Birthday Week Diary!!

1-17-13

I wake up at 7am and get bots ready for school. James wakes up too and the wife does the feeding for him, as I am already busy with bots. I get him on the bus and then pass back out. I wake up at 10 to the baby freaking out a bit, hungry again. The wife has left to hit the Urgent Care and to go to a meeting involving testing for Scott and his development. She goes to the doctors and gets medicine and I get bots off the bus. We all head out and get litter and some groceries. We hit the Wendys for lunch. We get back home and the wife takes a nap. Despite her doctors note to excuse her from work and her severe sickness, they make her go in anyway. She leaves in an angry huff and I don’t blame her one damn bit. Its bullshit.

I spend the day watching Deep Space Nine on Netflix and then penciling an Expendables trade cover. I get the kids to go to bed while watching Batman on encore. Its been a while since I sat down to watch the 1988 flick. I head downstairs and finish pencils on the cover and then go to inks. I finish by 12:25 and go on the Bigfanboy show. During the show I get a request for 16 commissions from a regular client. MUCH NEEDED!!! We have a great time and talk a bit after the show. I pass out around 3am.

1-18-13

Baby wakes up at 6am. Boy am I regretting being up so late! I feed him and pass out while feeding him. Wife puts him back to bed. I pass back out till 7:20 and I get up with bots and put him on the bus. Back to sleep until 10:20 when baby gets back up. I get up and head out to Michaels to get pens and paper for the commission work and to Culvers to bring the wife some food. I get back in time to get bots off the bus. The wife and I fill out paperwork for bots’ evaluation and she heads to bed. I measure out the paper into smaller, manageable comic pages I can scan and draw borders. Then print out the commission list and start penciling. Before I know it, I got 5 pages penciled and I shoot them off to the client for approval. He writes back quick and approves em while I am inking something else for another client. I take a break and get a 15 minute nap (hey, whatever I can get, ya know?) and then head to the day job for a 7-midnight shift. Its busy and it goes fast. I get home and pass out after losing myself on the internet for a couple hours looking up random Wikipedia shit. Man that site is such a time sucker!

1-19-13

I wake up and really am stuck watching the kids, and they are pretty needy today. We sit and watch “That Metal Show” on VH1 all day. Baby goes through 5 bottles and bots is his usual self. Wife gets home and I make chicken noodle soup (homemade) for all of us, which is quickly becoming her favorite meal. I hang out a bit and then head to Michaels for more pens and paper for commissions. Then to work for a 7-midnight shift again. Its slow and uneventful. I get home and pass right out to sleep.

1-20-13

I get up and watch some more “That Metal Show” on VH1classic.com and am really hooked on the show. I hang with the kids all day and manage to ink some more of the commissions I got on my table. Finally the wife gets out around 3:30pm and begins her week long vacation from her job (much needed! She’s been getting stressed lately). She’s not hungry so I skip making spaghetti and just make me some burritos. I watch the 49ers beat the Falcons and take a twenty minute nap during halftime. Bots is being super energetic and loud, so I don’t get much more sleep beyond that. Then we watch the Ravens beat the Patriots, thus setting up SuperBowl 47 for two weeks from now. I am dead ass tired as the week’s worth of 5 hours at a time sleep has caught up with me. And slowly my idea of staying up till 2-4am drawing is dwindling away. Plus the wife once again is laying claim to wanting to sleep in. (sigh) So I decide to hit the hay at 10pm. The baby gets up a couple times during the night. Restless. But I stay out. MUCH needed rest.

1-21-13

Baby gets up at 6:15. So much for catching up on sleep. We go downstairs for a feeding and change and watch more “That Metal Show.” I call dad and his back is really hurting. But they say they are coming up today. I put bots on the bus and get him off of it at noon. I spend the day cleaning house and taking care of the kids. The wife sleeps in and then my parents arrive around 4:30. I get barely any time with them before I have to head to work. I do a 6-2 shift and get home, dog ass tired.

1-22-13

I was promised to sleep in, but the baby got up at 8 and the cat in the room woke me up. I feel guilty for not seeing my parents, so I head downstairs and visit with them for a bit. We get KFC for lunch and the wife and I head to town on our own. Its nice to get away just her and I for a bit. Its so rare. We hit the Sam’s club and get some stuff and a cake for me. Then we get back and I head to work for a 6-2 shift. I am EXTREMELY tired throughout it. I barely get home without crashing the car by falling asleep at the wheel. I pass out around 3am.

1-23-13

I wake up at 7am to put bots on the bus. I am still really tired but I manage to squeeze in inks on some commissions. I am falling behind again! I cook noodle soup for everyone. The wife wakes up and she’s not in a good mood. We sort of pick at each other all day and eventually it comes to a head and my parents are involved in the mix. It turns into a blowup and I have to head to work concerned as hell. There, I am surprised by a birthday cupcake and a card from everyone. Feels good to be valued like that. Here I thought I wasn’t! I call the wife and we all patch up things. I work the 6-2 shift and am DEAD TIRED at this point. Lack of sleep has caught up with me. But my co-worker’s ride is late and will be 45 min to an hour of a drive. I negotiate a way to drive her up to meet him to shave some miles off his trip. I drive her to North Lansing and meet with him. A handshake and some small chat later, I am headed home. I stop off to get the parents some ice cubes and soda. I get home and crawl into bed by 3:30, DEAD to the world. I turned 35 at midnight.

1-24-13

I wake up at 9am, feeling pretty good. Not the sleep in I wanted, but I am excited to get up and spend time with everyone. I sit and chat with my folks and we wait for bots to get off the bus. He does and we load him into the Jeep and head to East Lansing. Baby stays behind with grandma and grandpa. I hit FBC and get some used Metal CDs and we get lunch at Five Guys. We head back, stopping off at Walgreens for the wife and head home. Once there we chat some more and I babysit bots and the baby a bit. Bots is feeling a bit down cause he hasn’t had cartoons for three days. So I turn on the Tv in my office and he’s happy. I decide to sit and make my dad watch CASINO ROYALE, as he’s never seen it. And it’s a shame for a huge Bond fan to say so. Almost three hours later, he digs it but wants me to turn on the Lifetime channel after that. (What?!?!?! HA!) The wife gets ready for our date night and I hit the shower to do the same. She gets bots to go to bed and I get dressed and update my blog. Also make a playlist for the night.

Finally the kids fall asleep and we take off, leaving grandma and grandpa as a babysitter. We head downtown to Omars, a different strip club than I work at. We settle in and get some drinks. We chat with several dancers but never really go beyond casual conversation about the work and the place. We’re just not big lap dance people. More birdwatchers, which they HATE! I feel bad though. Anyway, around 1:30am, I am getting real tired and the wife is on her 8^th pint. We head home, stopping off at Taco Bell for her some food. We get back home and yada yada, fall asleep cuddling. A good birthday!

1-25-13

I wake up at 7 to my parents knocking on the wall for us to come down. I get dressed and take their stuff out to their car and leave it running. We say our goodbyes and they take off for Illinois and home. Wife gets bots ready and I and put him on the bus. After feeding James, we attempt more sleep that doesn’t take. I wake the wife up for some more yada yada and cuddling. Afterwards, we pack up James and head out to Mcds for breakfast. Then to Barnes and Noble where I spend my last $20 of my allotted Bday money on a AC/DC Treasures book and the new Horrorhound. I also find a copy of STAR WARS #1 I can flip on ebay! So I get them all and we head home. Its starting to snow again and its getting nasty out. Parents call and say they’ve encountered heavy snow, ice and accidents. I try to guide them through it via my internet research. I’m biting nails that nothing happens to them.

The wife sleeps till 2pm. I get bots off the bus at noon. I head to the post office to mail some things and one of the ebay dudes gives me some shit. Even though my auction CLEARLY states 7-13 days of shipping/handling. That shuts him up. Ebayers lately have been pissing me off, hardcore. The wife leaves for Saginaw to spend a night away with her friends. Bots and I watch cartoons. He gets bored of it so I turn on Innerspace and then the last hour of Titanic. Both flicks I haven’t seen in a looooooong damn time. I was a huge Innerspace fan back in the day. I let bots have the TV back and I watch more of THAT METAL SHOW on Youtube and stay busy with multiple changes and feedings of James. Wife texts to say she arrived safe. Parents do the same. There’s some texting drama with Cody’s mom but its quickly resolved.

I sit and catch up with podcasts while inking commissions and then take the kids upstairs for sleep. Bots goes down fine and I give James his last bottle. I head back downstairs and I ain’t feeling the drawing bug at all. I hate it when I am alone in the house! I text the wife to see if she’s having fun. She is. I update blog, clean up the house a bit and head upstairs to watch TV in bed. I figure catching up on sleep might be good, as well. I pass out around midnight.

1-26-13

Bots wakes me up at 7am. I get up and check internet stuff, do a morning show and watch TMS (that metal show). James finally wakes up at 9am. The wife calls to say she’s heading back. I clean the house. She gets home around noon after stopping at the store for grocieries. I make us tacos and I get to inking commissions. After a while, I take a break and attempt a nap on the floor. Baby cries and thus, I get about 10 minutes of sleep. I get back up and decide to organize my office a bit by moving some bookcases around and making a whole new set up. It works great! Wife does laundry and puts the kid to bed. I finish inking the commissions while watching TMS on Vh1classic.com. Around midnight I am dead tired, so I retire to bed.