The Michael Swayne Story V: King of his Castle

I should be sleeping right now. I was sleeping, but like clockwork, three children decided to have their weekly major fight the same night I actually need sleep. First, they knocked over the hand truck that will be used to move the stove and caused a giant booming sound. Then, they thought it would be fun to play tag and run back and forth through the room on the other side of my bedroom. Finally, all three of them were either yelling, screaming, or crying because they all wanted to choose what would be on TV. It seems that I am the only one affected by this, because Jackson, Brutus, Bella, and Blue (the puppy) are all sleeping in my room as well.

They are truly lucky. They don't have to go to work tomorrow and deliver newspapers in sub-zero temperatures. It will be -2 Fahrenheit as the low, and by the time I should be finished it will only climb to 12 degrees. I will really have to bundle up tomorrow. I am glad I got my puffy winter coat out of storage. I just have to go down to the basement and it will be ready to go on my body.

My bike came by FedEx yesterday. I assembled it and it is now sitting in my room. I will be keeping my bike in my room from now on. I rearranged my room when I was able to reassemble my bed, and now the room has lots more space. I don't have to walk around the bed just to do anything. Anyway, the bike has plenty of room in here, and that's how it will stay. I just don't want my lights to be turned on while I am not nearby to monitor them. My main hope with this bike is to at least make it a year with it. I can't be buying a new bike every three months.

The exterminator was here on Monday, and said that it was okay to put the beds back together. Actually, he said that he can't be certain if they are gone unless we sleep in them again. That's seem dumb, because we told him that they were still there. Anyway, he's coming back this coming Monday for another follow-up appointment. I asked Carma if we can start moving things back in from the basement, and she said to just wait for now. I did bring up my video games and put them in the top drawer of the dresser the TV sits on though.

Life with the puppy has been okay. She, like the other animals, really like and gravitate toward me. At the moment, she's sleeping on the pillow next to me. She and Jackson get along fine, which is natural, since she is Jackson's daughter. The cats are not so easily befriended. Bella is warming up to Blue, but there's still things Blue will have to learn before Bella will like her more. Like not being a clumsy oaf who insists on bounding up on a cat. Or barking right in someone's face. Cleo has kept her distance, but she's like that with every animal except Brutus. And Brutus, well, he's not the type to like dogs. He makes dogs fear him. And Blue tries so much to play with Brutus, and Brutus will have none of it. The only thing he will play is his favorite "Come here and let me smack you in the head" game. The only thing I don't like is that it seems I have taken responsibility for her, like with the other animals. I feed her, and give her water, and take her outside to use the bathroom, and clean up her messes. She's not even my dog. If I had my way, I would've let her stay outside with Luca. At least then I wouldn't be hearing Luca howl at being alone in the doghouse again. She may not have broken her chain if her baby had been outside with her. But oh well. If/when I move from here, and have a place that will allow animals, I may take both Bella and Blue with me along with Luca, Stri-P-Grr, and Itsy Bitsy. Those two stay with me most of the time anyway.

In gaming news, I am up to the point in Final Fantasy VII where Tifa joins the party. Yay for turtle speed! I've been playing other games as well. I earned a trophy in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and it had been two months since I played that game. I earned one from Journey and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and then today I earned two in The Sims 3. I am trying to raise my completion percentage, which is at an embarrassing 30.57% (before I add the two from The Sims 3). And I felt in the mood to escape my life here and live a simulated life in a game. I had the person look like me and everything. It felt nice to be a paperboy and be paid a salary that made me proud to be doing the work. It was a little pathetic that a video game paperboy makes more than I do at the real thing, though. But I climbed the ladder, and now work as a blogger for the Sim newspaper. And the best part is, there aren't three kids always barging in my Sim's bedroom. I live alone, and it is so quiet. I bought a 3-bedroom house, and use two of those bedrooms for other reasons. One is my writing room, with only a desk and computer in it. The other is a reading room, with just a chair and a bookcase. He eats peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and mac and cheese, and there's always enough bread in the house. It's so nice!

And now I'm going crazy over a pixelated version of myself. There's only a matter of time before I snap and really think I'm in a video game. Maybe I already am, and I will reach a boss stage soon.

Anyway, I should probably try to get some more sleep. I have four hours until I have to up, and I don't want to be both cold AND tired while I am delivering papers. So, if I manage to not freeze to death, I will hope to see you around the forums, and until then...

Later!

Michael