Insist on more money, brenda. It's a new job with more responsibility.

Good luck, David.

Edit: Ooh, good luck you too, msbelle.

Kids are hard.

Good luck to both of the little men having problems (and their parents, too!).

It looks like it's clearing up out here in Wheeling, so I wouldn't worry too much about the clouds.

I'm debating if I want to order pad thai and spring rolls for dinner tonight, or if I'll just settle for some spaghetti after I wash the pot out to boil noodles. I'm leaning towards Thai just because I haven't had any in a long time. Of course, I could order beef pilaf from the Uzbek place--hmm, that's a thought...

Lots of mac's writing work came home today. Some reads exactly like LOLs.

Please tell me this is the stuff he is writing, and not the teachers...

Aw, poor noodle is right.

cause I wasn't sure if she was pregnant. She hadn't said anything and I just sort of stated what was obvious to me. Luckily (?) she was pregnant so I hadn't misjudged

I was afraid it was going to be one of those one where she didn't know.

Oh msbelle. Hugs for mac.

NBC news coverage of Tim Russert is killing me.

ION, my big plan for the night was getting my nails done, but they told me to come back tomorrow! Who knew Friday night was the busy time at the nail place?

Question for the hivemind:

In a "Job Wanted" ad for an executive asst, what might you list as your software skills? I'm trying to update one that says "Five years experience. Word and Works."

megan, you might want to add Outlook and PowerPoint if applicable.

Emmett Update

EM just called back.

After fifteen minutes of listening to him scream "NO!" on the other side of his bedroom door, she just let him be and calm down for a while.

When he was calmer she went in to talk to him and he apologized. She got him to talk a little bit and the real reason for the meltdown came out.

He told her that he was upset that it was summer.

[See my face of total shock]

That he didn't like the unstructured time of summer and preferred the structure of school.

[More shock]

That he was really tired and burned out from the end of the school year and the game schedule in playoffs and that coupled with his anxiety about the unstructured summer just made him lose it.

[Huh]

So. He still wants to play baseball. He just wants a break and to skip this tournament. And he'll go and talk to his manager tomorrow. And EM will get him signed up with the Berkeley Parks summer program which is fairly loose but allows for regular structure.

That's where we are now.

[phew. Sort of. This doesn't feel entirely over.]

Kids. They have complicated feelings and they don't know what to do with them. Unlike grownups, of course.

Seriously, y'all. That dog has been at the groomer's for four hours. This is why I don't quibble at the price. (Or take her more than twice a year.)

Oy. Poor Emmett. But that's actually some seriously impressive self-awareness going on there, even he did have to scream out a lot of upset to get through to it.