Four Down, Two To Go

I swear, for every step I make toward being a together single parent, I still can't quite get it all done. I mean, I bought the kids some clothes this week to keep here, so they don't have to feel like visitors to what's their home, too, and tonight I bought them some new sheets and comforters because I didn't like how wrinkled and misshapen the IKEA ones I'd gotten them last year were getting. These new ones aren't the height of style--they're Hello Kitty and Batman--but hey, it's their room. I think my daughter likes Batman better than Hello Kitty at this point, but it would be a little weird to have two of the same, and my son would probably be upset. She's crazy about the Batman Animated Clayface, though, for whatever reason. Probably because he's visually interesting and not as talky as the rest of the Rogues Gallery. Anyway, everything's fine, but my initial dismay was prompted by looking over and seeing the shirts on the couch waiting to be ironed (probably not tonight) and the dozen cans of beer on the floor, waiting to get into the fridge (maybe tonight).

Good weekend overall, but Saturday was kind of stressful. After skipping naptime and taking the kids to HERBIE: FULLY LOADED with some friends and their kids (it's pretty good, actually--Thomas Lennon of Reno 911 had something to do with the script, as well as an unfunny small role), we went to meet other friends at the beach after buying some groceries for it. Well, the directions as to which beach were bad, so it took an hour to get there, during which time my kids slept. Once we got there, I carried my daughter and a backpack full of beer across the sand to the meeting place, only to find a cop there ordering the group to pour out all their alcohol or be fined $250 per person. I didn't tell them what was in my backpack, but neither was I going to take a chance of drinking any of it at that point.

My daughter cried for almost 20 minutes that she wanted to go home, and then she peed on me, so that was kind of it for the night. I changed her and we trudged back to the car and their mother picked them up a little later at my place, as they were due back to her house that night, anyway. My friends had invited me to come over to their house to eat the grub meant for the beach, but when I got there, their kids and their daughter's friend were watching That's So Raven downstairs while they showered and brushed their teeth for about an hour. So I felt like quite a loser eating my sandwich and salad and a glass of wine with these kids watching this silly show. Once they came down and the kids went upstairs, I showed them a couple episodes of Mr. Show and then they were ready to crash. Still, it was nice to get home fairly early, and I read a chunk of THE COMPLETE PEANUTS 1953-54, since I'm trying to catch up. I don't think I'll be reviewing it now, but it's interesting that in this volume Charlie Brown really does kind of deserve some of the cruelty he experiences. I mean, he's a real blowhard, and rather cruel to Snoopy. He really has few if any positive characteristics here.

Slept in and lazed around today, reading more of the book, shopping for the aforementioned licensed bedding at Target (crap, just remembered I forgot toothpaste and mouthwash, not that I'm completely out) and watching I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD, a fine but by-the-numbers British crime drama starring Clive Owen. I also finally finished IRREGULAR JOE #4, and will begin #5 shortly.