer than 9 months.

Today I took the PSP out to Starbucks and used T-mobile's promotional access to their hotspots to test if the internet connection did indeed work outside of my home. The internet worked just fine, and the Locationfree worked pretty good too. The video was a little muddy at first, but it found a better encoding and that worked just fine. So now I know it works for sure. Doing it from home at 100% quality was a little deceiving...

Not a whole lot going on over here. I am thinking about applying for an entry sales position in my company, just to get away from the manufacturing part of it. This past week has been really something for me. The supervisor has been doing time crackdowns - thus making us feel like little kids who've been late from lunch or sitting around talking. A couple of my co-workers effectively redefined laziness and poor work ethics, and one of the most annoyingly chatty people just filled a shipping position on Thursday. One of those guys that you'd never want working with you because he does Schwarzenegger impressions and can't stop talking about how much shipping experience he has. I think it's high time for me to move on.

I was feeling sluggish this afternoon - the kids had their downtime, but I was ready for a nap and they certainly weren't going to give it to me. I didn't feel like going on just to go out, and I don't feel like fighting the crowds at the malls or spending more money, since I have a poor sense of will power. So I decided that I should take the kids out on the wagon and go for a walk. And walk I did. iPod in my ears, I walked to the local mall, which is maybe a mile and a half or so, got the kids a couple of lollipops, and then walked back. It felt good to do the walking, even though I wasn't really dressed for it. I felt energized and not so sluggish. It might start a new trend. Might not. When it gets colder, I don't mind the walking but the kids might think otherwise.

I've been feeling better about the kids too, trying to really watch my attitude and tone around them, and they are so much happier now. I'm happier with myself as well, knowing that I've been a better parent, a more patient parent, and one that doesn't have to rely on volume and threats to get the kids to listen. So that's cool.

Well, bedtime for me. It's 2 in the morning and guess what? Monday morning I have to get up at 4:30am. Prove positive that I'm not cut out to be a morning person.