I was SO tired yesterday...

...And I have to blame daylight savings time.

I ended up getting back home from Melinda's house a little late Sunday night (11:00) but that was only an hour later than I usually go to bed, so it wasn't all that much different. All day long I was yawning. It's just not like me to yawn like that, but I couldn't stop. Even my eyes felt hot and tired. I was just frazzled. It had to be my circadian rhythm or whatever... Something was definitely disrupted.

The party at Melinda's house was excellent as usual. It was an early celebration of her birthday (which is tomorrow) so there were presents as well as socializing. Everybody thought the gift I took was cool. You can see it in action on their website here. I bought her the 5.5" version. The movement happens when it spins around on its string, and can go either backwards or forwards. I don't know how they work, but they're cool!

It's starting to look like I'm never going to get anything done of my own. Before I went to Melinda's, my ex-father-in-law came by with his lady friend and dropped her computer off for me to take a look at. I've already got another computer project I'm working on for a guy at work that involves software testing. Then yesterday, Bruce (my supervisor) brought his new laptop in for me to take home and look at. There's nothing wrong with the computer (it's a brand new Dell) but something went amiss when he was upgrading to Windows Vista. I spent most of last night playing with that. At least it was handy--I could do it while I was eating dinner and watching an after dinner movie.

Teresa called yesterday right after I got home and was concerned. Evidently she's having a lot of disciplinary issues with Sarah. I don't know what to do about it except talk with her. I never see that side of her unless I'm over there when they clash, which has happened. She's concerned about her spending too much time talking on the phone (with a boy) or chatting online (with a boy) or texting (ditto) or whatever. The age-old teen vs. parent battle is playing out, with each trying to assert their strength. Teresa is worried that Sarah is just going to take the car and leave some day. I told her that it's every parents worry that when their teen gets his or her license that they'll never see them again. I think I need to start spending more time with her. She initiates anything involving a visit or stay here, but yet if I ask she usually agrees. There's one part of parenting that I'm not good at, and that's being the bad guy. Something I always try to run away from is confrontation, and to initiate a conversation that is inevitably going to end up that way just makes me sick to my stomach. I want the best for Sarah, but these are the hardest years. By getting divorced, I distanced myself from them and their battles, but evidently they're just getting worse.

Being a parent can really suck sometimes. Where's the guidebook when you need it?