Babies take time. A whole lot of time.

Once again, I'm horribly late with an update. Sorry about that, guys.

Life's been full, though! First things first: I have to advise you to NOT try to take MBA classes when you've got a one-month-old. I've found that after your wife has spent 14 consecutive hours with a newborn all by herself, her sanity is fragile and often already a little cracked. Like that little squirrel from the Ice Age trailer, all it takes is one more little nudge before she goes over the edge. Lucky for me, mine is a trooper, but not so much of a trooper that I'm going to push my luck. I dropped next semester's classes, and figure I'll resume when Ms. Screamy McScreamsen has settled into the more-or-less promised 3-month plateau.

I figure if time is like a bank account I have with my wife, I'm probably a bit overdrawn. For example, I might could get away with MBA classes, maybe, if I wasn't also doing stupid things like agreeing to fix peoples' cars. I know, I know, it's stupid- but I've got a friend who is not so well-to-do because she dedicated her life to helping disabled kids... so when her engine blew, I felt like I had to help her. And the wife agreed. But- now I'm taking classes two nights a week, doing group work another night a week, studying in some of the remaining free time, AND I'm supposed to be replacing an engine? That means more manditory face time between mom and Princess Saggypants, which in turn means crazier mom. And not the good, sexy kind of crazy. Nooo, no no.

But as you can see, with the help of my buddy Chris (who also had to abandon his wife and baby to help me out) we got the old engine out, and the new one's going in this weekend, and my friend will get out the door paying under $1000 for an engine replacement. Not bad. I just hope the good karma of helping her out and the bad karma of abandoning the wife and kiddo net out.

In other news, I also just accepted a new job. I'll be doing basically the same thing, but in a more upwardly mobile position, and for a lot more money, which is always nice. Although in this case, I determined that my net change in take-home pay will pretty much be a wash with what we're going to be paying for daycare when my wife goes back to work. Well hey, that's better than being at a negative.

Best for last: aside from the occasional unconsolable crying, little Tori is doing very well. She seems almost impossibly cute (again, when she's not screaming) and I'm at least occasionally good at making her happy. And that is an incredible feeling. You probably won't believe it until you feel it, but it is.

But anyway, the bottom line is that life is full but good for this dad right now. With a baby, you just can't ask for more than that.