I can't wait until the next batch hatches! It's very exciting.

I know. Are there more? I know Lyra Jane is expecting, but we never see her here, anymore. Is there another active Buffista who is pregnant?

I want to send my parents to live near JZ, now.

I said this to Teppy a few weeks back, when she was sick, but this is the thing that frustrates me to tears about friendships that primarily take place online. If my household didn't have the plague, I'd have Matilda over to hang, while David and Jacqueline went home and napped, ate, and sexed the day away.

Okay, provided I didn't have to drive into Boston, to get her. They'd have to bring her here. All my localistas like to do things in the city. I have city fatigue. I worked there for years. I'm over it. I hate the trains. I hate the drive. I'm hoping Nora, Tom and Frank end up tempting a few more of the locals to the North Shore. I don't travel well. I'm like fine shrimp.

I'm totally counting Kat and Lori's babies as new nieces and nephews.

Well, I don't know if my SIL will actually pop out a niece, so I shouldn't plural that. I'm just assuming.

I played in the ice for a while. The pile behind the rear tires isn't that bad now. I think I could back out over it. If I could get the front tires free of the frozen drift they've been buried in by the idiots who point the snowblower toward the parking lot when they clear the sidewalk.

Which I can't. I did get them free enough to spin, but that's all they do. There's packed ice under and around them and I can't even get at it to break it up.

So then I walked to the store and got detergent and milk and a pot pie.

At least the sun's been out. Maybe it'll melt a little more. I'd really like to be able to get out tomorrow. Especially since I offered to pick up Daniel at the airport on Saturday.

That's important, Allyson. I think we would have gone out of our minds as new parents, if our own families weren't so close by, and so inclined to help.

And JZ, if either of your parents are the kind who would love to take the baby for you, if you'd just ask, then ask. Even if you just get a couple of hours sleep on a Saturday, you'll start to see there's hope. Any anytime Lee, juliana, deb, or anyone else wants to swoop in, let 'em swoop in, in some way, if your schedule at all allows.

If people you trust offer to help, let them help.

If lived there, Cash - we would totally do a trade-off.

Oh, yeah. I wish I could find a mommy-share situation. As it is, I had one girl (college student) who was my standby. But she's carrying 26 credit hours at OSU, she has a boyfriend, her father and step-mom have year old twin girls and her mother and step-dad just had a baby boy, so she's booked to the gills.

And people around here guard their babysitter's numbers like they were the keys to Fort Knox.

Strega, do not kill your clutch! (of course, if it is an auto, totally different set of worries.)

It's so important. I think our first few months would have been a lot less taxing had we had family around to help out.

And now that Em is older, we're really feeling the lack of family. Not being able to go out together just sucks because we don't have many babysitters that we trust and ... well, it's LA. I don't trust CraigsList for that as far as I could spit ad ead, decaying, plague filled rat.

My horoscope sez: Aries (March 21-April 19). You're currently involved in a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don't like the way it's going, it's not too late to make a different prophecy. A Virgo person can help you turn things around.

Any Virgos here know what that means?

Nah, but we always think we can whip everybody into shape.