We don't take Noah to bars. Well, I haven't been to a bar in ages. We also don't take Noah out to dinner because he does better when he goes to sleep by 7. That limits some of the taking the baby out stuff. I'm okay with that.

However, we are often the first people in line for the various breakfast places we go to.

Oops. And in discussing this with K, we wouldn't take Noah to a bar for us to have a drink because I'm not putting him in a car with either of us after a drink. I'm such a lightweight now.

And I should say, one point of utmost hilarity was a house party in which the 9 month old kept trying to steal bottles of beer. Of COURSE we didn't let her, but there was photo evidence and she'll get years of ribbing once she's old enough.

And then there is my brother's family. We're all about the inappropriate but enforcing the actual acceptable rules. I mean, the eldest plays with my brother's experimental brain cancer mice at the lab. But he is unaware of that his daddy kills them.

Which is kind of fucked up, but then, we handle that well.

ION, I've been following the stories of the Baltimore riots in '68 in response to MLK's assassination. It explains a lot about the state of certain parts of the city, and yet doesn't. And it is... I don't know. It raises questions, some very uncomfy. Like about self segregation. Which, as I've toyed with buying a home, has been in my mind. I ended up in this neighborhood without that legacy, because I knew jack shit about B'more, really. And despite having gone to college in the south, I was really naive concerning race issues outside the history books (I knew the striations in the hispanic community, but beyond that? Whatever. It's stupid, but when I visit my hometown, I think, wow! we've finally gotten more than 3 people of african american ancestry! It's an odd town in some ways. Anyone "black" when I was growing up was likely a professor from Africa. )

Survey shows that I'm a cheap date. How cheap? Less than a full glass of wine. Quite less.

Ah, well.

My hometown was like that, too. My elementary school had no black kids. My high school graduating class had about five, but I'm pretty sure that two of them actually lived in Paterson (city best known as the setting for "Lean On Me") and were just claiming to live with grandmothers or aunts in the suburbs. Three or four Hispanic kids, about ten or fifteen Asian, and the other 130 or so white.

I can remember a few racial incidents, though most of those were just as much about class as about race, though it can be hard to separate them. Stuff like "That's all right, that's OK, you're gonna work for us some day" at basketball games against Paterson schools. Or when someone had been stealing bike seats and handlebars from the bike rack, someone asked, "Who would steal just part of a bike, anyway?" and someone else replied, "Someone really poor. Where did you just move from again, Maria?" to a girl who'd just moved to our town from Paterson. Then there was a white girl who, for most of eighth grade, thought it was really cool to address any black guy as "Prince." Never did quite figure that one out.

For a completely new topic, Do you all know about Spa Week:

Don't forget to book a $50 treatment during Spa Week, April 14 through 20. Hundreds of spas across the country are participating. The way it works is each spa can choose up to three treatments that they price at $50 each during spa week. Normally, they would run much higher. Treatments may include a basic massage, facial, laser treatment, manicure or pedicure. Make an appointment by registering here. Book now before all the good treatments are gone.

Spa Week is happening in 21 cities across the country at 400+ spas. Participating cities include Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Denver, Detroit, Philly, Portland, Seattle. Plus Florida, Arizona, Minnesota, New Jersey, Washington D.C. and Toronto.

just because the baby is asleep doesn't mean it should be in a bar at 9pm!

har. exactly!

Aims, I have the new kids on the today show. I never realized that the Today show was FOUR HOURS. so, they're on for 10 minutes in the middle of the show. you still want? they'll be doing a live performance on the Today show on may 16.

I never realized that the Today show was FOUR HOURS.

The fourth hour was just added recently. It used to just be three hours. The fourth hour is also horrible -- totally focused on shopping and makeup and stuff like that. (The first hour is fairly solidly newsy, then you get more and more "lifestyle" features as it goes into the later hours. I think the theory being that men will watch the first hour before they go to work, but as it gets later, the audience will skew more female.)

Also, I can see how it could look good when you're standing still, but there's really nothing there to prevent bounce when actually moving.

Well, it's not a jog bra, for sure. But I'd buy it.

I have no issue with babies in bars. Kids? Maybe, yeah. But small babies? They're not bothering anyone, assuming parents who are paying attention, they're not being scarred for life, because, no comprehension, and the parents are getting out. Past infancy, it's a little more complicated. But at the babe-in-arms stage, I don't see why not.

DH came home at 7 and I promptly went out to get out of the house and get a break. I met one of our babysitters at a bar near our house for a beer. I also saw one of my yoga instructors and got the name of her cool hair stylist. Double score.

This weekend will probably be the usual of catching up on the laundry, naps, ordering a pizza. Hopefully, DH will hang the new corner shelf we bought for the DVD player for the kids' playroom.

Now that the snow is melting, I need to find some landscapers to clean up our landscaping for Spring.