I think morning is the most interesting time of day to watch and listen to the kids. Some days just start out awful, particularly if Anna is in a bad mood, and other mornings everyone’s happy. Jen and I need to be more diligent about getting to bed on time so that we are in a good mood in the morning. I also need to put the camcorder by the bedside so that I can record the girls’ morning routine.

This morning as I got up with the girls, Tara was pretending to be asleep when I came into the room, so that she could spring up and surprise Anna and I. Anna wasn’t fooled. After waking, Tara said, “I was twirling my hair.” She does this a lot, leaving the back of her hair in knots, so we tell her not to do it, but she loves playing with her own or Jennifer’s hair. “Why were you twirling your hair?” I asked. She thought for a second, “Because it calms me down.” Even I was impressed by this little moment of self-awareness. She then made a sour face, turned to Anna and poked her, saying “stupid!” She learned this from listening to Anna’s Junie B. Jones books, and we have been trying to discourage this behavior. “Tara, don’t poke people and don’t say ’stupid.’” She turned to me and asked “What’s the word of the street?” “It’s definitely not ’stupid,’” I replied. She looked down glumly and moped, “Oh.”

Later, at breakfast, I ended up giving the girls each half a cookie because of a slight misunderstanding the previous night. I told Anna she could not have dessert because it is becoming too much of a routine, and instead she could have some for breakfast. I thought it was apple strudel from the german bakery, but it turned out to be cookies. In any case, Tara had to have some as well just to be fair. After Anna wolfed hers down, she asked Tara for some of hers. Tara broke off a piece and gave it to Anna. She then looked at me and said, “I’m sharing with Anna.” Then after a few seconds, “I’m sharing very nicely.” And after a little more thought, “And I won’t say ’stupid.’”

Except for the fact that Anna is still off school, and my office has not reopened, things are mostly back to normal. The air is occasionally clear, depending on which way the wind is blowing. The girls have been mostly indoors all week, but visits from friends have given them some respite from going completely stir crazy.

While things for our family are looking good, so far five families I know have lost their homes. I’m sure I’ll find out more on Monday. Something likes 1200 houses were lost across San Diego, a number that is just absolutely ridiculous the more you think about it. We choose to live here with the fires and mudslides and earthquakes, though. Everyone has to pick their poison.

Every now and then we clear out our old toys and clothes to family, friends, or local people via craigslist. This weekend we’ll take this opportunity to really do a thorough job of paring things down so that we can free up items to donate. Normally we do this on the sly, because as soon as we tell the kids we’re giving away one of their toys, even if they haven’t played with it in years it suddenly become an indispensable favorite. This time, I made a point of telling Anna that we were going to sort through toys to give to kids who have lost their homes, and she was actually excited about it, because she felt genuine sympathy. It’s always refreshing to find out that your child is a good person, even if you knew it before.

Hopefully everything will be getting more back to normal in time for Halloween; a few weeks ago I picked up a smoke machine with the intent of taking some pictures of the kids in their costumes. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to do it this weekend. For now, my computer (which is no slouch) is processing some 1800 photos I took at a fitness event last weekend, and it will be finished in a mere 10 hours! RAW workflow be a harsh mistress.

We are back in our house. There is still an evacuation order for this part of town and the fires certainly continue to rage on, but it is looking like the fire has passed us by. I slept in front of the tv with an alarm to wake me every two hours so I could check for new developments. Today we will focus on getting the kids together with their friends, either indoors or somewhere with clear air. Also, I will work on cleaning up the kids’ play room and moving beds in there since it’s almost a certainty that several of our friends and co-workers have lost their houses.

We left our home yesterday morning after a frantic two hours of packing. We worked hard prepare for a trip that could have been overnight or we might never return to our house again. We kept Anna in the dark about the situation until there was on other option. At this time there is no apparent threat to our house and we are staying with Jennifer’s cousin in a safe part of the city. We feel very lucky to have family here to fall back on because most of our family is back east. The girls are homesick but coping. We’re trying to find indoor activities but many businesses are closed. I have been checking the web and tv nonstop to relieve some of the uncertainty about the situation. I just have to keep remembering that what is most important to me fits in four seats.

I wrote another medium-length missive on the plane, but at this moment it’s confined to my laptop, which is confined to my bedroom next to where I should be sleeping next to my sleeping wife. But it’s there and I’m not and that’s why you’re getting the abridged version.

The last two days in Singapore were very hectic as I tried, perhaps too hard, to cram as much as I could into the last couple days of work–long days in the factory, dinners alone while making calls back to San Diego, and passing out late only to repeat the next morning. One night the manufacturers took us out for dinner and drinks, but I still went right back to the room and put some work before packing to leave and finally falling asleep. By the time I got on the plane to go home I was so tired that I could barely stay awake for dinner, and then I slept something like ten hours on the flight back. After clearing customs, changing terminals, going back through security, failing to catch an earlier flight, flying to San Diego, and catching a shuttle home I was still fairly awake. I managed to sleep from 11:00 to 2:00 before waking up, unable to go back to sleep.

I spent the morning hours catching up on email and playing with the kids before spending a full day at the office. By dinnertime I was exhausted. I passed out at 6:30 without eating, and was awakened by Anna at 9:00pm. Jennifer had gone out ice skating, so I settled her back into bed, then repeated the episode half an hour later. At this point I decided to wait for Jennifer to come home, which she did an hour later. We both slept until about 1:00 when Anna woke up again. I tried to settle her down and after several rounds of discussion and debate, she is quiet in her bed and I will check on her in another 10 minutes to see that she is asleep. If she is, I’ll try to go back to bed, but it’s now almost three o’clock and it will be time to wake up in a couple hours.

On the trip as a whole, I can say that I’d still love to visit Singapore someday, but on my trip I got to see so little of it that I can barely claim to have been there. Between the hassle of travel and grueling hours, I will definitely be passing on the opportunity to do it again for business.

This weekend I hope to get my body back on schedule and spend some fun time with the family. Right now there’s nothing that sounds better than a nice stint of routine.

Before I begin, I would like to point out that I was right about the iPhone.

Anyway, the trip has been going pretty well for me. Thursday and Friday were filled with lots of work and getting adjusted to the time change. Saturday I laid down for a little nap before dinner and woke up at 4am. I did a lot of walking around town sightseeing and pretty much wore myself out. Sunday was much the same, except that I did get out for dinner. I’m starting to get used to this place. Driving on the left side of the street took some adjustment, and it extends to escalators, and to walking past people on the street. Speaking of people on the street, there are certainly a lot of them.

Speaking of things I can get used to, I will probably have to be dragged from my hotel room kicking and screaming and with my fingernails tearing out the carpet on Thursday. It’s terribly nice to have a quiet space where the doorman knows your name and someone does your laundry and cleans your room twice each day. If only they had more (American) football on TV.

Now it’s 8pm and I just got back from the factory and someone will presently be bringing up my dinner while I write some emails, update my expense report, make some calls, and roll into bed to start it all over again tomorrow. I suspect I’ll have more time and energy to write a proper report on the plane home.