Long Overdue

It started just before tax day, and it's been going strong ever since. It seems that the typical 24 hour day had been truncated. Some days, it was only 18 hours long. Others, it was 22 hours in length. On average, it seemed to last about 20 hours, give or take fifteen minutes one way or the other.

I can't understand it. What caused it? Who do I blame? Could it be an alien plot? A result of nearly eight years of Bush administration rule? Faulty immigration laws? An Illuminati-driven conspiracy? Or, perhaps, some sinister drug pumped into the Fairfax County water supply? Maybe it's just a side effect of springtime?

I'm still not sure. I don't know if I'll ever find out.

The symptoms came on gradually, and seemed unrelated at first. Bananas seemed to ripen faster than they used to. My beard growth increased. The children's clothes weren't fitting. If a task at work used to take two days to finish, it was suddenly taking three days to complete.

The simple fact of the matter is that I didn't have as much time as I needed anymore. I'd be lucky to see my children for two hours a night before I had to usher them off to bed.

It's something I've had to come to grips with, and despite all the half-cocked theories I've thrown around, I've come to the conclusion that I know what is causing this loss of temporal mass: age. The older I get, the faster time seems to pass me by.

That said, I'm sure that many of you would rather look at pictures of my offspring than hear about my loss of sanity. So I'll bring you up to date on Stephen and Maddy.

Last weekend was the Mythic employee picnic. It took place at the National Zoo in DC. We were given frisbees, fed well, hydrated, and then sent out to look at the animals. The kids were really well-behaved, despite the long bus rides to and from the zoo. It was a sunny, breezy day, despite a weather forecast that called for thunderstorms.

Stephen got his face painted. There was some debate as to what he would have painted on his cheeks: a cat? A bird? A lizard? He wanted a butterfly. I didn't have any problem with that. He's three! It might not be the most stereotypically masculine animal on the planet, but butterflies are boys, too.

Madeline enjoyed the fresh air, too, in her cute little ball cap. She didn't seem to care that we were at the zoo. For all she cared, we could've been at a funeral, and she would have been just as satisfied.

We didn't see much in the way of animals. Elephants, tigers, lions, lots of turtles, bald eagles, seal lions, antelopes. Between you and I, the National Zoo isn't really all that impressive. I've been spoiled rotten by the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. Nothing can really outdo either of those places for sheer style and substance.

Developmental milestones: Stephen is practically potty trained. There was that one incident I reported a while back, but that was very much an isolated event (despite our hope that it would continue). Two weeks ago, Amy decided that she was going to put the boy through "potty bootcamp," and she put him in underwear instead of a diaper. The first couple of days were hit and miss, but once Stephen got the idea, he was quick to insist on doing his business in the bathroom.

Madeline is going to be talking pretty soon. She says things that sound like words, and other things that definitely are words ("Go! Go! Go!") or expressions ("Uh-oh!). She's very expressive. Her hair is growing out. She likes to point at just about everything.

As for Amy and I, we actually we able to get out and see a movie recently. Mythic sent the whole company to the opening showing of Ironman, and Karen babysat for us. It was the first movie we've seen in Virginia since we arrived here last July, and the second movie we've seen since the movie (the first being No Country for Old Men, which we saw in CA over Christmas).

My freelance life has been busy. It doesn't help that I'm completely drained of life by the time I get out of work. It should ease up soon, though, once the current projects are put to bed, and then I can rest.

I've even been looking at joining a local Civil War unit, but it would mean buying all new uniforms and gear -- there aren't any Union cavalry units in my area. They're all CSA. Go figure!