I'm excited about the lunar eclipse!

A milestone morning. At 5:30 a.m., I heard a small "THUMP", jumped out of bed and found Olivia had escaped her crib and was trying to climb into bed with Owen.

I'm part AWWWW and part GRONK this morning.

And I think anyone who accepts a proposal is engaged. Women (and I'm sorry but it does tend to be women) who are so caught up in the symbolism of THE ROCK meaning they're engaged are socially brainwashed or silly.

Why isn't the coffee brewing itself?

My ideal dog comes in a poppy seed bun with pickle relish, tomatoes, onions, mustard, sport peppers and a pickle spear. Superdawg is allowed to substitute pickled tomatoes for the tomato and the pickle.

My ideal hotdog comes with fried onions, every kind of sauce it can cope with, and no sausage. Unless it's a really bloody nice sausage like unto no frankfurter I have encountered thus far (and I'm open to the possibility that such things are out there).

...

...I'm quite glad Super Porny Pants seems not to be to hand, because that looks a LOT dirtier written down than it did in my head. Er.

Meanwhile, wrt the engagement ring - God, yes, I don't get it. At my last school, the Perfect AllAmerican Blonde Christian Former-Cheerleader Music Teacher person who got engaged to the NotEvenSlightlyGay,NoSireeBob,NotMe,NoReally,ThatWouldUpsetJesus BradPitalike had this whole big engagement ring thing which clearly she loved, but I just didn't get it. Because he'd already asked her to marry him, and she'd already said yes (and although part of me will be rolling my eyes forever over that, another part of me thinks - well, gorgeous closeted gay boy who loves you and will be a great Dad - a gal could do worse) - but then he had to go and order the ring, and get the ring, and then take her off for a super romantic minibreak with a whole big candlelit beach picnic thing with romantic 'surprise' ring presentation ...and I was kind of "But - but you already said yes. Weeks ago. So how does this make you MORE engaged?"

::shrugs::

Whatever makes you happy, I guess. (But, for the record, I would TOTALLY go for an Engagement Laptop. Or an Engagement iPod. Or a Necklace/Earrings/whatever.) I'm not at all opposed to the idea of a ring, but I'd be quite happy with something I liked which cost 20 quid, rather than something with an expensive bit of stone that I'd lose - I mean, it's just a symbol.

And, Hil, although I've never owned or expected to own a diamond, you make an excellent point about the whole diamond mine thing - I've heard some real horror stories. Good on you for asking those questions, even if your mum felt embarrassed.

So, teachers - how was the first day back? Mine was nice - my class seem like a nice little bunch, and I'm trying Very Hard not to compare them to my last lot.

Oh, God - and Paul, whose romance with Barney The Toy Dog I must have mentioned, brought in a photo journal that he'd written, as per my instructions, recording his adventures with Barney over the summer - after he'd successfully talked me into letting him take Barney home. So now he gets to keep Barney forever, and I get The Cutest Book In The World. God. Pictures of him taking Barney to summer school, to the temple to visit the Buddha, to the beach, to visit his grandfather in hospital, and cuddled up with him asleep. It's like - God, it's THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD, is what it is. A little lovenote to a now-somewhat-bedraggled little white toy dog, written in painfully wobbly, careful handwriting (for writing is Not Paul's Best Thing).

Needless to say, Barney is now Paul's forever.

Anyway, gotta dash - somewhow it's almost 6pm already. Hope the rest of you had a nice day, wherever you may be.

Engagement iPods, I like that idea. I think I'll ask for an anniversary iPod. What year is cool, entertainment electronics?

I forgot to weigh in on hot dogs. Ball Park (as in at the baseball game, NOT the brand) are only fit with mustard, relish and onions. But I will admit, in my younger days to committing the crime of catsup. Then there is the Skyliner (with cheese and Skyline chilli--no onions). Or the generic chilli dog with cheese, also good.

Oops.

Muuuummmmmmmm, Fay is bogarting all the cute!

Chili dogs are of the good. I like mine with onion.

Best part about looking at the moon through your new telescope? Watching it move out of your view, and having to chase it across the sky.

We like the mooooooooooon...

DH and I were engaged for months before he got me a ring, and while I did flash it obnoxiously to everyone I encountered for at least a month afterwards, I certainly didn't feel any *more* engaged wearing it than not. I just liked showing off my shiny thing.

Had they been in existence at the time, I would have far preferred an engagement iPhone to a ring, but alas, it was not to be.

I'm at work today. So far I have discovered that my password expired while I was on leave and since I've shifted my hours to work a slightly earlier shift, nobody will be around to reset it so I can log on for another half-hour at least. (Fortunately I have an auxiliary backup computer which is on the interwebs but not connected to the network. I could be spending this time cleaning my desk, but it's not my fucking mess so I'm going to just be irritated by it while I kill time here.)

I'm hoping there will be enough going on today to keep me from being a complete sobbing wreck without D. My sister (who is babysitting) doesn't even have a cameraphone to keep me updated throughout the day on how he's doing, so I have a feeling I'm going to spend most of today on Flickr.

Had they been in existence at the time, I would have far preferred an engagement iPhone to a ring, but alas, it was not to be.

This. Talk about your binding promises.

Hot dogs are the one thing I really really miss about being vegetarian. I haven't found a good replacement.

Engagement rings - the whole idea of 2 months salary was created by DeBeers (at least I'm sure) advertising to get people to spend more money. If I were to get an engagement ring (as opposed to engagement electronics) I'd want an amythest, those are my favorite stones.

Hot dogs can be good - but when I was at the F2F in San Francisco, Deb had Aidell's sausages which are really good. I've found them around here, and enjoyed them (not grilled, alas, since grilling in a small, ca. 1929 kitchen would be ... dumb).

Fay, that book sounds like possibly the cutest thing ever - and anyone who loves a stuffed dog that much deserves to keep him. Until the next Buffista baby story, which will set a new level for cuteness.

Engagement rings - they're basically the first step onto the whole wedding insanity escalator. They're nice if the people involved like them, want them, and can afford them (I got engaged once - we used his grandmother's ring ... which I returned on breaking up with him). But I think a lot of it is part of the big marketing deal; and, yes, DeBeers did get the whole "a diamond is forever" thing started. My mother decided to be original - she got emerald ring guards rather than a diamond ring. After the wedding, when she had to do housework, she discovered WHY emeralds don't make good everyday rings (they chip, break, etc.), so she stopped wearing them. So ... expensive and even more impractical than a diamond!

yay Amtrak ~ ma!

Made it - and it was a pretty good trip!