I stayed wayyyyyy too late at Megan Walker's last night but what can I say? She's too much fun to leave. I don't regret it, but it's made me very low energy today, and did I mention I am hosting 14 people tonight for dinner? Yikes.

Pix, I am hopeful that you'll have more time with your grandmom, and I am thankful she's visiting LA and getting a chance to see you.

Shir, as everyone else has said, ((((((Shir and the entire Middle East))))).

VW, you're handling it all as well as can be expected.

And finally, Ms. Belle, that's how I quit the nail-biting habit, so good luck!

If you break down the homework, it is like enough for 9 days, the last day they had school and 8 more days, but with a 5 extra things that would not be normal except for Fridays and 2 things that are normally done in the classroom. Thing is: the 8 days of normal amounts of homework, that implies doing work every weekday they are out, INCLUDING Christmas Day. They only miss 2 Fridays, so why 5!!! extra bigger things like they normally get for the weekend. ANd quite a few of the things are just busy work that I can see no benefit of (draw a picture of yourself, glue this poem into your book and read it once)

anyhoo - nothing to do, but do it and try to work out a better plan for the next break.

All the ornaments are put away. YAY!.

I couldn't deal with the bags full of tree branches any longer, so my friend and I took them to the basement today. The livingroom already looks better. If I can get rid of the tree tomorrow, then I can start thinking about what to do with the room. I think I need to finally start hanging some things on the wall, as well as get rid of a bunch of stuff.

Oy. Ate leftover lo mein for lunch that was less than satisfying, so I just splurged and had a slice of pizza.

I feel slightly uncomfortably full at the moment, but I know if I hadn't eaten something, I would've felt really crabby in the morning.

Better eating habits will commence starting tomorrow.

Also, the girls are doing the Doggyapolis 500 through the house and my bed is apparently "home.

Belle, that homework is outrageous. I mean, I get not wanting them to lose momentum during the holidays, but that's just ridiculous.

Austin, don't move to the desert. That's pretty the norm here.

Yeah, I'm thinking that is a good idea. I was just so used to it being in the 20's or 30's (not that it is a good thing, but predictable) and then 74 hit out of nowhere. It's back to the 20's again.

We had that weather here in KC, too. got up to 70 yesterday, I had to turn on the ac last night, and today we started with freezing rain and are now getting snow and it's in the 20's. I hate that the weather can't make up its mind!

Peace to all who need it. {{{{Shir&family, Nilly&family, Nora, SuzyQ, PixKristin, SeanK&S}}}}

ION, I advertised some stuff on Craig's List, my first time. I want to get rid of most of my bulky stuff before I move. The thing is, I now find myself annoyed by the volume of email I'm getting. I am such a contrarian!

That homework is ridiculous!

I am soooo ready to go home. Which happens tomorrow. Yay! I wish I didn't have to go to work on Monday. I do have nest Thurs-Sun off, so I probably shouldn't complain.

That would be an appalling load of over-the-holidays homework for a college student; for elementary school, there are just no words. What a horrible burden for both you and mac, msbelle, and what the hell was the teacher thinking?

Our accomplishment of the day: we have a car that doesn't suck. It's a '98 Prizm (i.e., a stealth Corolla) with one busted taillight cover but no other problems, and fewer than 100K miles. It's old but it was dirt-cheap and gets great mileage, and it should be a sturdy little workhorse for some time to come. And the bumper and side panels aren't falling off, it doesn't shimmy and wheeze every time it comes to a stop, it has a turning radius tighter than that of three drunken elephants bungee-corded together, and it'll fit into all sorts of tiny little SF-sized parking spaces. It's small and unremarkable and homely and sturdy. I may have to name it Wall-E.

JZ, I have a '99 Prizm! They are good cars. I'll probably be driving mine for another 10 years.

We have a '97 Corolla, which as you note is pretty much the same thing. If it weren't for its 220K miles, I suspect it would chug along forever -- may yours go at least that far!