Whoa. Just had a sobering conversation with Miss Louise. Seems Nakia was pregnant and delivered an 8lb little girl by c-section 2 weeks ago. She didn't have any prenatal care. (I didn't even know she was pregnant and I've seen her around.) The baby girl has a condition that causes fluid on the brain, and she's already had a stroke. Doctors say she may survive 3 months. The father and his family have really stepped up, and have gotten them on their insurance and are willing to support Nakia so she can stay home with her child for however long they have.

Nakia is 19. She's the only one in her line to make it out of high school before having a child. She's working, even tonight. I just...damnit. It's so sad all around.

Ghost Busters vs. Jesus

Ummm... dunno nothing about this, except someone decided a painting was necessary.

Real-life Bert (of Bert and Ernie fame) will see you tonight. In your friggin’ nightmares.

Ummm... a Wolverine toy. It's inflatable. Guess where they put the inflate thingie: [link]

yum, chard. we use the leaves like spinach (they are tender that way). Separate the leaves from the stems, chop the stems into small pieces. sautee the stems in some olive oil, once they start to soften after a couple of minutes, throw in some chopped garlic, sautee for 30-60 seconds, and put in the chopped up leaves. wilt the chopped up leaves, throw some salt on there, and a splash of balsamic if you like.

Delicious, will probably take 10 minutes.

I'm sorry, sarameg. It's good that the father is stepping up, but it's still a sad situation.

I cook chard by removing the leaves from the stems, steaming the leaves until they're tender, then plating them with a little butter and vinegar.

Oh sarameg, that is so sad.

Family friends had a baby girl with fluid on the brain. Her first year was really rough. She had to have several surgeries to place and adjust a shunt to drain the fluid. But after that first tense year, she grew into a healthy adult.

I poisoned Tim's dogs. I brought over two dozen chocolate chip cookies this afternoon. We each ate a couple, chatted for awhile, and when I got home I got an email asking me how much chocolate was in the cookies. The dogs somehow managed to find the container and chowed them down.

I feel awful. They're sleeping and don't appear to be ill, but I'm worried.

Allyson, how big are the pups? Here's a scale to tell how much they can tolerate.

Once my sister's cats knocked an entire birthday cake off the counter and Mac consumed most of it. She was barfy for hours.

It happens.

My neighbors have dogs that are notorious for getting into the holiday chocolates. Whole bags of Hershey's Kisses and whatnot. They cook up a bag of rice and feed them to the dogs and all is well with the world until Easter rolls around. Rinse, repeat.