I just remembered one of the really PIA things about line-drying: our part of town had mulberry trees. And grackles.

I also grew up with purple grackle poop. My mom didn't get a dryer until after we were both out of diapers (in the pre-disposable era). Sometimes she reminds us of this. Eventually, that conversation gets around to her ironing her brothers' Army uniforms during WWII.

Mmmmmm, cheese.

I seriously need this guy to finish up so I can go out and get some lunch. I also need BabyMoon to stop trying to kick his way out of my chest, because it's really not comfortable.

Yeah, I suspect I'm going to be something of a hypocrite with Emeline. When I was a kid I would play in the swamp across the busy street from my neighborhood, or in the quarry down the road, fully confident in my invulnerability. Now, I get paranoid about taking Em to the park. Granted, LA is vastly different from Ann Arbor, but...

Mom used to send me outside when she'd had enough, and wouldn't let me back in until the time she said she would unless there was something urgent. I also used to be able to just go hang out in the toy department of the department store, or go to the book store, while my parents were off shopping elsewhere, both in and out of the store I might be in. And I walked to school by myself from kindergarten on.

Also, car seats? What's a car seat? Granted, my parents didn't even have a car until I was 4 or 5. When they got one, it was a VW Beetle. You know where I sat almost 90% of the time I rode in that thing? In the "luggage rack" behind the back seat, which, in those old-school VWs, was over the engine (this was my choice, incidentally - it was like my own private seat. Unthinkable! Or how about riding in a station wagon with the back down and sitting on the back tail. Helmets for bicycles? Are you KIDDING!??!??!

How long until, um, Full Moon, Jess? Must be getting near, right?

I never wanted a cell phone. I ended up gettng one after Chris was born, because the thought of being stranded with a newborn, a one and a half year old and a four year old (if the car ever brought down) was scarier than any horror movie I'd ever seen. I hate it though, and always keep it off.

We love TiVo so much, we went to a lesser cable plan, because we suddenly had plenty of TV, once we weren't so restricted by time -- and the dual tuner has it all over a VCR. I'd much rather have a dishwasher than either though, and the washer and dryer both trump that.

Yeah I think the washer and dryer top the list. Especially since everybody has washers and dryers in my area, so laundromats are few and far between.

Guns don't shoot chairs, patrons shoot chairs.

And sometimes monkeys with guns shoot chairs.

Kids and Freedom. Eep.

The 16 year old I adore, and who considers me 'the cool old lady', is going to be in my total care for 4 entire days next month. Both parents are going to be out of town.

I'm a little bit freaked out. He's great...but 16...and I'm having this paranoid need to keep him safe, safe, safe. His mom said she thought he could sleep alone in his house. I nearly had a heart attack. Um. No. The dog and I will sleep over there.

Now, if anything ever happens to the 'rents, he's legally all mine...so I suppose I ought to be prepared. And I'm scared!

How do you say 'No' to a 16 year old and maintain your cool cred?

Yeah, I was a kid in Milwaukee and once we were allowed to cross the street, we could pretty much go anywhere. We lived in a really nice neighborhood, so it was not that dangerous, I admit, but we were in the city. I walked to school alone (well, with friends, but no adults). My brothers used to go to a local bar, called Hooligans, and hold the door open in hopes of getting a quarter. Every Saturday, we went to the Oriental Theater, which had a cheap kid's double feature. We all thought our parents were awesome for giving us movie and candy money each week. Of course, my mom told me later that this was the one time each week that she and my dad knew they had alone and they made, well, very good use of it. I was nine when we moved, so all this happened when I was a real kid. It was a great way to grow up.

And sometimes monkeys with guns shoot chairs.

Huh, around these parts we don't have monkey library patrons. But maybe Ohio has more literary monkeys or the libraries there have sections with French books.