Also, Senator Gravel appears to be a crazy old coot, but I like 'im.

BEfore I go to bed, Happy Birthday Isaac!!

Apparently, the AKC does allow registration for some mixed breeds, including the mix that their two dogs produce.

No they don't. There are plenty of places out there that'll sell official-looking certificates on any mix of anything, though -- most of which have names and seals that are deliberately meant to deceive puppy buyers. All-American Kennel Club and suchlike.

I don't mean to say anything against your sister's dogs or the pups' right to have great homes, to be very clear about it, but the registry is pretty much the dog equivalent of a phishing scam. It sounds like your sis and the puppy buyers all got taken -- but I'd hate to see her looking to the same thing as a money-maker in the future.

Here's an interesting Times article on the "hybrid dog" trend: [link]

Guess who has been talking back to his school teacher? Oh and who pushed two kids this week?

If you guessed the same one who now has no tv, music, computer games, or choice of bedtime stories - then you are a winner.

so clearly testing boundaries it is almost cute and WOW does he hate when mom is disappointed. pleading tear-filled eyes, then pouting and "you are NO fun, I want to go back to Ethiopia."

yes,yes dearheart I know you want to hurt my feelings, just sit at the table until you can be nice and act right. works so much better than yelling at him for stuff like this.

anyway, upside is I am in bed at 9 and can do some work and still beat my normal bedtime.

Gravel and Chris Matthews now just got into a fight about something that happened in 1972.

Aw, msbelle. It's amazing how transparent, and yet SO HURT they can be at that age. It's babysteps to the teenage tsuris, where they can have a slightly better mask and know the buttons a little better. At least you get some extra sleep out of it.

Back when I was having the teenage tsuris, I remember getting into a fight with my mom, yelling "I hate you" and then going to my room to tear up a sweet, loving note she'd written me. I tore it up, and then promptly felt so awful I went to her with the shreds, tearfully, and she helped me tape it up. I may have been 12 or 13, but honestly, I was mentally 5 at the time. I still have that taped up love note in a box, somewhere.

At 16 I told my mom that if she didn't back off I would leave and go get a ride down on the highway from a trucker. I added that she need not worry that I couldn't take care of myself, I knew exactly what I'd have to do to get money.

yeah, nice kid I was.

around the same time I cowered away from my father as he leaned in yelling at me and covered my face. He had never hit me like that, but of course, it crushed him that I acted like I thought he would. Just what I wanted.

Teenagers are amazing shits.

Kat,if you see this, you might want to miss Grey's Anatomy tonight.

amych, thanks for the info on the dogs--I'm going to talk with sis this weekend and get the full details on why they were able to get $250 per puppy. If it was a paper scam, I'll tell her to go ahead and get Ergo spayed.

Ah, yes, the teenage tsuris. I wasn't prone to it (I didn't get to really aggravate my parents until my 30s--call me a late bloomer!), but my sister was the queen of hissy fits throughout her high-school years. I remember once watching her and Mom standing nose to nose and screaming at each other when she was about 16, and for her retort to something Mom said, she sputtered a bit, and then blurted, "I'll tell Dad!" Well, our parents had been divorced for a few years by this time, and I knew perfectly well she'd never involve Dad in an argument between her and Mom. So, I asked her later where the hell that statement had come from. She said, "It was either that, or 'Fuck you!', so I went with the one that wouldn't get me smacked across the face." I agreed it was a wise choice. About ten years ago, the three of us were chatting about sis's turbulent teens, and I brought this incident up. Sis had forgotten about it, and Mom cracked up laughing when she heard the full story.