{{{Bev}}}

Bev, I get the need for black humor. I'm sorry there are people who don't, drat it.

I chalk this up to being a member of the M*A*S*H generation. Dark humor finally made it mainstream! Suicide is Painless as a theme song sealed it.

One way to tempt kids to eat, sometimes, is to eat (like have a snack yourself), in their presence, and don't offer them any. They'll come over and beg, and you can "reluctantly" share.

BWAH! Owen's like those seagulls in Finding Nemo: "Mine...mine." Since both my kids are smack in the middle of the growth charts, happy and healthy, I vow to not obsess about their weight as much as my own. At least until they hit puberty.

The one thing I did think to do though is get some organic rice cake snacks and call them "chips." He says, "CHIPS!" and I give him a rice cake. This is probably only good until he learns to read or goes to school where some other kid will tell him the truth about chips.

Ellie fell in the pool today. THankfully Joe was right there.

Scary. I'm glad Joe was there.

Since I'm probably not going to get married, though, I guess I don't need to worry about it.

My friend Robin swore the SAME thing. Really. She finally gave up, bought her own house and got two cats. Two months later, she met her current husband at a house party. Now they have two kids. Never say never.

We're having a total meltdown freakout day, so I guess another achievement or two is on the horizon. Starting at about 1:30 am, Mal's thrown a tizzy fit every couple of hours when his frustration levels peak.

{{{Raq & Mal}}} Those are so hard.

I bought my laptop this afternoon. I found exactly what I wanted and a place that offered 24 months with no interest. This is exactly what I needed. Of course it's still sitting in the box waiting for me to get it set up. I even got the wireless router so I will be WATCHING AND POSTING every show I love now.

We are going to church today for the first time in months! Hopefully, it will be nice.

Yeah, the pool thing was scary even though I didn't see it. Ellie won't walk right in, but this time she lost her balance and fell in. She likes to use the Swiffer so I got an extra one, made it short, and now it's hers. I guess she was swiffing by the pool, tried to turn around, the swiffer got caught and in she went. We were way more scared than she was and we all went swimming afterwards.

Stephanie, that is really scary. I'm so glad it all turned out ok.

Yay for a new laptop, Cashmere!

Hugs all around, but especially for Raq, Bev, and Sean.

The girls are still sleeping. E has covered her head with the blanket, because I'm "bothering" her. Oh, well.

I'm a little afraid to ask what happened to the couch after I went to bed (they were quietly finishing a movie, and neither of them were on the couch when I went to bed). Part of it is covered with towels. I haven't looked yet. I'm skeered.

ION, OMG! Who knew an 11-year-old could take such a long shower?! 45 minutes! Is that really necessary??

ETA: Maybe it's a good thing I live alone now!

Yay for the watching and posting Cashmere. Laptops rock! We'll soon have a couple new laptops. The ones we bought about 3 years ago ended up being included in a class action thing because they are junk, expensive junk at that. We have been holding on for the last year for the process to be complete and just a couple days ago received the return boxes from Toshiba. Now I get to shop for new ones. $1500 credit each. Direct from Toshiba, so more pricey than laptops on the open market, but free, and new, and shiny!

Poor vw. Borrowed kids are more of a shock than the real thing because you don't get to ease into it slowly. They usually behave better than they do for the parents though. Did you look under the towel yet? Hope it wasn't cherry koolaid.

Um, I know why boys take 45 minute showers.

Eeep on the pool stuff. It is scary. The boys were in the pool at 6 weeks taking lessons. It was one of my few fears. They are both fish now. I take the dog in and practice finding the stairs too.

{{Bitches}}

Nice night last night. We bundled up in winter gear and went out on the boat to meteor watch. Not too many in the window before the moon rose, but cool (in multiple ways). A couple nice fireballs and about a dozen streakers. I think we are headed back to Florida tomorrow. We are not big on advance planning. Buh bye mountains. School time again. We are sending as much stuff as possible back UPS to save van space. Still will be really crowded. Oh well.

Speaking of UPS, a late Woo Hoo to CaBil for leaving his brown days behind and going forward to new and scary stuff.

Beverly, I am so sorry. My thoughts and hopes are with you and yours.

Ginger, thanks for letting us know.

I'm very sorry, Beverley.

I tried the snacking on her snacks thing. Now she just tries to feed me all the time.

Aw! That's adorable.

So many vibes going out to Bev and family, especially StE.

Beverly, my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

Thank you for posting Ginger. All the vibes I can summons sent to StE Beverly and family.