In which I write two paragraphs and two sentences, but not in that order.

I wasn’t expecting yesterday to kick me in my butt the way it did, but there you go.

I got home from school, which wasn’t especially taxing (school, I mean—the drive home was stupid because everyone was trying not to slide off into the ditch or signs or each other). Supper was already on the table, so all I had to do was clean up (which would have been easier if the dishwasher had actually held all the dishes, but then Wifeness came home and did the ones that didn’t fit in, and that was really nice). Once the kids went to bed, I pushed myself to go upstairs and lift weights for 30 minutes (which might have been longer except that I intended to go to the pool the next morning, and it’s a lot harder to swim far when your arms hurt because you’ve lifted a lot the evening before). I even knew I was going to stay home today because I had grades and recommendations to do (which I knew I would not get done at school because everyone would be coming up to me to ask what their grades were and where their recommendations were, and that’s really counterproductive), but that didn’t lessen the fact that, when I finally laid down, I felt very, very tired.

I’m chalking it up to the chai.

I got up this morning right on time and went to the pool. I swam well and quickly, and got back to the house just as Wifeness was getting into the shower. My wife has stuff on her mind. I can tell this because she says certain things that I have come to recognize as indicators of her mental state. For instance, she tells me X, and then tells X to me again, and then asks me just a little while later if she’s told me X yet. Also, she talks a lot about planning and scheduling and she reminds me that we need to do more of it. Also, she thinks she’s said a thing to a child when, in fact, she didn’t quite say that. I know this because I was listening. Also, she talks about taking time to rest and do nothing a lot. I don’t really know what’s on her mind because we don’t spend a lot of time together in the evenings. It’s not as easy to spend time together in the evenings when one of us is sleeping on the couch and the other is in the bedroom with the teenager. It’s also not as easy to spend time together in the evenings when we are both tired and just need to go to bed. I’ve committed to go upstairs and engage in world conquest with Caleb (we play Axis and Allies once a week), but perhaps we can make some arrangement that allows for Wifeness and I to have some time tomorrow to just chill and connect. Perhaps Karla would be willing to do something creative with the girls?