(no subject)

My day thus far:

1. Swim class with the boys, then the beach. Holy cats, this town actually has a beach! Okay, it's only as long as my driveway, but it's sandy and there's water. And half the population was there this morning. Yeesh.

2. The ritual juice-and-meat male bonding. I was told, by my two-year-old son, to stay in the car while the men got the meat and juice. Zweeble ate a whole beef stick himself (quit snickering, Jason). Also squirted himself in the face with his grape juice, so he looked like he had purple chicken pox.

3. Home to shower and get myself together to take my car in for a brake check. I figured I'd take my grading and wait. Go to print out the grade sheets I made up (so I can keep track of percentages and stuff), and the paper keeps getting drawn into the machine crooked, then the printer says something is jammed.

After lots of swearing, a lint-free cloth, the instruction manual, two sets of roller cleanings, and lots of wrinkled paper, I find the problem.

Remember those fuzzy worm things with the googly eyes? They have a long bit of clear plastic thread attached to their noses, and then you hold the thing and twitch the thread and it looks like it's moving by itself? Scott got one for the Zweeble. The Zweeble thought the worm was evil and wanted it AWAY, NOW. Mommy put it in the office, on the printer.

Well, today I found it in the printer.

A pair of tweezers, a pair of pliers, and three or four fervent prayers later, the printer is fixed and working fine. Canon Pixma MP610 all-in-one, bay-bee. Survives even fuzzy worms.

I, however, am not going to the dealership today.

4. I made myself a microwave Lo Mein thing that's been in the cabinet forever--the pantry is starting to get a little bare. Two bites in, I realize that not only does it look like Klingon food**, it also tastes like Klingon food.

I take it out and pass Scott. "Cheerios it is, then!" I say, toasting him with the carton of blech.

"That bad, huh?"

"Oh, it's nasty."

"Let me try a bite!"

(This, as many of you know, is really a cornerstone of our relationship.)

He takes a bite, chews, and his facial expression goes from an eager "Let's try the pure evil, it's an adventure!" to a slightly disappointed "That's not so bad" to a slow dawning "Wait, wait ... that is bad. Really bad. Nasty and evil bad." He swallows, and then looks both disgusted and satisfied at the same time. A sight to behold, I assure you.

We both had Cheerios for lunch.

Now I have to clean up the office and get to work. Hopefully things will be uneventful from here, but one never knows.



**Lo mein in general doesn't look Klingon, just this stuff.

Packages, packages, in my mail ...

Last Monday I noticed that the zipper was pulling away from the material on my super-awesome diaper bag. Upon closer inspection, it was separating in a number of places. Now, really, I have used this bag close to constantly since I bought it. It's been in day-to-day use, zillions of trips to the park, to North Carolina and Ohio, the zoo, the beach ... I've used a different bag now and then just for a change, but then I get annoyed after a day or so and go back to the super-awesome diaper bag. Everything is just so convenient in it.

So I was disappointed because I like the bag, but considering what I've put it through, I felt pretty satisfied.

Now, knowing me, you'd think I'd be slightly gleeful--hey, excuse for a new bag! And I was, a little. But then I looked around a little and found myself sadly contemplating the bulky, velcro-shutting, cartoon-or-pink-and-brown-flowered baby bags on the shelf ...

... so I had a little birthday money left and decided I'd just order another one.

And on the Babies R Us website, I found a review by a mother who had the same thing happen (though way sooner for her), and she got a new bag through the company because the bags have a two-year warranty.

So I figured what the heck, may as well ask, and I called the customer service number. And they sent me a brand-new replacement bag! Which I got today! It's hanging up because it smells like its been living in a plastic bag somewhere (which it has been), and I need to mail my old one back within 25 days or they'll charge me for the replacement, but I have my bag back. I'm hoping that the zipper will hold out okay, at least as long as the last one did, but if it doesn't, hey, I didn't pay for this one. I'll be sad, but not annoyed at myself for spending the money.

And the customer service lady was really nice.

I also got one of the t-shirts I bought myself for my birthday. It's yellow, has a picture of a pirate, and says, "When life gives you scurvy, make lemonade."