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.

Tonight's dinner was fail. Tried another roulade, but the butcher cut the beef too thin. Delicious beef, but just couldn't hold together. And it's going to be sad tomorrow to cook the rest of it, because I can't think of what to do with it since it's just giving up its structural integrity.

I've been having this strange tick all day where I get distracted writing something and then I get back to what I was doing, I end up burping out something that rhymes with what I'd meant to say. So I almost finished the preceeding paragraph with "it's just giving up its fannish intensity."

Not sure what that's about.

Kat, am I reading that wrong, or do I have to register to see what is offered in my area?

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.

Yeah. A sleeping baby in one of those carriers might as well be a gigantic handbag. (Stroller could be a drag)

When we first moved to Wisconsin, we went out to eat at a causal chain restaurant nearby. DH excused himself to use the men's room while I watched the kids try to finish their meals. While I was trying to stop Olivia from sticking a french fry up her nose, Owen swooped in and sipped a little bit from DH's half-empty beer glass. He looked shocked and his eyes watered a bit while I looked around to make sure people weren't calling CPS on me.

Silly me. I now realize, to my relief, that this isn't illegal here.

I would take an infant to a bar, as long as it wasn't too late (after 9) or too smokey (lots of places have banned smoking entirely) and not in a stroller. Once kids start getting mobile, it's futile to take them anywhere that isn't specifically designed to be family friendly. My kids have a 40 minute window of seating-ordering-serving-eating-check. If we can't get it done in that time, we don't eat there anymore.

Unless we hire a sitter.

This is a short sacrifice, though. They'll soon be old enough for us to enjoy meals out as a family.

The woman on the front page of the Spaweek site--is that how our backs are supposed to look when we lie on our front?