Okay, so on a whim I downloaded another ep of "How I met your Mother."

I had forgotton Alexis Denisof was on it now.

His third line last night: "We should have sex."

Falling over now.

Son: Dad! Don't say things like that when I'm drinking!

Aww, he's all ready for coffee on the monitor. A buffista in training.

My son is suspended for 5 days.

Oh, Laura, that sucks. Is it an in-school suspension, or at home? I must admit, I've never seen the point of the at home ones...

It's a good thing they do not require me to keep my desk cleared off, I would fail horridly. I need papers around, if they're put away I forget about them! However, today I did a bunch of desk-clearing-off, which felt awesome.

TCBITW is nearly SEVEN?!?!?!?!?

Dear lord, that's madness!

Easier the other way around for sure. Women take little boys in the restroom all the time.

Yeah, but at some point? When Aimee and Kristin and Drew and I went to the museum, there was a woman in the restroom with her two boys--one looked about 8 or 9, but the other was like, 12. That seemed just a *little* inappropriate.

My son and daughter still get a bath together (which I'll be giving them in about 3 hours). I'm not sure at what age that should/will change.

Probably whenever she's old enough to say that she doesn't want to.

Oh, Laura, that sucks. Is it an in-school suspension, or at home?

Alas, at home. Which of course means I am suspended and grounded. That is the part that sucks the most. I can't go out and play because then he gets to play. Grrrrr I don't like being grounded.

Unexpected good thing. I was so worried about telling DH because he tends to get all confrontational with his son. They are both all competitive and macho with each other. Freaks me out. So I decided it was better to tell him on his layover in Atlanta so he would have a plane ride to calm down a bit before he got home. Totally prepared myself for him to be furious. Shock. He was appropriately concerned and asked if we needed to appeal to school to be sure he would be able to make up his work, etc. Never saw that coming. Huh.

Thanks, guys.

I knew getting into a business proposition with my parents would be fraught but I didn't know just how much. Obviously, if I'd known it was going to be this bad, I would have said no. I may still tell them that I'm walking away from it. But at this point I've put so much sweat equity into this place in the form of suffering, sweat, and (some) work, that I'm invested in it. I would feel foolish walking away from it before at least getting housemates and seeing if I can make it work.

But, yeah. My family can be dysfunctional.

TypoBoy, I appreciate your advice, but I will walk away from this place before I ever get into legal proceedings with my parents. The thing is, they mean well. We may have very dysfunctional dynamics, but they are really trying to help me. They just doing realize that their idea of help sometimes takes harmful forms.

She said she didn't want to go alone and asked if there was an age limit cause I sure needed to learn how to catch a ball.

Hee! Nice moment.

I sure feel weird getting up after having taken a late nap like that. The neighborhood is even eerily quiet due to the rain. Hey! It's almost like I live in one of the posh neighborhoods, it's so quiet. I better start rehearsing. By the time I got to rehearsing last night, I started worrying about whether my voice would wake the neighbors. Despite the fact that I have double-glazed windows. I'm an overly-good neighbor that way.

You guys' Las Vegas convergence sounds fun. I'm glad it worked out that you could get Ave. Q tix together.

Alas, at home. Which of course mean I am suspended and grounded. That is the part that sucks the most. I can't go out and play because then he gets to play. Grrrrr

My, that does suck. My condolences to those parents whose kids are having school problems. Parenting is one hell of a tough job.

Jeez, Spidra, what kind of fixing up takes a year and a half? Are they there everyday, or are they like LA contractors, and start a job, then disappear for a month before suddenly appearing? And I am going to run counter to other Buffistas and say stick it out. At the end you'll have a nice house you put a lot into. How much longer are the repairs going to take?

TypoBoy, I appreciate your advice, but I will walk away from this place before I ever get into legal proceedings with my parents. The thing is, they mean well. We may have very dysfunctional dynamics, but they are really trying to help me. They just doing realize that their idea of help sometimes takes harmful forms.

OK. But you don't neccesarily have to get into a legal fight to enforce legal rights. Just knowing you have them can help you insist on them. For instance you are co-owner, but also the sole resident. There is a right to peaceful enjoyment. Don't know if it applies against a non-resident co-owner; but a lawyer could tell you. Suppose it does. Then you could point out to your mother than she is treating you in a totally illegal way; of course cause she is your mother she can get away with tormenting you in a way that no stranger would ever put up with, because of course you could never insist on legal rights with your family no matter how much they make you suffer. Or some other approach. The point is that if she is actually violating some legal right you have (and I suspect she is but would need a lawyer to tell you) just mentioning the fact might make them take what they are doing to you more seriously.

No, they're not here every day. Apparently they hedge their bets by bidding on and taking several jobs at the same time. If we'd had someone willing to commit to the job, I suppose it could have been finished in 5 months or so. Let me tell ya the experience has had me dreaming about starting a website where people can recommend and pan contractors. Then I found out about Angie's List.

If I'd had any idea of how this was going to go, I would have taken classes at the Building Education Center. I may yet take some when I get a job again and have a little extra to do things like take classes.

As far as how long we have left? Maybe a month or two, depending on the weather. Whereas I've been praying for it to speed up most of the time, I'd be happy if it slowed down now. I really don't want to have to look for housemates at the same time I'm looking for a job.

Wasn't he hilarious?

I hope that AD is on the show again.

Spidra -- I wish that you could hire contractors in LA to go and change the locks in your parents house while they were out for the day -- how safe and comfortable would they feel? I don't understand why they can't see your position on this.

The point is that if she is actually violating some legal right you have (and I suspect she is but would need a lawyer to tell you) just mentioning the fact might make them take what they are doing to you more seriously.

I can just say that if I were renting, the landlord would have to give 24 hours notice before they or their hired workers could come on the premises. But she really isn't responding to logic.

I'm the eldest of 15 kids. Right now my mom is dealing with the house stuff here; one brother being on assignment in Afghanistan (this is after doing his tour of duty in Iraq); one brother in jail; one brother who made two suicide attempts in the last year; a learning disabled sister who got involved with a sleazeball guy and fiercely defended him to my parents, ran off, got knocked up, realized the guy was a sleazeball and begged to be flown back home; numerous kids who've also made really stupid and irresponsible decisions and either got knocked up or knocked up others as well as being in and out of jail; a sister whose lifestyle decisions and bad luck led to her spine basically disintegrating so mom is helping manage her application to SSDI and deal with the lifestyle change of needing a wheelchair, my mom's own fibromyalgia and a couple other conditions, my dad's pneumonia bout and now a fractured ankle...the family circus just goes on and on.

I don't want to add to her woes. I don't want to make her feel unappreciated. But I also don't want to be pushed around and treated as if I'm 10. It's a hard row to hoe. At this point, when I can manage it, the best way is to flow around the obstacles. Engage as little as possible and try to do what I believe best without arguing about it. But sometimes I just get overwhelmed by it all.