An update for April, no fooling.
April 2, 2008
Filed under:The Number Nine
It’s been a while since I’ve written much for updates. I know that I have my ups and downs of the lines of communication with most folks, we all do, but sometimes I just get in a mode that keeps my head down so flat that I can’t even hear anyone around me going, “Where’s Judd anyway?” Know what I mean?
The business is actually keeping me quite busy. Clients that actually pay on time and new people that want to meet with me because they not only enjoy me but think that I’ll benefit their business and new people that just dig me. It’s all good. I tell you what though, sitting down with the owner/operators of web firms around town is a whole different ballgame when we’re talking business deals and how I can help them and their clients. Time was, the only time I got a chance to sit like that with them was to ask them for a job. That never really worked out as well as this is, to dribble out an extreme understatement.
The power and the freedom is exhilarating, provided I can recognise it, as I’m so used to being nervous and pandering a bit that I forget that I’M in charge here, and I call the shots on how this kind of deal will get handled from my end. I don’t have to cater purely to someone else’s desires to make my life actually happen. I can ease into things, I can give more or give less, I can politely extricate myself from a situation without losing the relationship.
At a meeting last week I realised that I was talking with someone who is so ambitious and confident that, as a potential employer, I would’ve let them talk me into anything just for a decent job. Instead, I got to say what it is that I can do, and how much I charge for it, especially what I wouldn’t do. And he respected me for it.
On top of all that, and I’ve got these ideas that are literally popping my eyes open at night and making me all kinds of charged up. Some are sort of re-inventing the wheel, but will save me time in the long run, and others are fairly revolutionary and exciting. I won’t go into too much detail here, but I’m working on a “tool” for other SEOs out there that will probably get fairly heavily used. It’s THAT cool. Once enough people are using it and I’m improving it and maybe I’ve got more stuff to offer I can start charging for it. Schweet. Passive income and all that. I’m stoked.
The kids are doing great. Both being gone all day at school means that the days are quieter, but now that Jadey’s walking everywhere and having less for naps she’s still keeping us mega-busy. She’s just about freakin’ everywhere. The days go too fast and then BAM houseful of childrens again, especially if we’ve got the nieces here because Ron’s got Uni or we just like ‘em. Gets crazy and the house somehow magically transforms into someplace dirty again. Weird.
Damon is muddling his way along in Year 2, likes most of his classmates but not his teacher so much. She yells too much, he tells us, and it stresses him a bit. Some of his classmates are raw shits, and she yells to keep them from destroying the classroom. He gets treated to a nicer teacher on Fridays, and though she’s vague and distracted and a bit out there, she’s nice. Plus, I go in an hour before school lets out and help teach the little yard apes math (”maths” here, not “math”) and we all have some fun. Combine that with the couple of hours I spend at the Canteen on Tuesday mornings, frying up pikelets (little pancakes, in essence, for snacks) and making sandwiches for lunches, and I think I should be on the payroll.
Georgia is as alien as ever, and loves school with her whole heart. They paint and have fun and sing songs and try and learn a few things, but mostly I think she just enjoys hanging out with children that don’t expect her to be good or make sense when she talks. She does prefer the easier path whether it’s forming a sentence explaining why she’s been eating crayons again or simply drawing on the table instead of the paper that’s just out of reach.
Jade has now gone exclusively to walking, and prefers to wander the house with something in either her hand, her mouth, or both. She’s into everything and has a certain sense of order to the place, usually involving everything scattered on the floor. I’ve watched her meticulously pull every CD off of the stand-up rack and throw them outward in an ever-expanding circle. Then, in the middle of doing this, she’s accidentally knocked over a foot-tall stone figurine. She’s stopped flinging CDs long enough to squat down, grab the figurine by it’s head, and stand it back up again exactly how it was. Then, she’s gone straight back to scattering CDs across the floor. Amazing what happens in her little head.
She’s not talking any “real” words terribly much, but has her little sayings and frequently tries to mimic things that we say. She’ll say “thank you” or “ta” when you give her something (and after you say it first) and bursts into “Hi! Hiiiiii!” when she hears the screen door open. One day she frantically flapped and squealed “Hi Daddy! Hi!” when she heard me come in. THAT kind of thing is what changes your life, and reminds you why you became a parent in the first place.
Lest I forget, the biggest news of all. We’ve got a kitten now. Yep, Jo’s allergic to cats, but not the kind that has this kind of fur, or not when they’re kittens or some such like that. Like most things that change our lives around here, it sort of just happened, and we move on with our lives forever adjusted.
It was last Friday, and we were sort of scrambling trying to get dinner ready and keep rambunctious children from breaking each other and valuables. They were just hyper and I can’t remember why, but all 3 where going apeshit and dinner was being sort of clooged, and there was stress in the air about something else that I don’t really remember and then “MEW.”
Jo says something about a kid’s toy or the TV or something and then “MEW” again. At the front door. I tend children and dinner as Jo investigates. Then, comes back about 10 minutes later with an emaciated furball that looks like he’s found heaven snuggled in her boobs. I remember thinking that I could certainly relate, but that I don’t make Jo sneeze uncontrollably and hive out. We talked about it, and though our next door neighbour Ross had tried to unload kittens on us a month or so previous and we’d turned him down because of Jo’s allergy and such, we decided to see what will happen this time.
What’s happened is, we’ve all fallen in love. Yes, even me. I couldn’t help it. He/She’s like a cat, only awesome. I get little visits on my shoulder while I type on the laptop and it purrs like a runaway tractor whenever you’re near it. I call it “it” because we don’t know it’s sex yet. Cats suck like that. I’ll post pictures as soon as he doesn’t look like he’s a flea-bitten poo-machine. Which he is.
We couldn’t figure out a name either. We both looked at the animal and, like we had most of our lives, just needed to look long enough to figure out their name. To have them “tell” us. I couldn’t place it. We wanted “Fletch” because we could both “hear” an “F” name, but it wasn’t working. Then, Jo called me while I was out and said the kitten told her his/her name was “Friday”. She allowed that she wasn’t crazy about the name, not as original or imposing as we’d wanted, but that was the cats name. I’d been sensing “Fr” names too, and that was surely it.
Welcome Friday to the Exley Clan.
This next bit is hard to talk about, but I want to get it out there to encourage people to do the right thing.
Some neighbour dogs, American Staffies (the kind that are bred to be stupid and kill other dogs) got loose the other night, and jumped on the kids and caused various mayhem while they were at the park across the street. Kids came home, Damon in tears because dogs scare him and one of them bashed into his face while “kissing” him. I went to round them up and find out whose they were, as our little circle of homes is fairly close-knit, and spotted one of Friday’s siblings wandering in Ross’s driveway. I didn’t get to him in time, as he ran away somewhat skittishly, and the bigger dog grabbed him.
I yelled, I screamed, and that goddamed dog ran playfully across the park, whipping it’s head around with that poor kitten in it’s mouth. By the time it stopped, I had my hand around a stick about the size of a broomstick. I swung with all my might right into the side of that beast’s head, a blow that snapped the stick, and it dropped the kitten. It barely blinked at me, backed up a few steps, and gave me a look like it genuinely didn’t know it was doing anything wrong.
I picked up the kitten and walked it over to Ross, telling him that it’s back is f***ed and that I was getting some rope. I tied the dogs up and went to check on the kids. Horrible, watching something like that, and some of our Asian neighbours had both boys, 4 and 6, outside watching the entire thing, the 4-year old crying inconsolably.
Dogs like that are built and bred for one thing, and are good for nothing else. The owners came before the Council Ranger got the dogs, and they felt awful about what happened, as you would. I told them though, that this kind of thing can’t be happening and, while it wasn’t my call, I was going to tell the Ranger exactly what happened and my opinion of where dogs like that belong. I didn’t tell them that, were this Montana, I’d have put a bullet right between the eyes of that bigger dog. In a heartbeat. And I hate killing. I haven’t killed anything in years and didn’t even have the stomach for hunting. I would’ve done it though, if that were my cat, and I wouldn’t have lost a wink of sleep over it’s death. I lost at least half a night’s over that kitten. I mean, what if that were one of my children? I get teary just thinking about it.
So, that’s the end of my little PSA, where I tell you not to own dogs that are built for killing. If you’re lonely and want some home protection, get a poodle or something like that. They’ll yap their heads off and wake everybody up. If you need a Staffie or a Pit Bull to chew on intruders, keep in mind that there is always the potential, nay the likelihood, that they’re going to chew on more innocents than guilties. It’s just not worth it.
Alright, I’ve got to get back to work. I just wanted to give everyone an update on life and all it’s assorted funs and happenings.
Things will be getting busier with the business and such, and hopefully a bit more structured, so that I can have more time to write and post pictures as well as have more inclination to keep in touch with you all because I’m not stressing over money and procuring clients.
Smooches kids, love and hugs to you and your pets if you got ‘em.
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