I think I read that Thomas Jefferson ate popcorn as cereal frequently.

Let's hear it for forbidden activities! Woot!

TCG took a sick day today and he's driving me crazy! I suppose I should be grateful that we usually get along so well.

Dad doesn't drink milk and hates soy milk so he eats his cereal dry.

Has he tried almond milk? I loves me some almond milk in my cereal.

Ha! The buffista babies *are* readying themselves for something big (now who said that?). Or, possibly, preparing a manuscript for Broadway -- "How to break your parents and other neat tricks".

The scene: upstairs, near toddler bed...

Sox: night Iris - have a good nap! {cheerfully, because babysitter is lying in exhausted heap and obviously needs a break, and possibly some pills}

Iris: no. I. Don't. Want. To. Sleep. {jumps off of bed. grabs armful of stuffed animals and puts them in bed}. THEY sleep. I work.

Sox: It's time to sleep. {deposits Iris in bed again - why don't toddler beds have RAILS?? - puts gate in doorway. goes downstairs. comforts babysitter.}

sounds of stuffed animals hurled 1 by 1 from bed. 5 or six rounds of all of the requests that have become the pre-nap litany - 'juiiice, tuckmein, toodark, toobright, juiiiicetuckmeintoodarktoobright..." then quiet. then - a new one.

Sounds of clothing (currently understood as the clothes Iris was wearing for her nap) being hurled over the gate and down the stairs.

Iris: mommmeeee?

Sox: {from office, where workChat is pinging like crazy} yeeeaaauuusss??

Iris: I'm too cold to go to sleep.

Swear.

ION - the 'strange data' issue from this morning is due entirely to the person in question trying to work from - ta DA! - *A Screen Capture of the data*. A jpeg. That someone sent them as an example but which amazingly wouldn't respond to their input. I really would like to trade my mallet for a pointy wooden stick. but I think I'll just keep practicing the deep breathing.

Rice milk is good for cereal too.

I'll have to ask him about almond or rice milk. I tried some almond milk but it was too thick for me.

edited to add that Dad's pretty happy with plain stuff. He'll happily eat a plate of plain rice. One of his favorite meals is plain rice, sliced chicken, and sliced cucumbers. It's kind of like a dish he used to eat when he was in Vietnam and is his One True Meal.

Kristin T - another poet to check out for your gang is Lynda Hull - The Only World. My students (albeit 9 years ago) loved the change from purely confessional ... especially as it was still dark matter. She didn't publish a lot before she died (Ghost Money and Star Ledger), but it's beautifully formed urban stuff.

Thanks, Sox! I don't know if I've read her or not, so I'll look her up. I haven't babbled happily about how the National Poetry Month festivities are going yet, but I will soon. When I have time. So maybe not so much with the soon.

The toddler stories are making me cry with laughter. They are also making me slightly grateful for my faulty ovaries.

I still can't talk. I e-mailed my friend M Nashville to tell my mother and sister to not call. I didn't e-mail my sister, because even though she has e-mail, she can't find it on her computer. It's not hiding. It's just that she, too, would try to click on a jpg.

My friend just e-mailed me that my sister was crossing the street and was hit by a car. She apparently just has bumps and bruises and a big knot on her head, but she was hit by a car! Her poor head. She has managed to hit it a lot in the last few years. So right now I'm trying to find out more about how she is by the method of her calling M, M e-mailing me, me e-mailing M and M calling my mother and sister.