But he's in high school now and just about the cutest little androgynous gothling you ever did see. He's got jet black pigtails, blue and black eyeliner out to THERE, giant stompy combat boots - freaking ADORABLE. I just wanted to wrap him up in a black lace bow and send him to Jilli as a present.

D'awwwww! He sounds adorable, and I hope he survives his home environment without getting his spooky tendencies crushed.

Armed and dangerous: [link]

Palmetto bugs. I remember when I first encountered roaches outside of Florida, I laughed because they were so teeny and wee compared to what I was used to

When I first moved to Florida I had to go get a neighbor to kill critters if DH wasn't around to help me. After 30 years I will chase down any critter I see and crush with any available weapon until deady dead dead. Never thought I would turn into such a cold blooded killer, but it happened.

Palmetto bugs may not evoke the same emotional response as city cockroaches, but the size and flying thing... Ewwwwww

I slept /stayed in bed until 1130. I have eaten lunch. made my DH got to a local art show. 'Helped' DH fix my bike ( which means I watch and occasionally fetch something or hold something) and spent many hours on facebook or other places on the internet. I am about to start foing stuff for dinner.

I don't seem to care that it was a day of minimal accomplishments.

I would much rather have palmetto bugs than the little German roaches. My first house and a couple of apartments had huge infestations of German roaches, to the point that when I turned on the kitchen light at night, the counters were moving. I tried everything, but I suspect they'll thrive on gamma rays. I am not bothered by any bugs as such, but volume will get to me. My screaming adrenaline-rush phobia is larvae. If I were in charge of television, shows would be required to run a maggot warning.

Your bug killing talk amuses me. We were cooking outside again today, and the wasps were coming to check out what we were making. We put out the fatty meat scraps and amused ourselves by watching the wasps nip off little bits and fly away with them.

Our al fresco meal companions accuse us of being weird.

Bugs inside the house are doomed.

OMG STOP TALKING ABOUT ROACHES

Okay.

How about after two days of back and forth with counteroffers and such, we still haven't come to a final agreement on the house we want and oh, by the way, the owners are currently on a plane on their way to freakin' PARIS for three weeks.

I hope by the time they land, they'll have had a come to Jesus moment that suggests, "Oh hai, yes, we will let you have the pretty, pretty house at the last offer you made."

Dana, think of this as positive reinforcement for your move to a place where it snows.

mr. flea killed a giant roach on our 12 foot ceiling today, using a stool.

Los angeles is relatively roach-free. Plus we have great Thai food.