I just read the school announcements... Talk Like a Pirate Day made it on the list.

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I love your stories about your students, Fay. I seriously think you should write a book about adventures in teaching.

The woman at the coffee shop just asked me if I wanted milk in my latte.

Then did she ask if you wanted coffee in it?

Congratulations on finishing the book, Hec!

All the dirt you find on uncarpeted floors has been ground into the carpet for years. Yuck. (Swiffering helps with the uncarpeted floors.) I wear socks around the house and figure I'm cleaning the floor.

I normally save spiders' lives, but a brown recluse bite can be really nasty. I recommend smushing it with boot.

Avast, ye latte-swilling dogs! I'll have your livers for lunch.

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Avast, ye bilge rats and scurvy dogs! Almost my whole office be talkin' like a pirate! (Bitchy!sort-of!boss hates pretty much everything, and, upon asking why there were Jolly Rogers taped to people's desks, said, "That's stupid." Ah, she's a breath of fresh air, she is.)

Ahoy there, mateys! I be thinking it should be Talk Like a Pirate Week in Teppy's office, for the purpose of uplifting the spirits of all those strugglin' under the perilous burdon of working for her scabrous lubber of a boss. Grog all 'round!

One spider saved a pig.

A spider bit my llama once...

More than one spider has trapped and eaten more than one scorpion. Wins lotsa points in my book.

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All the dirt you find on uncarpeted floors has been ground into the carpet for years. Yuck.

Before I move in with The Boy, he has to pull up his carpet, for this very reason. He's had 2 dogs and an average of 3 cats in that house for the past 5 years, and the carpet is NASTY. Plus, all the embedded pet hair and dander would very nearly kill me, quite literally.

He has hardwood floors under the carpet -- they aren't as nice as they could be, but with some TLC, they'll be just fine, and the house will be a hell of a lot cleaner and the pet smell will be gone.

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Emily! I would love to hear stories about your students talking like pirates in class.

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I'm fairly certain I will be the only one in my department talking like a pirate... Come on, people! It's Talk Like A Pirate Day! What will cheer up bedbound kids more than all their caregivers arrr'ing and yarrr'ing all over the place?

And, because I'm a complete and utter moron, I just remembered that in fact I am good friends with two out of three of these guys, who are brilliant musicians and fond of kids besides, and even though I hope to God I'm not still here in a year I swear that if I am I'm going to ask them if they could maybe come and visit the ward. Why, why, why did I not think of it until just now? Fie upon me and keelhaul my pox-riddled arse for a lackwit!

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In news of me, the one thing I forgot about having hardwood floors is how filthy your feet get. And with the deck now it's like times a million. How do people deal with this? And is it possible to construct a door mat entirely of magic erasers?

I have a pair of "indoor flipflops" (some keds that I just wear indoors), so I can still be relatively footloose and fancy free, but yeah. I hate that too. And it's so much worse when you also have a dog!

All this time I just figured it was me and my craptastic housekeeping. I'm so glad I'm not the only one dealing with this issue. We try but honestly, I just get used to the dirty feet.

Speaking of which, I really need to swiffer and mop considering the sticky spots I found this morning.

Stephanie, I hope you can find the birthing situation that is best for you guys. It sucks that you can't just say "Here's what I want" and get it.

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Aaarrrgh - have mercy on the poor lass that be selling her house and is still slightly hopeful but rapidly growing afeared and desperate, will ye? we don't all mean to be scurrilous. (and some of us are desperate for a little scally for our wag so we can stop swabbing the poop deck so much).

Stephanie - I hope there is a good solution for you. This may sound extremely random, or bring on the hysterical laughter, but is there a university somewhere reltaively close? With a womens' studies group (I'm talking literary, socio, health - anything)? If there's something even remotely related, maybe a cold call to that type of group could shake loose some information that isn't common knowledge elsewhere.

man, I need to sweep.

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Ahoy mateys! Me da is bein released from the Jolly Hospital on Monday fer outpatient rehab just in time for me visit.

I'm not sure if I'll get to see his rehab after all, which bums me a little. One for the curiosity value, and one for knowing what I should do to work on him at home. I also thought they would not release him until the end of October, when the infection will be hopefully fully eradicated. He had an MRI this month, and it still shows some infection but a lot of improvement.

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arr! rejoicin' for improvement! and outpatient arrrrrreeehab!

Great news, d.

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