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I love having weekends off. I decided not to work this weekend and it was a great time.

I am going back to Thursday, because I took Thursday night off as well. After work I went to the park in the late afternoon / early evening with the kids. I dug a big sandcastle with the shovel including a tunnel through the castle wall. The kids had lots of fun playing this – and the games they thought up were amazing.

Friday night I also took off and we watched a movie together before I watched the tour De France with a mate.

After scouring Brisbane by phone I finally located a possible Wii Fit. One store had one that had been set aside for a customer – they were going to ring and see if they still wanted it. It was my lucky day. As I arrived to pick up the Nintendo Wii, the chap said he had manage to secure the Wii Fit for me as well.

I rang 10 or 15 outlets yesterday to discover none had any in stock, yet all were advertising them like mad. Responses ranged from “we can put you on a list but its first in first served” to “we will guarantee you one by Christmas!”

Last night was the last night my parents were here on their current holiday staying with us. It coincided with family night, and we kicked off after dinner with a game of UNO with everybody involved. Mercedes is funny. She likes to get the cards and when she has to put cards down thinks that is bad. When she has to pick she loves it!

Jude usually wins UNO and did again last night by a big margin.

After we put the little two to bed, Miranda Jadeen, Jude and I and Grandad and Grandma played a game of Carcasonne. Mum has played it before but Dad hadn’t. It was a very close game with the end result being a win to me, and then Miranda second with Jadeen and Dad separated by a point with grandma next and Jude coming last.

The results aren’t really important. What is is the time spent bonding as a family, learning group communication and playing skills (for the girls) and the time spent together.

I am finding my work schedule is working pretty well right now. I usually get up around 8-9am and start work within 10-15 minutes from getting up. I work through til around 4-6PM with lunch eaten at my desk thanks to my kind secretary / best friend / wife, From there I spend time with the kids and family, or go out to football training Tuesday night and basketball coaching Thursday night. The exception is Monday night where I break at 3:30 for running and hen start back into work at 5PM. Wednesday nights I do not go back to work until after everybody is in bed – around 11PM. The nights are then mine. I am finding that I can get in 4-6 hours each night before heading to bed around 2-3AM. Thursday nights I usually work right through til 4 or 5AM.

I have been taking some breaks to watch the tennis because this fits into the same waking time anyway (Wimbledon runs from 11:30PM to 3 or 4AM here).

This work schedule works best for the family and me. I don’t need more than 6 hours sleep anyway, and sometimes less. I have a very good sleep pattern and I can tell from my Xobni Stats that I am nearly always asleep between the hours of 4 and 8am.. The family gets my time from between 5 or 6pm and bedtime and also in weekends, particularly Sunday and plenty of regular sports and exercise means I am keeping fit. Clients in America are able to access me from around 10PM through 2AM my time when I am always awake and nearly always on the computer.