Today I woke up on time and with a great deal of optimism to be productive. My biggest task for the day was to get some math work done.
After getting the kids fed, I set about doing some cleaning.  In time I got resentful that my wife was still sleeping and I wanted to get things done.  When she finally did get up and about I took my oldest son outside for some baseball practice.  I was a little disappointed that we didn't get more work in.  I just didn't have the initiative to think of good practice tasks.  I got to take the dog for a walk with my 2 girls to the park.  During lunch we watched a show about Martin Luther King Jr. and had some good conversation with the kids about the civil rights movement.  Later my wife was agreeable about getting rid of some clutter and I straightened up my garage. She went on some errands and I watched the kids.  I tried to get the math work done but I got continually interrupted.  I got resentful at my wife because she called me about 4 times to ask questions about groceries that she should have known. During the time after dinner while I was cleaning up and getting the kids bathed I got to watch Intervention.  I got to talk to a friend in recovery on the phone.  At the end of the day I got back to the math and got very despondent when I realized how much I have forgotten.

Looking back, their are a lot of things that my wife did for me, our family, and our home that I just can't do alone like grocery shopping, laundry, resale, etc. despite what time she woke up.
Perhaps I am worrying too much about falling behind in my math class when I am not behind yet and thus I am feeling resentful.
I need to try and be more patient and considerate with everyone and pray for acceptance and just focus on the tasks at had today.

I am grateful for my wife for the work she puts in to keep us fed and our household going.
I am grateful for the opportunity to go back to school.
I am grateful for the time I get to spend guiding my kids.
I am grateful for the sober life that I get to have today.

Thanks be to God.

This morning:
woke up late, wife fed kids
stayed home with sick kid
disappointed that wife sold philosophy book
heard description of man's transcendent nature
spoke to old mentor in recovery
accidentally called old sponsee
purposely called current sponsee
looked into maintenance of laptop and did some good optimization
Spent quality time alone with son #2 while wife took other kids to party, I taught him to bowl better on the Wii
Cooked dinner for the kids
Went to meeting at night, book study, we read the Doctor's Opinion.
Went to group conscience, provided new format
Gave an old friend a ride home and had a great talk
Ran out of time to write inventory in complete sentences

This Wednesday I spent most of the day preparing for the coming semester. I researched and ordered books and ran some other errands.  It seemed like the time between kid drop offs and pick ups went by really quickly and that I didn't get much done.

I got to have a talk with someone new in recovery.  I had the feeling like I talk too much about subjects that a new person might not be ready to digest.  I also felt like I don't have an adequate, simple 3 point script for the first talk.

Thanks be to God for this day.

This Monday morning I had a sleeping habits fail.  I was late getting to sleep the night before and I had a hard time waking up.  Then after dropping off the first set of kids I came home and passed out.  My wife had said that she was taking the last kid to her preschool but she too stayed asleep and the child never made it there.  Of course I blamed her but truth be told, if I had stayed awake, I could have taken the child.

This day I thought about a conversation I had recently with someone new to recovery.  The person told me that they were addicted to a new drug called methedrone, or mephedrone.  I looked them upped and was aroused by what I read.  Apparently this drug has much of the same type of affect as cocaine and methamphetamine except it is longer lasting.  I have to admit that thoughts of what they would be like occurred to me.  I had to resist them and exert myself to re-place these thoughts with my current values and goals like family, children, school, philosophical pursuits, etc.   Now that I think about it, I don't think that I ever prayed it away, so I will do so now.

In the evening we had guests over for dinner.  It was my cousin and his family. Afterward, my wife thanked me for being a good sport because she knows I would rather have a quiet evening and not be bothered with the prep work.  I was grateful that I didn't show much irritation to her, which I did have.  This inspired me to try harder.

Thanks be to God for this day.

All that I remember about this Tuesday is that I got to go to a meeting in the evening.  It was the last session of our process of taking group inventory.  We read each remaining tradition on the list and the accompanying questions for each.  With each set we shared on our observations and experiences related to them.

I was initially not enthusiastic about this and started out to go to a different meeting.  But I thought this was selfish so I turned my truck around and went to my home group.  Once again I enjoyed this meeting and felt like it was a great benefit to our group.

Thanks be to God.

This morning as we were preparing for mass I got a little irritable with my wife and oldest son and griped at them.  I had to apologize.  Our priest talked about the virtue of humility and about seven tests of whether one is prideful or humble.  One was a test of our irritability with others when they don't meet our expectations.  I have room for improvement.

I was grateful to get some house cleaning done today while my wife was out on errands.

I got to do some inspirational reading about philosophy today.  I thought about the ideas of a universal set of values, theory of right behavior (moral philosophy), and that the word "philosophy" means the love of wisdom.

This evening I got to go to a meeting.  I got to speak to a young person and a peer type person who are both in recovery.  Our reading was the last pages of "A Vision for You".  I thought about my walk into recovery and how the spiritual experience, the common mission in the book, and the fellowship i craved have been given unto me when I sought God's will.  I also thought about how this is a renewable resource when I follow the mission of helping others.  My newest renewal is the enthusiasm I feel at the prospect of new people in the new year.

Thanks be to God.

This Saturday started early with a mass and initiation rite into the KOFC.  It was a long arduous event but I was grateful for the opportunity to increase my integration into this fraternity of like minded family men.  I really enjoyed attending mass at a different church.  I was really pleased to see the priest who was my last confessor.  I was very edified to hear his homily that we should not allow the organization to become divisive in our congregation nor should we make it an idol.

I found the rituals of the initiation to be both profoundly thought provoking and moderately troubling.  I can see room for improvement but yet conveying the same principals.  I remember my dad warning me about this.

In the afternoon I got to practice baseball with my younger son.  I also got to do some follow up yard work before the rain that was forecast.

My wife worked in the evening while I stayed home with the kids.

Thanks be to God.