The Zoe Manifesto

A big hey-o to everyone on my f-list! Sorry I haven't been keeping up to date with comments this week! I'm up to my neck in wool again. Every year I make my neices and nephew a sweater for Christmas, and this year I've left it late again. So I'm making myself crazy again.

Tuesday I had a brainstorm, and instead of taking money and time I don't have to go back down south to see my doctor, (I need a refil on tranks and painkillers) I thought I would call down and see if they could call the repeat in. His secretary said, "Fax a request to the office, he can sign it, and then we'll fax it to the pharmacy". Okay! Saves me $200 and 16 hours of drive time, plus whatever happens up here while I'm gone, because it seems that if I go anywhere for more than 4 hours all hell breaks loose. I called the pharmacy up here. Since they haven't filled a scrip of mine for the heavy stuff, I have to call the pharmacy down south, have them fax the request, and then have the doctor fax it up here. So I make the phone calls.

Houston was supposed to be off work on Thursday and Friday because the mills are still closed for deer season. So on Thursday I decided to go to Sudbury to do a little shopping. I got the wool for Alexi's sweater, but I didn't get enough. So I take Houston's car, my CDs, and take off at noon. Had a blast! Went to the bookstore, found a present for Joy and Chris, but they were all out of the wool I needed at Micheals. Not a biggie. I decided just to do the sleeves in a different colour. When I get home, I find out that they called Houston in to work right after I left. Houston didn't tell Ol' HD where I'd gone. So nobody went to pick up poor Tris from band practice. Which is when I found out that everything goes to hell when I"m not here.

Friday was a disaster. Someone ran off with my crochet hooks, you can't buy one in this town, I took all the kids to the store with me. Big mistake there. Tris and Bree are in full "I'm going to bug my sibling" mode. Cade kept wandering off on me. Plus I'm having a panic attack on top of it all. I"m waiting in line, there's a gentleman in front of me with a little girl of about two and a baby in a carry chair. I'm thinking back to when mine were that well behaved, back before the aliens took their brains. He was looking at me with sympathy.

So while we are waiting to pick up our chicken, I've got Cade saying, "MomI'mgoingtodieifIdon'tgetadrinkrightnow!" over and over. Gwen is holding a bag, and Bree and Tris are doing mortal combat moves. Bree comes up and says, "Ma! Tris won't act like PopInFresh!" I snap back "I'm gonna pop the pair of ya! Knock it off!" Man in front of me looks even more sympathetic. Turns out he's Bree's English teacher. *sigh*

I ended up locking myself in the bathroom and reading COSMO of all things. I've learned 72 new ways to please my man. I've learned I need to wear teal eyeshadow. I've learned that my kids can pick locks with my crochet hooks. (That's where they went!) But eventually they all went to bed, and I watched "The Commitments", which always makes me feel better.

Tomorrow they all go back to school, thank heavens. I got bit by an Evil Plot Bunny. I think I've got it beaten and locked into a cat carrier, but I may just have to start writing bad Boromir/Legolas slash, where Legolas is Teh Ebil! and just toys Boromir, who falls head over heels with the otherworldly beauty of the elf...

There is something to be said for always tipping the kids' hairdresser well.  I got into the habit when the kids were small and squirmed a lot and the hairdresser was so good.  When we moved up here, it took a little bit to find a hairdresser, you would think in a small town with 8 hair salons it wouldn't be hard, but everyone is always booked up.  So when I found that we could get an appointment on the weekends at the mall without too much trouble, we started going there.

Today I ran in with Cade a half hour before they closed, no appointment, took off his hood and said "Fix him, please!"  No problem.  Got his head shaved in record time.  Now he's got a cool brush cut, he loves it, and that horrible receding hairline look is gone.  Houston nearly fell over laughing when he saw Cade's "barber job".

I am feeling much better, the boys are well, going back to school tomorrow, thank goodness, and the girls should be ready next week.  Bree seems to have relapsed, and Gwen caught it later than the others, so the pair of them are holed up in their room, watching Labyrinth and coming out for juice, soup and saline for their noses.

When I was a kid, I never really got why my mother would get so upset over things.  Having my own family now, I understand.  So here's an open apology to my mom...

I am soooo sorry for all the towels I left on the floor, under my bed, behind the door and in the closet. (You have no idea)

I'm sorry for all the lunches I didn't eat and hid in my bookbag for you to find.

I'm sorry for smoking all your cigarettes, (although in my defense, I did go to the store to get more)

I'm sorry for talking all the way through Perry Mason.

I'm sorry for all the library fines I racked up.

I'm sorry for stealing your tweezers and never giving them back.

So the kids have all been home for a week with Flu-Like-Illness. I can't say Swine Flu or Regular Flu, because we can't get tested unless one of your lungs crawls out and whaps the doctor in the eye. High school absenteism is 30% in some schools. We've been taking lots of of Tylenol, Gravol, orange juice and chicken soup. High fever and killer headache the first day, then lots of coughing etc for a week. I'm tired. But we are all doing okay.

The news is full of Swine Flu/H1N1. Seems that the government lied when it said there would be enough flu vaccine for everyone. What they meant was there would be flu vaccine for some people right now, and then for others later on. Since we seem to have come down with it, (Swine Flu has naseua, etc) I'm not too worried. Ol' HD, who watches the news for hours on end, has decided that it's all a plot by someone, so that the private schools get vaccine, because politicians kids go to private school. Private clinics also have the vaccine so that rich people can get it, while us poor bastards drop dead. He is laughing hysterically at people lined up for up to 6 hours at vaccine clinics, who then get turned away because they are not on the priority list. I'm just glad it's not the Black Death or something.

We are also basically quarentined. I don't want to spread this around or anything. Which means that Cade's haircut got pushed back to this week. He didn't want to wait. So he cut his own hair last night. Aii! He's bald on top. I was going to send him to school tomorrow, but now I have to get his hair fixed. All he chopped was the bangs, so he looks like a man with a receding hairline, and all this shaggy hair around his ears. Last time he got creative with scissors, he was five and cut large chunks out of my hair while I was sleeping. I ended up getting a perm and looking like a Q-tip with eyes.

Houston is on another bizarre schedule this week. Seems the paper mill closes down for a week for Moose Season. So I'm up when I should be sleeping and sleeping when I should be up. Plus checking on the kids, cold cloths, making soup, etc. But I got a call from morriganscrowwhich was fantastic as always. Thanks, Crow! We laughed like you would not believe.

Read The Lost Symbol last night. He mangled yet another "secret society" with Wonder Boy Bobby Langdon. I did have one serious problem with the book. Sorry, I have this weekness for trashy books. Anyway, a large part of the plot revolves around Wonder Boy having an edactic memory. Something like he remembers every phone number he's ever dialled is how he puts it. So why does he have to call his editor to get the phone number for his best friend's sister? Considering he spends the book trying to save said sister, and must have called her a time or two in the past 12 years? *shakes head* That's just sloppy.

Here's something uniquely Canadian, I think. Bree has a weakness for lake monsters. Nessie, Champs, and so on. In British Columbia, we have one called Ogopogo. Means "Big Bastard in the Water That'll Eat Your Ass" in one of the Native languages. Bree loves Ogopogo and even has a stuffed one. Anyway, she let me know that Ogopogo has a Protected Species status in Canada. It may not exist, but if it does, you'd better not shoot or harrass it!

Cade turned 9 yesterday. I don't know where the time goes! He still doesn't know if he's going to have a sleepover with his best friend, or go to the movies, or have a gang of kids over or what. Saturday ought to be interesting.

And it's started snowing. The highway was closed north of us this morning. I was hoping we'd get through Halloween first, but it looks like Mother Nature has other ideas.

Speaking of Mother Nature, here are some snaps of where I live. ( Big Pictures Behind the Curtain )

Tris is in grade 8 this year.  He's learning how to write a paragraph properly.  So after school he sits down to his homework.  Gwen is sitting beside him.  His homework reads like this:

Here is a topic sentance.  Write 5 more sentances to prove the thesis.  Your sentance is:

Margaret shows many of the qualities displayed by a good friend.

Here's how it went:

Tristan: (his mowhawk flopping over, picks up his pencil)  1. She knows good places to hide the bodies.
Zoe: (cooking eggs)  No, she doesn't.
Tristan: Yes, she does.  2.  She can make fake ID cards.
Zoe: (turning around with egg flipper held in menacing manner) Tristan!
Gwen: (giggling)  She will sit with you at the police station and say "That was fun!"
Zoe: Stop encouraging him!  Do you want me to have to go to school again?
Tristan: 3. She will bake special brownies for you.
Zoe:  That's it!  I am not going to another parent teacher meeting and saying "Well, the boy ain't right.  I don't know what happened to  him."
Gwen:  Take Dad.  That'll explain it.
Tristan:  There's nothing not right with me!
Zoe:  There will be if you hand this in!
Tristan:  (sighing and pulling out eraser)  How 'bout if I say she will bake special things for you?
Zoe:  Fine.  Don't forget to change the rest while you're at it.
Gwen:  Put in that she knows where to find the best stuff at the best prices.
Zoe:  (exasperated as the bacon burns and sets off smoke alarm)  How long till parent teacher night?
Bree: (wandering down from upstairs)  Is dinner ready? 

Yes, my kids love me.  I hope they each have a dozen snarky little tots just like them.  Honestly, I don't know where all the sarcasm in this house comes from!

Ol' HD is feeding the cat from his plate now.  While he's eating, she jumps up into his lap and starts eating his potatoes.  I feel like Olympia Dukakis in Moonstruck. 

"Old man, if you give those dogs one more piece of my food, I'm gonna kick ya till you're dead!"

And here's an interesting thing.  I hate washing silverware.  Anybody else?  I don't mind the rest of the dishes, even the pots, but the silverware gets to me.

I've got my fingers crossed for a cancellation at the dentist tomorrow.  If not, I'm going to the hospital for the antibiotics.

What a week!  So far, I've done in my foot, got an abcess, and the cat is still trying to kill me.

I made a big pot of Hamburger Helper, just cause I'm a great cook and all that.  Called my family to the table, I did.  Picked up the pot to set it on the table, yes, we're so elegent, when I tripped over the flippin kitten, and the handle let go and the pot fell out of my hands and spilled all the goop on the floor and my foot.  Then the pot fell on my foot as well.  Yipe!  Burns and bruises.  Yay!

Also, I have a bad tooth.  I know I need to have it pulled, I've been putting it off.  So the abcess came back and it hurts like heck.  I'm trying to get in to see a dentist, to get the infection cleared up and the tooth pulled soon.  I keep forgetting we have dental benefits now and I can afford it.  What luxury!

But I did have a nice drive to get smokes today.  The colours are beautiful now.  We're not going down south for Thanksgiving, so I get to cook a turkey.  Blech. 

Well, today I went to the high school with Gwen and Tristan to hear Dr Eva Olsson speak.  She's a Holocaust survivor who speaks to the power of hate and the importance of not being a bystander in the face of intolerance.  It was very moving.  I was a little worried about the kids, but they seem to being doing okay with it all.  Babcia would never talk about the war, she always said there were things you did not tell children.  But I think it's important for people to remember, to know, and to try and do what they can to prevent evil.

Houston's cat is still trying to kill me.  She got hold of my butt and hung on like a burr.  She also likes to hop into the fridge every chance she gets.  Sybil is ignoring her as best she can, and sleeping on my chest. It's funny, when Houston's on nights we sleep in shifts, and the cats change shifts with us.  Houston gets up, the kitten gets up, I go to bed, Syb comes with me. 

I'm feeling a little off tonight, I think it might be the new med I'm trying for my back pain.  So I think I'm going to work on a story for a bit, now that I have the house quiet.

We had such a good time at the concert!  I have a huge bruise on my left hand from clapping so hard!  And, you can all rest easy, I didn't throw any of my foundation garmets at the stage, or hide on the tour bus, or kidnap any of the band members.  Houston didn't even have to bail me out of anything!

Everything else is going along pretty well.  I found myself building a fort out of empty boxes for the kitten this morning.  Anything to keep it from climbing up my nightie again.  It may be cute now, but I have visions of a 45 lb cat climbing up my back in the morning to sit on my shoulder while I have my coffee.

My kids are nuts.  Cade will be nine next month and Brina will be sixteen in February.  When we moved up here, Ol' HD bought the kids new bunk beds, with boards to hold the mattrasses in.  Last night I noticed that there are little nocks in the boards.  Only on the top bunks, where Cade and Bree sleep.  Turns out they are teeth marks.  Yes, my kids have been chewing on their beds.  *sigh*

I got my hot little tickets in my hot little hands!  Dance with me, everyone!  Houston is looking forward to it, if only to keep me from throwing my panties on the stage.  They're big enough that the band might think it was a tent or a parachute or something!

Kids are better, we've had the flu going on this week.  Don't think it was swine flu, nobody turned into a pig.  Also got the septic tank drained today, big fun.  So we're good for another year. 

Also found, to my great happiness and the great detriment of my allowance, a used book store.  Uh-oh.  And they take debit card.  Uh-oh.  And a lot of books on history and things.  So now I'm broke again. 

But I'm a-going to the Biggest Kitchen Party in the world!

*dancing about excitedly*

Great Big Sea is playing in Sudbury on the 26th!  Great Big Sea!  Alan, Bob and Sean!  I'm going to see if I can get tickets tomorrow!  I love Great Big Sea!  After I missed them in Belleville, I swore that if they came to Sudbury, I'd be there.  Wish me luck!

*dances about some more*

Houston says he'll go with me, like a date, kinda. 

*stops dancing due to pain in hip*

New Kitten, aka Yuffie, or Newfie, depending on who you talk to, is settling in nicely.  Ol HD is taken with her, so  she'll end up just as spoiled as the rest.  She likes sitting on my shoulder while I drink my coffee in the morning, like a parrott.  Sybil isn't bothering her much.  Houston is carrying her around like a doll.  She's also figured out how to jump on the power bar for the computer and turn it right off.  *sigh*

More things I never thought I'd say:

Who put "World Domination" on the chore list?
I will put you on the bus in your underwear, don't think I won't.
Drop the Bingo Dabber and step away from your sister.

My Auntie called me last night, she heard the latest bit of genealogy news I'd dug up.  Seems that we have a connection to one of the Salem Witches, John Proctor.  So I tried to explain it to her.  There's about 7 greats in there, so it took a while, but she's really hopped about that.  If I ever find an ancestor who was a Druid, I swear, she'll pass out.

*starts dancing again*

You would think that with the guys outside I could get my floor washed, right?  Wrong.  I got half the floor done, (the messy half anyway), moved the table back and was getting ready to do the other half when guess who wanders in and parks it at the table and starts chatting!  *sigh*  So there went the rest of the day.  Apparently telling Houston how to fix the snowblower is hot and tiring work. 

I took Bree to town and got stuff to make Chicken with Spaghetti Sauce and Fat Noodles.  Came back to find that someone has not been eating their vegetables and there is a nasty clog in the loo.  Guess who got to clean it out?  Of course.  Funny, no one wanted to chat with me while I dealt with that.  What I did get was the information that the loo was clogged up because Cade has been flushing his plastic toys down it.  Trust me, that wasn't it.  I tried to explain that Cade hasn't flushed anything down there, ever, and the last thing that did get flushed was so long ago that I'm not sure if it was a stuffed octopus or some hot wheels cars or a robot.  Either way, it got thrown right out, and the kid(s) responsible never did it again.

Sorry about the griping, but I'm cranky right now.  Ol' HD and I can and usually do get along, but he's really been getting on my nerves the past couple days.  I think it's me.  I'm just not looking forward to spending the winter with him bitching at me every five seconds.  I think what I'm really crabby about is the lack of privacy I have, if that's the right way to put it.  Let me see if I can explain.  For so many years Houston was on the road for at least a week, usually two and occasionaly three at a time, that I got used to being on my own with the kids.  And either when they went to bed or to school, (when they were all in school) I had time to myself, to write, or read or cross stitch and watch documentaries, or knit or whatever.  No one was talking to me while I was trying to do this.  And I was raised that it was rude to ignore people when they were talking directly to you.  Since the computer is in the living room, when I'm in here, typing or doing something on line, Ol' HD wants to chat.  I can understand that.  He's lonely for Pauline.  So when there's just us, I talk back.  And I miss my quiet time.  I think that's what's wrong.  It should pass, I hope.

So the kids are back in school, YAY, we had a great vacation with Mom and Dad, Boo Boo has gone the way of the other cats, and we have yet another kitten.  *sigh*  She's adorable, as always, and I'm desperately trying to convince everyone that she should be an INSIDE cat, but we'll see how that goes.

But why are you weary, Zoe?  I hear you ask.  Opinions, gentle friends, opinions.  No matter where I go, I am surrounded by opinions.  And they are getting to me today.  Besides, I want to clean the house, which I cannot do with people parked in the living room, watching TV and laughing with malicious glee at the misfortunes of others.  Well, maybe that's not fair.  More of a chuckle at the stupidity of other people who will voluntarily live in Tornado Alley, hurricane zones, earhquake zones, war zones, communist countries, etc.  Or people who live in cities.  Or people who invest their money or buy a new car or win the lottery or anything like that.  Basically, anyone who isn't Ol' HD, who knows the secrets of the cosmos, and will share them with anyone, asked or not.  And his theory is "I am perfect, I know how to do it all better, faster and cheaper"  No one else seems deserving of compassion.  Especially those who drive pick up trucks.

Lately he has branched out into prophecy.  Now, I know my Scripture, and yes, a prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, but really!  Here are some samples for you:

Galveston Texas is in for a giant hurricane because it hasn't rained there in quite a while.
There will be many many accidents on the highway this weekend.
Swine flu vaccines will kill more people than they save.
NASA is run by rich people who are planning to colonize Mars and leave us all to rot in our own filth.
The fish will not bite because the wind is in the east/north/south/west.  Or because the sun is shining.  Or it's raining.
Bree will marry a man who beats her and drinks the rent money away, because she doesn't like school.
Tris is going to be gay.  And fat.
All the kids will fail in life because I don't run the house like a Chinese labour camp.
The missing cat mystery is solved because there is a dog owner who hates cats/kid with a pellet gun living behind us.
Houston must buy a gun because they are on sale/but he doesn't need a gun in this house because the kids will shoot each other/us.

Anyway, Houston and Ol' HD have gone outside to fix the snowblower.  Yes, it's that time of year.  So I am going to play Gwen's dance mix CD loud enough to rattle the windows and wash the kitchen floor, and try to drive November out of my soul.  Don't worry, gang, I'll be fine!

I should know better.  I got hooked on Harvest Moon Save the Homeland in 12.6 seconds.  So when Tris brought home Sims 3, I thought, well, what harm would it do to play on it? 

Lots.

I stayed up for three nights running.  The laundry hasn't been done.  And I've had to stop playing Devil Dice, (Thanks, 'Crow).  I'm all twitchy.  Now I don't know which addiction to feed, getting run over by Cade on Devil Dice, or messing around with the sims.  Husband?  Going hungry.  Kids?  Bugging for computer. 

I have been going berry picking with Patty.  We've had a bit of trouble, though.  Seems a bear has invited himself into our favorite berry patch.  We don't argue with the bears, however.  It's nice to get out of the house in the evenings, for the twenty minutes or so before the breeze dies down and mosquitos come and carry your berry bucket away....

FF is very big at our house.   I know who Sephiroth and Cloud are, I like the "other Sephiroth looking kid" as I call him.   I've seen Advent Children and that other movie.  Tonight, during dinner, the kids were discussing it, and I decided to ask a few questions.  Basically, what is the "other Sephiroth looking kid"'s name.  The kids overwhelmed me with information, but I think I retained a bit, (I took notes), and want to share...

Tris:    So Cloud is from Nibelheim, where he met Tifa.
Zoe:    Wait, Cloud comes from the same place as the Dwarves?
Tris:    What Dwarves?
Zoe:   The Dwarves that Wagner was going on about.  In that Ring opera thing.
Bree:  There's no Ring in Final Fantasy, Mom.
Gwen: *laughing at her poor old mother*

Past the Dwarves and the old pickup truck, they try to explain where Sephiroth came from.

Bree:  So Vincent...
Zoe:   The Vampire guy?
Bree:  He's not a vampire, Mom.  He's just got that cool cloak.
Tris:   He's sort of a vampire.
Zoe:   Okay, so he's what, Sephiroth's brother?
Bree:  No, he's his father.
Tris:   No, he's not.  HoJo is his father.
Zoe:   Who the hell is HoJo?
Bree:  He's a scientist.  Anyway, Vincent and Lucrecia had an affair....
Zoe:    Lucrecia who?  Borgia?
Tris:    No, she's another scientist.  And it was Hojo who was Sephiroth's father, but he put some of Jenova's genetic material into the baby...
Bree:  Hojo is not his father, he's a mad scientist.
Zoe:   Gotcha, Doc Brown.

So it seems that Lucrecia, Vincent, Jenova and Doc Brown all need to go on Oprah to find out who the father is.  And that Vincent turned into a martyr and jumped into a coffin for either 50 or 20 years after Sephiroth was born/hatched/incubated, what have you. 

Zoe:   So what's in the cookie box that the "kid who looks like Sephiroth" keeps trying to get his hands on?
Bree:  Jenova's head.
Zoe:   In that little box?
Bree:   Well, Rufus squished it up.  LIke this.  *squishes face between hands*
Gwen:  *cracks up*
Zoe:     Who is Rufus, now?
Bree:   The guy in the wheelchair.
Zoe:    Oh, Ironside.
Bree:   Who?
Zoe:    Ironside.  He was a cop, wore a trenchcoat, it was a TV show, Perry Mason played him.  So who is Jenova?  The kid's mother?  He keeps calling his mother.
Bree:  She's not his mother.  Well, she's sort of his mother.  See, Sephiroth went and pulled her out of this thing she was in and cut off her head.
Zoe:   What thing?  Jail?  Life support?
Bree:  *waving hands* It was this big thing, and she was an Ancient.
Tris:   No she wasn't.
Zoe:   Wait.  *turns to still giggling Gwen*  Can you explain this in short sentances?
Gwen:  *explains in a way that leaves Zoe confused, but understands that Jenova is a source of genetic material for everyone and his dog*

After a lot of discussion about Sephiroth's clones (maybe), Jenova's past, and speculation on Geostigma being like the Swine Flu, we got to the original question.

Zoe:   So what is that kid's name, anyway?
Bree: Kadaj.  He's kinda part of Sephiroth.
Zoe:  Wait, Radish, did you say?
Gwen: *dissolves into giggling puddle*

Anyway, armed with the knowledge that Tifa is the "one with the big boobs" and Radish, Laws and Yahoo are made up of Sephiroth, I'm going over to Wiki and see what else I can find.

Damn, I have a killer headache, and not even the heavy duty painkillers seem to be touching it. Well, actually, as long as I don't move my head, it's not too bad, but I'm afraid to walk upstairs. I think my brain might actually explode. I haven't felt this bad since I read Celebrian.

I'm also packing, doing laundry and cleaning the house. Okay, I've also been watching Corner Gas all day.  They've had a marathon on for Canada Day.  I love that show.

I'm taking the kids to my Mom and Dad's for a week or two.  Houston gets to stay home with Ol' HD.  I can't wait to go, I've been missing my folks and my sisters something awful.  The kids are all excited to see their friends down south.  Cade wants to bring his new best friend with us, but I don't think his parents will go for it.  I think all my relations are coming up to see us at the end of August, so it's going to be cramped at Chez Zoe.

Sybil/Smaug is settling in nicely.  She's going by both names now.  It depends on who is calling her.   She's started sleeping on my bed when Houston's at work.  Boo Boo is still giving me the business, and if Houston goes near Syb, she gets right pissed off. 

So I'm off to my vacation, have fun all!

BTW, Houston hit a porquipine the other night.

Great days!

Yesterday, our Gwen danced in her recital/competition at school.  She was so amazing!  She used the ribbons from gymnastics and chose Rebel Yell as her song.  I was so proud of her!  It was her first choreography project and she rocked!  Today we found out that not only did she place fourth in the dance competition, she won an award for most improvement in Drama.  She got a cool little trophy with her name engraved and everything.

Today I got all the kids off to the bus on time.  I have a policy of not going back to bed until at least 9:30, just in case someone calls.  So there I was drinking my tea, and Tris called.  Turns out that today was Shadow Someone day, when all the kids follow a parent or a friend around at work.  Tris didn't have anyone to follow, the insurance won't cover riders in Houston's truck, so he got to come home and shadow me.   Just in case he ever decides to choose a career as a homemaker.  I can see his report now.

My Day as a Mom, by Tristan.

My Mom got us off to school and then drove to school to pick me up.   We went to the bank to get money.   We went to Tim Horton's to get coffee and breakfast sandwiches.  I got a hot chocolate and a donut.  We went home.  We drank coffee and ate.  Papa watched the news.  We talked for a while.  Mom says I don't have to smoke to do her job.  Mom read her book and I played on my DS.  Papa watched the news.  Mom fell asleep and I played on the Game Cube.

Actually, Tris was counting up all my job titles:

Taxi Driver, Alarm Clock, Lunch Lady, Nurse, Laundry Person, Cook, Cleaner, Pharmacist, Receptionist, Accountant, Caterer, Child Care Worker, Armchair, (when someone sits in my lap),  Theologin, Philosopher, Writer, (Please excuse Sabrina's absence from school yesterday, she had a stomach bug), Reader, Judge, (I don't care who started it, I'm finishing it), Elder Care, Support Staff, Animal Trainer/Husbandry, Gardener, Library Liason, and so on.  He's assured me that he really doesn't want to grow up to be a housewife.

Cade has been going on trips and activites all week.  Yesterday he tie-dyed a shirt, now we have matching ones, and wore it to his trip to the movies.

Bree is failing French.  I guess it can't all be good news.  Tomorrow I'm off to the talent show at the boy's school to see Tris perform Saria's Song on the xylophone.  How long till school lets out?  *is exhausted*

Why do the last few weeks of school always seem so crazy?  Trips, dance recitals, activites, you name it, we got it goin' on! 

It's finally decided to warm up around here.  We've got the fans going full blast.  And Ice Caps are replacing Large Double Doubles at the Timmys.  But it's still too cold to swim yet.  Which is driving poor Cade crazy.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to summer holidays.  I'm going back down south for at least a week when school lets out.  I don't know if I'm going to let Joy and Sylvie drag me to the bingo, though.  I got pretty much bingoed out last time.

Been working on some fanfic again.  And killing mosquitoes.  They keep sneaking in when I let Sybil in and out.  She's decided the best place to sleep is on my book while I'm reading it.  *sigh*  But the mosquitoes are driving me crazy.  We had so much rain this spring that they are everywhere.

Houston's attept at destroying all the indiginous life in the province continues.  This week's victim, a moose.   Yes, 'Crow, a moose.  Not a titmoose.  It walked out in front of his truck in Algonquin Park, and that was the end of it.  Unfortunately, the moose did not survive.  Also unfortunately, he didn't have any way to bring the the carcass home.  There's a lot of meat on one of those, and it is tasty.  We wouldn't have had to buy meat for a year.  So far his tally is:

Deer:  At leas six that I remember.
Wolf:  One
Rabbits: Several
Groundhogs, squirrils, porquipine: Manys

He needs to hit a bear and Sasquatch to round out the collection.

He's fine, and the truck was just a little cracked up.  Nothing serious.


OVERHEARD:

Brina to Cade, who has wandered into the living room wearing a t-shirt (the one you sent,'Crow) and underpants, while eating a rice crispy square:

"Those are for lunch, and where are your pants??

Bree then looked at me and said, "That's a thing I never thought I'd say."

PETA calls for boycott of Canadian Maple Syrup to protest annual seal hunt.  Cause y'know when we finish clubbing the babies to death, we milk the mamas for the syrup!  I heard a reccomendation for farmers to start labeling the bottles "No Seals Were Harmed In The Making Of This Product"

Table Talk:

Cade:  But everyone at school has Pokemon Platinum!  I can't wait for my birthday!  It's not fair!
Zoe:  Oh, let me tell you a story.  It's so sad, it'll break your heart!
Kids:  Oh, Lord, is this the story about your legwarmers again?

More things I never thought I'd say:

Stop executing your brother and put your socks on!
If you miss your bus again, you are walking to Nottingham!
I found Song of the South online!
I may not have been a perfect mother, but I never let you sleep in the clock*
Turn that down!
I am the KERPLUNK champion!
Yes, you can take my limited edition LOTR Monopoly game to school.
No, I don't think Vanna and Pat are married.
No, I didn't know they got divorced at the same time.
No, you don't hear much about their personal lives.
Hacksaw blades?  In the drawer.  Don't cut yourself.
Yes, that mushroom does look like a brain.
No, I didn't see the skull.
Yes, that's a bird skull.
I don't know if pontoons will fit on your bike.
I'm pretty sure blow up sharks won't work.

*Okay, I guess I should explain that, we were watching Peter Pan, and I'd had a drink or two...

New Cat now has a name.  Houston gave it to her.  She's now called Sybil At The Switch.  Sybil for short.

I had a job for a bit.  It didn't work out.  This Zoe is waaay too old for that kind of heavy labour.  (And too fat, but we won't get into that)