Our dear departed Puck's favorite rule to break was pouncing on bare ankles in the middle of the night, when one of us got up to go to the bathroom. This happened to me more frequently, since when I was pregnant I got up in the middle of the night to pee all. the. time.

Yup, he decided ankle-biting was worth the risk.

How is it that I felt fabulous when I woke up, and now I hab a code. I sneezed so hard a minute ago that I almost peed my pants.

I don't want a code.

t /whine

Timelies.

Thanks so much for the kind words. I don't often get the chance to get all dressed up like that.

To all the parents of wee ones. I remember those days and we never hired a paid babysitter for either kid. My mom was our only relief but DH not being a social creature meant that we still didn't go out much. It is so cool when they start spending the night with a friend and you can hang out in your own house as adults, not parents.

K-Bug has earned bunches of cash babysitting. She has one family that has 5 kids, so even if the parents aren't trying to go out on their own, she will watch various combinations of the kids. Now that she drives, they have been calling her for "emergency" services - watching the kids when one parent has to leave before the other gets home. It is usually for an hour or less but they pay her extra for showing up at a moment's notice. It works for them and K-Bug doesn't mind...I never could have afforded to do that.

When we did have a paid babysitter it was a 20something son of a friend. He would come and play video games with the boys. For $5 an hour he would goof off at my house. It gave me security to know that if something happened he could drive and stuff. Also, it was less likely he would spend the time on the phone like teen girls. He still stops by to visit and plays with the boys for free.

I don't think I really went anywhere or did anything except with the boys in tow when they were wee.

Off to see the Santa Claus 3 movie with the boys and DH.

The Aunts never believed me when I told them I had house gnomes that hid things from me. One specific item being a book called Cell by Stephen King. They swear they both read it and then gave it to me. I can't find it anywhere in my house, and believe me, I've looked.

When I went to Portland for a few days, they came over to re-do my bathroom. My Aunt Teri set her tape measure down, wrote a measurement on a piece of paper, turned around to pick up the tape measure and it was gone. The Aunts looked all over the place and I've looked everywhere upon returning home. It's just gone.

Needless to say, they now believe that's it's not always my fault when things go missing in my house. We've taken to calling the missing items "sacrifices".

Hey, at least the "sacrifices" have all been inanimate objects thus far.

I am so there on the whole getting out thing, except I'm not sure I'd get out and do anything even without the boychild. Last night was the Marine Corps Ball, and I'm just relieved I didn't have to go. Today was the (entirely awesome) Anglican Christmas Bazaar at the Zappeion, and I'd planned to take Mal to see Father Christmas, but just didn't feel like the benefit would be worth the cost.

Lameness.

I have a cold. I'll give it away for free.

Suzi looks wonderful.

for the librarians ( and anyone that liked the first movie ) The Librarian: Return to King Solomon's Mines is on tonight

Congrats to Kalshane and GF o' Kalshane!

Also, count me in among those who are boggled that Nick is 21.

Warning: Severe whininess ahead

Thanks to the ice storm, I have been without power since Thursday night, and they are dicking us around w/ the estimate as to when it will be back. I am currently hanging out at my mom and stepdad's hotel room (internet, yay!) but will be heading back home tonight (power may be on, might not be, because I need to be vigilant re. freezing pipes. Plus, I am not comfortable leaving the cat alone in this kind of weather. (I will be charitable and not describe to you just how bad mom and stepdad's snoring is. Suffice it to say that it is bad enough that I will be returning home for the evening.) Fortunately, the basement is reasonably warm thanks to the hot water heater (gas, yay!). It also has a daybed. which is now piled high with quilts and comforters.

I am increasingly bitter about the fact that this weekend was supposed to be a vacation, but instead, I have come thisclose to ending up in a ditch, am freezing my ass off, have nearly flooded the house twice, am not getting straight answers from the electric folk, and am seething in rage when I see my across-the-street neighbors' Christmas lights twinkling merrily away, and so on.

I had a screaming meltdown this afternoon, right about the time I nearly flooded the house for the second time (first time, filling a kettle and forgetting that it was being filled) when the tub drain spontaneously closed, so that the water I was running to keep the pipes from freezing nearly reached the top of the tub before I caught it.

{{{{{{{{{{{{{Anne}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}