No school for the girls this week means that they've been around the house (and so have I) more than usual lately. As much as being a parent can be trying, I love having the kids around. They're noisy, rambunctious, and enjoy being kids.

I constantly come out of a work-coma to find that Alicia has been mixing some new drink -- Vampire's Blood or Witches Brew or something similar -- and left a mess all over.

Julie will inform me she did the dishes, and that she only broke two, then let me know that the cats made a mess all over the dining room. (Yesterday, in addition to knocking over a vase full of flowers, the cats also spread printer paper all over the dining room floor. Damn cats.)

I love watching them play, hearing them play, and playing with them.

It's cool to be a dad -- or whatever it is that I am.