If it's true what They say about absence, ya'll must be loving the hell outta me about now.

Yes, I've been away, significantly so.  One must understand that we actually do have a life and that it will, from time to time, keep me away from the site.  Sometimes this will be for weeks.  We are not emotionally stable, of course, but we are also employed (gainfully, even), married and father to two.  Additionally, we have n+1 irons in the fire (where n is an irrational number that may be defined as a number greater than the maximum count of tasks even a super being could possibly accomplish during any given calendar year) as is our habit.

We are busy, busy, busy.

And we have been ill.  (No, not pig virus, thankyoudrivethruplease).

We are also terrible at staying in touch, not only with far away friends, but also family that lives (quite literally) across the street.  I wish it were not that way, but I couldn't even keep a pen pal for over a week as a kid.  I haven't changed all that much, it seems.

At any rate.  My younger seems to be struggling at school.  Don't get me wrong, he's smart as a whip (whatever that means), but he's also energetic and high-spirited.  He's a Leo, for goodness sake, what do they expect?  At any rate, his school rates by color code:  Green = good, yellow = fair, orange = bad, red = I'm-probably-going-to-get-a-phone-call-from-his-teacher.  At least he's in the fall spirit.  His behavior report for October looks like the famed New England autumns.  The problem, part of it, is that he knows basically everything they are "teaching" him already, but still lacks basic skills (like handwriting, it's worse than mine!).  So, while bored with the subject matter, he's in the right grade for acquiring a much-needed skill set.  We've (the wife and I) have already met with his teacher once, and written notes, to little avail.  She seems understanding when we explain our son's special situation (he was effectively deaf for a year and that during the most formative developmental age for speech) and actually grateful when we advise her on discipline tactics that work at home but continues to not be able to deal with him.

He spends all day screwing around in her class, not doing his work to the extent he must bring it home to finish it.  When we set him to task, though, he just does it.  No complaints, no tangents, no wandering of mind or body.  Work = done in no time.  We don't yell, cajole, threaten, punish or what have you, either.  Simply, "Get your homework done," and, fifteen minutes later, it is.  Just that easy.  Dunno...

My work schedule will prevent me from attending my younger's next parent-teacher conference, sadly.  That's life, I guess.

At any rate, I do intend to do my level best to be around here more often than as of late.