Pete, thanks; I've marked your post so that when I'm no longer on vacation, I can set about fixing myself.

re: vacation -- we got to the beach around 5, which once again put us within 10 minutes of Google Maps' projected time. I'm impressed with their calculations.

The house we're in is VERY nice; it's literally on the beach, with our own stairs down to the sand.

I'm exhausted from the drive; The Boy has played in the ocean already with his brothers and nephews; we've eaten dinner; there has been a little subdued agita about The Sleeping Arrangements ("subdued" in the sense of "discussion was had between The Boy and [I think] his mom, but no one else was involved or was even aware that it was happening"); and now The Boy is at the grocery with one of the SiLs, and I said I was going to nap, but I'm looking at the clock and thinking that this isn't going to be a "nap." The meds I'm taking for my tummy make me really sleepy, and my doc said to double up on them, so -- zzzzzzz. I'm hoping that The Boy will tactfully explain to his family why I'm passed out.

The Boy intends to make a carrot cake and -- get this -- homemade ice cream for my birthday tomorrow (what? it's tomorrow???). There is no way I can ever let go of him, ever.

On the drive back home, when we go through West Virginia, we're going to go 45 minutes out of our way to visit the Mystery Hole, which I cannot say or type without laughing, because I am 12. (Plus it reminds me of The Simpsons' softball episode, where Mr. Burns loads the power plant's softball team with ringers from MLB, and one by one they all can't play because of various problems, and Ozzie Smith [I think it was Ozzie] goes to the Springfield Mystery Spot and falls down a bottomless hole.)

And really, the only reason we're going is because we really, REALLY want t-shirts. I mean, come on -- "MYSTERY HOLE"?!?!? Plus, my brother has a birthday coming up in August, and I think a Mystery Hole t-shirt is a perfect gift for him.

Yeah, it's no House on the Rock, but it still means I get a shirt that says "MYSTERY HOLE." It's a beautiful thing.

Okay, I think I have to crash now.

MYSTERY HOLE

good god. Is this the best they could come up with when "Mystery Spot" was already taken?

Oh, but the name is a thing of beauty -- MYSTERY HOLE!!! Say it in a Monster Truck Rally announcer's voice. MYSTERY HOLE!!!

It led to us making about an hour's worth of rectum jokes. And you can't beat that with a stick.

I hope the rest of the vacation and birthday (wow is it already your birthday) are delightfully fun and pain free, Teppy.

mystery hole, snicker snicker

Kids! Last night the dog begins to bark and my son looks out the window to see what's up. He shrugs, "it's just a deer." You would never know he's a city kid.

I've been to that restaurant before and gotten that same dish and noticed that there wasn't much rice (pretty much every one I know who goes there has the same comment -- the food is fantastic, but if you order the thali, you probably want to get some extra rice.) It's really more a place to get dosa, anyway.

Hee. Mystery Hole! I love how the "What is it?" link on the website doesn't give any actual information whatsoever about what it is.

Glad you arrived safe and sound, Steph.

Oh my gosh, how badly do I want a MYSTERY HOLE t-shirt? THHhhhiiiss much.

meara, I hate to be offering unsought advice, but the sooner you stop flirting with the GILF the better. She's a tease. Don't bother asking her how much she remembers because the truth is, you don't want to hear the answer. Just accept that all she wants to do is yank your chain, so say buh-bye granny and go make out like teenagers instead.

Myssery hole shirts sound like an excellent gift. A far second, of course, is a Mystery Spot shirt.

Ahaha. MYSTERY HOLE.

Gah, really? See, I suspect that what I grew up with was just a jam-roll pudding and it just got called Roly-Poly. This shorthand mislabeling seems to have happened a lot in my parent's house.

Well, the suet's the shortening used in the dough part. So you mightn't have even known it was there.

so.... what's the difference between suet and lard? I could google it,I'm sure.