My ankles are just swole up, period. Side effect of the meds.

Yuck.

ita, I'm sorry you're having a crappy migraine day.

So I just made a mutant tuna noodle casserole from the odds and ends I could pull together in my cabinets. I'm kind of scared to eat it.

Yuck.

The side effects are so random! Puffy hands and feet (and tender too, let me tell you). Raspy voice. Periodic inability to focus (visually).

At least I think they are side effects. Less scary that way.

My camera's being petulant right now. I think I need to put it down.

Puffy hands and feet (and tender too, let me tell you). Raspy voice. Periodic inability to focus (visually).

That sounds like a whole lot of not-fun. Except the raspy voice. That sounds OK.

Random swelling never seems good.

I just dropped a jar of baby food on my ankle.

Neighbors brought by a pan of cinnamon rolls for us. It feels so WEIRD when people are neighborly. Now I'll have to think of something to fill the pan as a return.

I was at Vroman's this afternoon, picking up a couple of books for my Noah-boo.

On the whiteboard upfront that has the events listed was LOVE AND CONSEQUENCES - READING AND SIGNING WITH AUTHOR MARGARET B. JONES with CANCELED written over it in big red letters.

SNAP!

HA! Go Vromans. It would only be better if it said CANCELLED BECAUSE SHE'S A FRAUD!

Advice: I'm doing invitations for Grace and Noah's birthday. I'd like to make it clear that gifts for them are not necessary, but if people feel compelled to give something, then we'd love to help grow their college fund. With twins who are as beloved as these two, the last thing we need is more clothes or toys.

Is there a way to word that without it being exceptionally wordy as well as tacky?

At traditional chinese birthdays, people give little red envelops of cash, but there is, alas, nothing like that in our culture.

A friend of lori requests that in lieu of a gift, people who want to give something gives a $1 for each year the kid has been alive. Don't know how she words it though.

There is a charter school in NY that is proposing to pay its teachers $125,000 (and its principal only $90,000). People are saying it can't be done, but honestly, there is so much waste in education. [link]

I have a metric assload of red envelopes. Which is meaningless, but a rare opportunity to say that I have a metric assload of red envelopes.

I think it would be awesome to require all guests to bring a card with their favorite memory of Noah and Grace in six words each, like that six word biography thing. Then we (okay, me) can put them in an album for each. AWESOME. Except it would be stuff like, "Noah, you pooped a lot, kiddo." And, for Grace, "We freaked when you didn't poop."

Maybe not so awesome. Too much about poop.

There is a charter school in NY that is proposing to pay its teachers $125,000 (and its principal only $90,000). People are saying it can't be done, but honestly, there is so much waste in education.

I'd happily settle for "only $90,000"!

But seriously, it seems like such a no brainer. The reason really bright people are willing to go through crazy tests and years of school and ridiculously high standards to become lawyers and doctors is largely because of the financial reward on the other side. Would some people go into medicine because they really believed in it and wanted to help other people if they got paid a teacher salary? Sure. But would we always have the best and brightest doing so? Hell no.

On the other hand, I would rather see salaries stay they same but 100% more teachers get hired to alleviate issues with class sizes in most public schools than just get more cash.