Echo...echo...echo...echo...echo...

quack.

I should be asleep.

If not asleep, I should be working on homework.

But what am I doing? Futzing around the internet...just wandering about.

HURRAH! THE SUMMER HOLIDAY STARTS NOW!!!!

jumps around lots, flailing excitedly.

So, my little Paul, as part of his concerted effort to convince me that I should let him have Barney The Dog over the summer, brought in a card today with a photo of him and Barney at the temple on the front of it, and several scenes of him and Barney hanging out having fun at the temple, at the beach and at the tennis courts inside the card. And a painstakingly-penned message: 'Good bye Miss [Fay] I will miss you, from Paul'.

I was slain.

So he's got Barney for the summer (secretly - Paul is well aware that This Is Not Fair, but he wants it so so much, bless him) and if he does a couple of lines of writing every week to tell me what's going on with him and Barney, and shows me when he comes back next year, then he can keep Barney forever. (Because he really needs to keep practicing with his writing, and this is a good motivator.)

No toy dog has ever been more cherished, I'm telling you. Never. And Barney is no longer the pristine fluffy little thing he was at the start of the year, but in Paul's eyes he is. (When I bought Sam The Bear at the bring and buy sale a month ago, and Sam is VERY adorable INDEED, Paul was clearly torn. And he was all 'who is taking Sam home tonight? I think I should take Sam home and give him a bath' and I said 'But Sam is brand new, and still has the label, and clearly does not need a bath...Paul! Don't you love Barney any more?!!!' And he was stricken, and said 'Yes! Yes I still love Barney BEST! I just thought...but I love Barney the MOST!' - and he does, even though clearly Barney is older and more lived-in now, and no longer the fluffy wee thing he once was.) Gah. God, I'm even choking up just typing it. Their love is OMG So True. Move over Velveteen Rabbit. It kills me ded.

One of the other kids randomly said this morning "...Paul really likes Barney, doesn't he?" In a sort of marvelling way.

Ah, kids. So much cuteness.

I've purchased a new toy cat for next year, and am other eyeing cuddly toys in the shops thoughtfully. (But I think I'm keeping Sam The Bear for myself, because he's VERY cuddly. I sort of have to force myself to let the kids have him. Um. So he's coming home with me from now on.)

Anyhoo, hope you all had a cracking fourth of July? I'm now in the early afternoon of the sixth of July, and my mate flies in from Pakistan tonight. Tomorrow we're off to Koh Samui for a couple of days of R&R.

...I clearly missed Juliana's tattoo, and I've tried to find it by threadsucking, which I think means I've now missed even more things, somehow. Anyone point me to a linky link?

bats eyelashes hopefully

Fay here is Juliana's lovely tattoo - [link]

Hooray for holidays! And Paul sounds like the sweetest little boy.

OMG I HATE FOX NEWS SOOOO MUCH

ok, better now.

Hope all Murricans had a happy Fourth! I have been away from the interwebs for far too long, but I'm not sure I'm going to get back for a bit.

I miss you guys though.

Well Raq, you could give up FOX news, and give us that time. ijs.

Oh and Fay, Paul and Barney's love is so pure!

I forgot the bagels this morning for Bagel and Beer Friday.

Bad Aimee, No bagel.

OTOH, I *am* dressed like an uppity female golfer! Not the pro female golfers - the uppity country club ones.

I forgot the bagels this morning for Bagel and Beer Friday.

Perfectly reasonable to start with the beer.

Provide enough beer and no one will miss the bagels. Really - get the priorities straight!

Fay, I love the stories about your kids and the various stuffed animals. When I was growing up and we saw a toy that was getting worn, we'd say he'd been loved a lot.

In other news, for people with cats, I get a newsletter from the U of Pennsylvania veterinary school. Seemingly they're having some success with kidney transplants for cats - it's not as common or consistently successful as for humans, but they're making progress.