Grabbing your kid by the scruff of the neck and shaking it is frowned upon, however. Smacking its nose with a paw is also ill-advised.

Though I'd love to see the look on some of the hooligans at the grocery store if I tried . . .

Hey, guess what has four thumbs and a wedding anniversary? This couple! (One of the anniversaries, anyway. We have more of a wedding week than a wedding day. This day's the culmination, though.) We had anniversary cake for breakfast. On Saturday we're doing dinner and a movie (The King's Speech). This'll be the first movie we've seen in a cinema since, IIRC, Harry Potter. HP6, to be precise. And why can we indulge in such extravagance? Because her parents will be looking after Ryan, is why. Dinner will be at a tapas bar. The last time we went out to dinner on our own was also over a year ago, I think.

I spent yesterday working from home. Soundtrack to my productivity included Danger Days ("Planetary (GO!)" is perhaps not the most conducive music for productivity, as I still feel the need to stop whatever I'm doing and bounce around to it when it cranks up), Mika, and Dave Graney and the Coral Snakes. (For those unfamiliar with the latter, here's one of their more mellow efforts, "Night Of The Wolverine": [link] ).

Just as well, because Wallybee's work made her stay back late, and I was able to pick up the little boy. (He still does childcare once a week, for numerous reasons: to allow me to work from home, to give her parents a break, to help our only child get some practice in socialising with others his own age.) This is the perfect way to end a workday.

In the evening, I introduced Wallybee to Mad About You. (Borrowed it from the library, along with The Dish and Father Ted.) As 90s sitcoms go, I like this one, as it features a couple that actually behaves like adults a lot of the time, instead of the guy being an irresponsible child and the woman his warden. Get this: episode two, they catch up with an old crush of Paul's, he makes a fool of himself. Said crush: Lisa Cuddy! I did not recognise her, at all, until she started talking.

Anyway, the point is that it's our anniversary week, and it's been going very well. So that's nice.

Yeah, sometimes either Paul or Jamie gets weird about something, but mostly it's not childish. Lisa Edelstein worked a lot, as a sort of "Hey, it's that gal," kind of actress.

I just received an e-mail from the friend whose kid I watch on Friday, which I'm finding to be passive aggressive, and I'm trying to figure out a nice way to respond.

Kristin I forgot to say congrats on your position I know you are going to be awesome as the department chair.

So, tentatively I have the apartment. Barring the potential landlady thinking my credit score is really really horrible and she can't rent to me. Which I hope doesn't happen because now I have to give notice at work. Which I guess I'm going to do on Friday and give 2 weeks notice.

And this is going to come as a surprise (maybe) I mean I haven't talked about moving Right Now but they know I'm in a long distance relationship. It's kinda a crappy time to give notice at work but I need to do this.

Would you like some help sj?

happy birthday Raq.

Not that I know a lot about 4 yr olds, but I do know lots of adults that would find 3 or 4 choices overwhelming

if you can share details , sj, we might be able to hep. And I am so glad you PT is helping, that is great news.

so far I have , mailed the tax stuff, gone grocery and pet food shopping, got soap from my neighborhood soapmaker, 75 min on the elptical trainer, cleaned the bathroom and shower.

askye! Vermont!!! Was the apartment in Waterbury? I can't remember.

Would you like some help sj?

Yes, it probably helps if I actually ask, wouldn't it?

I should preface this by saying that I think I have been extraordinarily reliable since I started watching G in September, despite my pain and the fact that early mornings are very hard on me. I agreed to do it, so I'm doing it. I canceled once for car trouble, and any other time I didn't watch him she had weeks notice, as in for the wedding. In bad weather she took G to me, but I never said I couldn't watch him.

So two weeks ago Thursday night H and I went out with friends for drinks and dinner. I was a little tipsy, but I knew I would be fine the next day. Except, at 2AM I woke up with a fever, and I just couldn't do it. So, I called H at 5AM and told her I couldn't watch G, giving what I thought was plenty of time for her and her DH to decide what to do. I never hear from her for the rest of the week. So, last Thursday I e-mail her to make sure everything is fine for Friday, and she says no, her mother-in-law is watching G. I have no idea when she was planning on telling me this if I hadn't contacted her.

Fast forward to this week when I get an e-mail asking if I will still be watching G on Friday this week, and if I get sick to call her the night before because she absolutely cannot miss work again. I'm sorry, but I really don't know what I could have done differently? Call her at 2 AM? But I feel like she is mad at me, or that she thinks I was just faking. And I'm aggravated, because I don't feel I deserve that, and after all I'm doing her a big favor for free.

sj, not knowing how good your relationship is with G's mom, I'd say that she's taking huge advantage of you. You are doing this for free, she's not paying you. I'm sure that it saves them TONS of money. If it was me, I'd say "nope, can't do it any more" and let it go at that. She's being incredibly rude to you and you certainly don't deserve it. She's lucky to have you babysit at all, let alone for free!