O'Harass someone else!

Well it’s been a while since the last big update, I’ll see what I can do about that.

The basics:

• I’m still working as a contractor for BP Solar.
• We still have a Toyota Camry and a Volvo XC90 (I won’t say which one Sharole is more attached to at this point)
• We’re still living in the mountains, my commute is 2.5 hrs each way (it brings to mind the Smashing Pumpkins lyric - despite all my rage I’m still just a rat in a cage)
• TJ’s birthday went well
• Gigi’s birthday is just around the corner
• As is Valentine’s Day, I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of a good Valentine’s idea. I actually have a double whammy since after Val’s Day and after Gigi’s comes the anniversary. That one will be here before I Know it! Maybe I should have re-thunk getting married so close to Valentine’s Day. Learn from me, ye fools! It’s too late for me, save yourselves! Which actually makes Sharole’s former brother in law not so stupid in just one tiny way: he’s getting remarried, and their wedding is set for Valentine’s. We’re not invited to the wedding, but we’re thinking of crashing the reception. If we did go, I think it would be the first time she’s seen Sam since she’s been back.
  Unrelated hypothetical question: If you knew someone was stepping into a marriage with an impotent slimeball, and you knew the bride was not from around here and probably doesn’t know any better, how hard would you try to warn her, or is it any of your business?
  Totally hypothetical.
• We’ve had a few warm days, but overall this summer is turning out to be somewhat cloudy and rainy; I sloshed through the rain to get to the train station, and only just now, 5,000 feet lower and 2 hours into my commute, the sun is peeking through the clouds, casting a glare over the laptop screen.
• TJ has started pre-school, one day a week
• TJ and Gigi have started swim lessons, one day a week
• TJ has also been going to speech therapy sessions, which turned out to be language skills sessions and guided play, despite what we were told. So alas he wasn’t getting the progress we were hoping for thus far. He is physically capable of making the mouth shapes, but only after a lot of cajoling, will he do it in isolated situations. He still has the bad habits of mispronunciation that started when he first formed the words.
  How about this for HUGE irony: Sharole’s first visit with a real speech therapist , the therapist, among other things, was very emphatic that I sign with TJ as much as possible. Not only is this confusing to me to hear from a speech therapist, who should be firmly in the oral camp, but it had the interesting effect of causing Sharole to start prodding for more sign language from me.
  I find myself wondering whether TJ will end up more like Ellen, or Molly.
• We had a nice Australia Day, with a yummy breakfast at Gregg and Mel’s and then on to a fair.. of sorts… my advice, don’t bother going. It was at the Regatta Park in Penrith. It was stinking hot, with very little to do or drink within reach.

That’s all for now; I’ve run out of time.