Monday

Greetings gentle readers, welcome to my world.

Today is Easter Monday, another day in the long list of public holidays that continuously crop up on a regular basis, to disrupt life in general. At the current rate of long weekends, maybe the Government should gazette a Public Work day. This would be when every one takes a day off their holiday and actually goes to work.

Tonight the girls have gone for a sleepover at Stephanie’s cousin’s house. I have been told that they will be back in a few days. On the plus side the house is a little quieter, and on the minus side nobody can seem to explain to me what “A few days” actually means. I can only assume that they will be back by Friday, which is the approximate time that they will run short of money.

Young Jeffery has a friend staying over for the night. At this moment they are sleeping in a tent in the back yard, at least I think they are sleeping. Knowing Jeffery he is probably contemplating new ways to wheedle something out of us in the morning. He is very good at wheedling is young Jeffery. No matter how much I try to figure him out, he discovers a new way of getting his own way. Unfortunately for him, he has not managed to wheedle his way into my wallet.

I have a rule in my home, that one is required to earn ones way in the world. Master Jeffery has decided that it is easier to beg, albeit somewhat unsuccessfully. I was paying him to do chores, like the washing up, cleaning his room and etc, but he has been on strike for three months. As a result he has not been paid. When I explained the reasons, his comeback was, “Well can I have the dole?” His logic being that when a person is unemployed, the powers that be pay social security payments, and as his Mother and I represent those powers, we should be compensating him for his not working. He seemed quite happy continuing this way until last Thursday, when he asked for money to buy something or other. It was at that point that I politely explained that had he been doing his chores he would have been paid, and that his current lost earnings now totaled $250. He is now working on an idea as to how he can get that money back.

Also in the back yard, in another tent is young Ashley. When she found out that her brother would be camping out, she felt a little left out, so I put up the other small tent for her. After about an hour, she came running back inside screaming that the boys had put spiders in her tent. After an inspection of the tent, I found no invading arachnids or any other creepy crawly. I then had a stern talk to the boys about teasing Ashley. Of course they were all innocence. I went back inside, where I was able to let loose with the laughter that had been screaming to get out while I was downstairs.

Juanita has been writing her Book. It all started off as an entry into a short story competition. On reaching 4000 words, she gave it to me for editing. Unfortunately, after the editing, she decided that it needed a bit more, and seeing that I had deleted about a thousand words, due to grammar, and repeated sentences, she felt that there was room for more. The project has now expanded to about thirty thousand words and is well on its way to becoming a novel. Not surprisingly the short story is no longer recognizable.

I have read some of the manuscript, and to be quite honest it is coming along quite well. In fact I find it most enjoyable.

The only drawback is that I do not see much of her lately. A friend gave us an old laptop computer. It is not very powerful, and only has a one gig hard drive. But she takes it into the bedroom, or outside, to type her work, only coming back to reality for mealtimes and bedtime. Even then she lays in bed typing. Have you ever tried to get to sleep while your partner is verbalizing plot expansions, and character development? Now I am in the lounge room typing this, until she falls asleep with her fingers on the keyboard.

I have been severely tempted to go looking for a really cheap second laptop; however funds at the moment are somewhat scarce. The way I figure it, if I can’t beat em, join em.

This reminds me, I should get going on my own manuscript. I have been a bit neglectful over the past few months, and I really should get back to it.

Well gentle readers, it is time for me to try and get some sleep. I will be sleeping with one eye open so to speak, just in case I get a knock on the door from the kids wanting to come in again. I have left the back door unlocked anyway.

I very much doubt that a burglar will come in due to the sign on the door which reads,

“This house is occupied by a Psychotic Veteran, I have my good days and I have my bad days. Are you willing to take the risk on what today is?

On that note I will leave you to your daily chores. May your Gods watch over you and keep you well. Remember, smile for a stranger, they may be having a bad day.

You have the power to be happy, and to make others happy.