Overcompensating for Suck Month

February has been a little kinder for us, even though I think a lot of it has to do with our over compensation of the last month. Yesterday was my first Friday off in a few months time, and I kinda weaseled my way into getting the day off even though everyone else in my line was working. So even though I was happy to have some time off to goof around, I still felt a little guilty being home yesterday. But damnit, I shouldn't really have to feel guilty about working 40 hours a week, do I?

The PS3 has been really good to me. The Orange Box is really cool, although I've been spending time split between the different games. One of the conditions of having a PS3 is that I can't really play games that are inappropriate for the kids to watch, and seeing how the consumer base of the PS3 is geared toward Teens and up, it can be a little tough finding anything to do on the PS3 with the kids. Burnout Paradise is great with the kids around, and Portal is a good one as well. I tend to play Portal only when my wife is around, mostly because it's interesting for her to watch and I like to show off my analytical skills. The Playstation Network is addictive as well, having classic titles that work on the PS3 and the PSP. That's pretty cool. Right now I'm playing through Uncharted: Drake's Treasure, a rental that I had considered buying. I'll say this, it has a really great visual presentation, at times just beautiful and engrossing. But at the same time, the game seems to be incredibly short - I played for 3-4 hours last night and I've already completed 40% of the game. But it sure is pretty.

Yeah, kinda needed the Friday off just to catch a breather - I've been so submerged into work that whenever I dream, it's usually about work. I wake up, work, and promptly go into slipshod parenting and then bedtime. It's been so exhausting and seemingly unrewarding that I've developing a dronelike gaze in my eyes. And I try to apply the maxim of "having be able to make enough" to justify not working on Friday. I need to be able to work less and make more, really.

The kids have since recovered a little from their illnesses, and right now it's found new hosts in my wife and now starting to affect me. I'm trying to keep it at bay, hydrating, taking vitamins and scarfing down Balance Bars as if it were really healthy.

Zoe has a way of calling certain things with a "Ba" prefix, like Baputer (Computer), Bapiano, and the other day, when Zoe was naming off family members when she said that her mommy's name was Balaine, which was pretty cute. Alex himself has been sweet at times, coming into bed and saying, "I like you Daddy. You're my favorite Daddy." Which is quite a compliment considering the other Daddy candidates. His recent thing has been coming into our room in the middle of the night. My wife had told him that when he needed something, he should come into our room instead of shouting at the top of his voice in the dead of the night for something that he needs. So the other night, at 2 in the morning, he comes into the room, and says out loud,

"Mommy? Mommy?"

My wife, confused and half asleep, mutters, "She's not here."

"Mommy?"

(Regains composure) "What Sweetie?"

"Night night."

The other night was a similar deal, when he wanted a kiss at six in the morning. Thereafter, I believe he sat in our bed waiting for us to wake up, so needless to say, he was tired the rest of the day, doling out his tiredness in bite size tantrums.

But overall, the kids have been pretty good, just getting the feeling that they don't see their Daddy as much as they should be. Anyway, day with the family today, can't spend all day blogging about games now, can we?