Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday dear Tooooommm!
Happy Birthday to You :)

The damn sushi place is closed, so we'll have to go to lunch there tomorrow instead. Bummer :(.

Nesting

Ovulation seems to be bringing on the nesting urge for me. Either that, or the fact that the temperature has gone up over 5F has made my body think it's time for spring cleaning. I spent the day tearing apart Jude's room and reorganizing the furniture and going through all of his outgrown clothes. I have a dearth of 12 mo clothes, which is the size he's quickly growing into. I will have to hit up some of my friends and see if they have anything!

Then I cleaned the bathroom and my bedroom, and made the girls put away their laundry. I need to vacuum their rooms tomorrow and tackle the playroom. I got a whole basket of stuff taken downstairs and put away. Then I at least got the kitchen straightened up. I need to sweep and mop again there and in the entryway. All this snow makes everything so sloppy and muddy. I also got about 4 loads of laundry done and put away. I slung Jude for part of all this, but he took a HUGE 2.5 hour nap today. I kept checking on him to make sure he was alright, because he fell asleep when I laid him on his tummy to play. I left to pee and when I came back he was sound asleep!

Sullivan the puppy is doing well. He is easily redirected from chewing on stuff that he shouldn't have, and housebreaking is going as well as can be expected. Having practiced some EC w/ Jude, it helps with the dog. I've got him going out very frequently, and only had a few accidents today, but yesterday was better. He is funny - if he can find a scrap of blanket hanging off of our bed to sleep on, he'll do that rather than go in his crate, but he whines at night to go out when he has to pee, so that's good news!

Last night we went to MILs for Tom's bday dinner (his bday is tomorrow) and took the puppy, who played darn well with her dog, a Jack Russell mix. He really held his own, despite being smaller and young. He LOVES Jude and tries to steal the sheepskin to sleep on - when I put Jude on it, he snuggles up and slowly pushes Jude off of it ;). Jude doesn't seem to mind. He loves Sully and loves to touch him. I stya right there and supervise, because sometimes S. gets playful and wants to chew on Jude's hands, but always stops right away when i tell him to be gentle. Good dog!

The girls watched Princess Diaries 2 a couple of times and King Arthur, which was rather gory, but Emma loved it. I rented movies on Friday night. Emma was to have friends over, but they both fell through, so she ended up staying overnight with a teammate from the gym. Then she and Soren had a bowling/ late bday party to go to yesterday morning, which was a blast. I stayed since Soren wanted me there and tried to help a bit. Jude fell asleep (who falls asleep at a bowling alley?) in the Moby Wrap and was generally pleasant, as usual :).

So, a good weekend. tom got the apartment cleaned out this weekend, which was part of my purging I think. I knew there was stuff coming from there that needed to have room made for it. I got annoyed with him today for being so putzy. He's been off all week and has spent the whole week doing god knows what. I guess I made him feel guilty because he came home and did the dishes.

Tomorrow, Emma has an interview to be a mother's helper at 9:30 a.m., so I got them to bed super early, which was lovely. It was nice to have some quiet downtime before *I* go to bed for once!

Oh, and Danielle got me bookshelves for my bday and Solstice, so I put those up today and unpacked a few boxes of books. I am finally seeing the the light at the end of the tunnel. I think with 2 more bookshelves, we'll be set. They were super easy to setup. They just fold down and can be stacked, so I'd like to stack one set and then put another shelf someplace else. We can put it in our bedroom if we ever get Soren in her own room again. One reason I did Jude's room today was to see where I can put the twin bed when we move it out of here. It looks like there will be plenty of room if I take the portable playpen down, and especially once there isn't a changing table. It will be a good guest room in the meantime.

Enough blathering. I'm going to try and get Jude to sleep. I'm beat. We stayed up late 2 nights in a row, drinking wine and watching movies. I need some rest, as I have to work tomorrow evening and it'll be a late night.

he who is named

nak, so no caps. the dog is now names sullivan, or sully for short. from monsters inc., vause emma kept telling him, "i'm waaatching you, wazowski," and i said we could'y name him that, but hey, what about sully? and miracle of miracles, everyone liked it :)

i went for my eye exam today and found out that I'm getting less near sighted (old age, bring on the bifocals when I hit far sightedness LOL) but have more astigmatism, so my rx was quite different. I picked out new frames. they'll be done tomorrow, yay! I've been dealing with an outdated rx since halfway through pgncy and broken frames since jude was a couple weeks old. woot!

baby and puppy are sleeping, so off to switch laundry.

Thanks for the comments! Yes, the job loss is really a blessing. He is already much more his old self (like I know what that is?? LOL), and has been working on Mike and Danielle's frozen pipe problem, ugh! He volunteered in E's class today at Lilac Children's Garden which they both enjoyed.

THEN, while they were there, I went to the animal shelter and found a lovely puppy. After LCG, we went to meet him and decided to adopt him. We've been looking into adopting a dog for quite a while now. I know it seems crazy with a new baby, but I want them to grow up together and I want a puppy who will grow up with the girls. I have missed my dogs desperately. Once we get past the puppy stuff, which will pretty much coincide with Jude eating everythign and potty training ;), it will be pretty smooth I hope. He's a german shepherd mix, I think with Boxer, very cute, all beige with a black face and adorable little ears. He's all snuggled up in towels, sound asleep by my desk right now. He had a bath when we got home, and has been great about peeing and pooping every time I take him out! What a guy :). We bought a crate and will crate train him. I adore him. He doesn't have a name yet.

We are thinking:
Tuesday (Tom's other two dogs were named Sunday and Friday after the days he got them on)

Hagrid

I have been calling him HWSNBN or Voldemort all night until we pick a name, but that's not really in the running.

Strider (instead of Aragorn)

Frodo

Pippin (Tom has vetoed this, but i like it!)

He's only 8 weeks old, 13 lbs (less than Jude!) and is sweet and smart. He already knows how to sit and is very responsive to "no!" the girls will get to know him soon; they're still a little intimidated by his energy and liking to chew on their hands. I'm teaching them how to deal with it. We will take a 6 week puppy class and then obedience. I want them to go along and learn how to be a part of that.

Anyway, off to bed. I'm beat...long day. I'll try to post a pic of the new baby when I get a chance!

Free time for Tom

He's finally going to get some, because...tada! He got fired today! Yay! I know that sounds crazy, especially given how much I bitch about money, but his job has become a major source of stress.

They are just evil people.

1. He had one on-call day a week, where he couldn't leave the complex and so I would always pack us all up to stay there.

2. They wouldn't let us get rid of the townhouse or downsize to an apartment and give him the money in his paycheck. So he made $8.75 an hour to work his ass of and have a house that we didn't use.

3. They never even verbally gave him condolences when his dad died (although the office girls gave him a card) and they never congratulated him on the birth of his first son.

4. They complained that he was thorough and did things right. They wanted him to rush things and do a half assed job so the apartments could get rented out faster and they could spend less money on paying the guys to make them right.

5. They expected him to be on call 24/7 if it was going to snow, which is ultimiately why he got fired. Because he chose to drive to PA with us in icy/snowy conditions instead of stay here to help shovel.

6. He's been asking for a copy of the employee handbook (which might have outlined that he really *did* have mandatory overtime?) since May, and they still "haven't finished it," and "they are not legally required to have one for their employees."

7. They didn't even give him a verbal or written warning and they fired him over the phone when he got to work early this morning.

8. They fired him, even though he called his boss on Saturday morning to tell him he wouldn't be here this weekend (oh, and the guy hung up on him at the time).

9. He has never, not once, been told that he did a good job on something,e ven when he was the *only* guy who was outside in minus zero weather for 9 hours a day, 4 days straight last week. Oh, make that more like 12 hours a day, because he got called in to be there at 5 a.m. every one of those mornings to salt the sidewalks and stoops.

So...I'm glad he got fired. He was too ethical to "leave them in the lurch" and quit, and now he can work for people who love him, his clients that he had before taking this job. The only thing that sucks is that we lose our health insurance, but we can get Healthy NY for almost what they took out of his paycheck every month and he'll be making a lot more money working for himself.

So, I applied for unemployment for him online this morning, about 2 hours after he got fired, got insurance information sent to us, and am going to make an appointment for alternate insurance through the state, which isn't welfare, but is for low-income families. I also sent out a resume for a freelance job doing research for Berkeley.

I wish so bad I could go over to his boss and tell him what I really think. That jerk. He doesn't know what he's losing, but I know what we're gaining! Now he won't have to be away one evening a week, he'll get to spend more time with us, and he won't have to rush around all the time. It will be wonderful.

maybe he'll even get his sex drive back with all that stress gone ;).

OK, Jude pooped, Soren needs me to look at Barbie online and I have laundry to switch, math to teach, and dinner to make and then I ahve to go to work! Ack!!

But I get to sleep in w/ my dh tomorrow :)

He rolls!

Jude rolled from his tummy to his back last night! He's also arching and hollowing and scrooching all around on his back, and managed to wiggle off the blanket on his tummy last night too! He hasn't been sleeping well and I think it's because he's trying to practice these new skills :). Where has the time gone already?

I went to PT today *finally*. I've been needing to go since he was born. I have an injured IT band and loss of hip strength in my left leg. Need to do stretches, heat, massage and exercise hahah, where should I find the time? I'll have to though, the pain is irritating.

Off to PA tonight, they're getting lots of snow tomorrow morning and we'll come back to it on Sunday here in NY ;). We already have a lot! Even beating Syracuse on the snow rally this year.

OK, off to pack!

YES!

I refuse to actually admit to (dieting), but I've been tying to stop eating like I'm 20 when I could shove all sorts of crappy food into my body and lose weight ;).

I just would like to state that i got into a pair of my pre-pregnancy jeans the other day, OVER long johns! I am so excited :). Now I can dig out my other pants and have more to choose from! They're a little tight, but the next size up is a little loose, so I'm on my way, as long as I can keep eating a normal amount of food and not eat like a pig!

Yay!

What else...Jude is arching his back constantly. I don't know if he's trying to roll or what, but he does Not Want To Be Put Down. Ever. Thanks. I really think he's working on popping a tooth. He hasn't been his normal, cheerful self for 3 days now, poor chap :(. I want my happy baby back!

weekend antics

It was a busy weekend! Tom was on call Friday night, and the girls had a bday party down the block from the apartment, so that worked out well. they were pretty overstimulated by it. The girls are nice enough who had the party, but a lot wilder than my two, and it was a very loud event apparently.

Saturday, Emma and I went to the gym early, which she complained about bitterly ;), and then we took my MIL out to lunch and shopping at a little shop near our house to get a little box to keep some of Bob's ashes in. I've been at this shop a lot lately, but they never remember me!

Anyway, then we went over to Danielle's, where her kids were recovering from bronchitis. Her dh was in San Diego, running a marathon. she wasn't feeling too kindly about that, with 2 sick kids and a cold coming on herself! But we had a nice afternoon and evening.

Yesterday Emma and I got up very early and trekked off to Utica, NY for the Leatherstocking gymnastics meet. The team did amazing overall - taking first place by 3 whole points! It's interesting though, that they managed to do that with a mediocre meet by our standards. the girls didn't really seem "on." Emma did OK - got penalized on floor for her dance moves. She got an 8.1 on bar (missed her kip), 8.15 on beam, 9.05 on vault (yay!) and 7.85 on floor. The floor score was a bummer, because her elements were excellent. I was surprised at the low score. She cried again because she didn't get a medal, but got over it a bit easier this time. the next meet is even bigger ::sigh:::. I really think it will be good for her to compete this level again next year and get more confidence when she can win some stuff. She's doing very well - very average, but she likes to be wonderful :-/. In my eyes she IS wonderful, no matter what, and as much as I stress about how she's doing, I always give her positive feedback, as do her coaches, but she is harder on herself than we could ever be!

Soren stayed with Tom, and had a nice day from all accounts. I really missed her! So today is back to the grind. It's snowing like crazy. Tom went into work at 4 a.m. to shovel and I miss him already! Didn't see him hardly at all this weekend but he got Danielle's tub working! Now it just needs to be tiled :). Woot!

OK, off to shower and get my day started. I have a lot of stuff to do at work tonight.

birthday

So the girls got invited to a birthday party and in the spirit of disorganization and procrastination which rules my life, I waited until today, the day of the party, to go and buy a gift ;). We survived Target, although we ended up getting a dancing boohbah for Soren, because I screwed up and Santa only brought one that makes noise for Solstice. They were on clearance for 6.23, so I can't complain and the upside is that it drives Emma batty ;).

Tom's birthday is on the 31st, so we wrapped his presents too. I don't think he reads my blog, but I won't post what I got until then, just in case. He just told me that he wants a book too.

Off to make lunch, science museum in lieu of having to do math today, and then gymnastics, party and overnight at the townhouse.

Hump Day

Laura, first of all, the kids attend a Waldorf-based program for homeschoolers from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays. They do recorder, drama, knitting, form drawing, singing, etc. They LOVE it. I have met some great friends there and so have the girls. It's called Lilac Children's Garden. (Rochester is big on Lilac's).

I know that things will be OK with Tom and I. I just hate having all this baggage. And I refuse to do the armchair therapist thing with him. BTDT and it doesn't help.

So, in other lovely news, my ex wants to decrease his child support or claim one of the kids on his taxes. Isn't that nice? I try not to complain about him becuase he's been pretty reasonable about the kids, but I want to kill him sometimes. He's broke because of HIS actions and HIS medical expenses and so he's trying to bilk me by using the kids. What nerve, especially after wanting me to grant more visitation when (if??) he moves here. Now it turns out that he owes money in order to get his license back.

In other news, Tom's mother had to go to the ER tonight, as she had fibrillations. She was at the eye doctor getting tests done for her cataract surgery that's upcoming and they discovered that her heart rate was really high. They did a chest xray, bloodwork and gave her some IV meds but she has to make an appt. to see the cardiologist.

Emma freaked out when I told her about it in the car. I had to keep reassuring her that Nana is OK and that they wouldn't have let her go home if everything wasn't OK.

And poor Jude. My friend's daughter bonked him with a toy today and he has a red mark on his head; then Emma was carrying him and bonked him into a bookcase and he got another red mark and a bump! She was sooo upset. Cried and cried and begged him not to be mad at her and kissed him over and over. Poor kid. She forgets that he's not as sturdy as he seems to her sometimes. He really cried too - he's so protected and just a little baby and doesn't expect life to ever hurt! And of course it shouldn't for the little guy.

Well, not sooo little ;). He has grown out of all his PJs! But he's OK now and finally in bed. and that's where I'm heading too!

tough day

Yesterday was a tough day. Tom and I had some talking to do - I guess first year of marriage, new baby woes, and it was very exhausting. I was shocked at the level of his low self-esteem. He got very frustrated when I pushed him to talk and finally admitted (exploded?) that he never has talked to anyone and nobody really knows him. Well, duh, that's what I'm *trying* to do better!

It kind of freaked me out though - I still have a lot of baggage and fear from David and I ended up being really upset and crying for a long time. I hate being afraid like that - afraid of being hurt. He felt just awful about it.

I think I am going to see if Catholic Social Services offers any free counseling here. I'm sure they must. Not that I think our marriage is in trouble, but he has sooo much trouble getting below the surface - it might be helpful, because I just don't have it in me to probe and play armchair doc. Nor do I want to. Too much of that shit with David.

ramble, ramble...

The kids went back to waldorf yesterday and it was great. it snowed and they had a blast. Played outside for about 45 minutes.

Just found out that I'm babysitting this morning so have to run. It will be fun though. Emma and Soren's best friends. Yay! Then off to the library and yoga moms and have to work tonight.

Thank goodness for babies. Even when everything else sucks, they wake up with a smile which is hard not to respond to. And they make you keep living life, even when you don't feel like it in the least.

Internet

I have been trying to get IE and OE off my computer and I'm furious at how difficult it is. I still haven't managed it. I've switched to Opera and Firefox, but my blog isn't showing up correctly in Firefox and I don't know why :-/. I'm about ready for a new template again anyway. I need something bright and sunny since it's so damn gray here!

books

So I've been really getting into reading again. Not just blogs ;). But just in case you're interested, I found a link to Neil Gaiman's blog at One Good Thing, which *totally* made my day. I love Gaiman. I just read American Gods, which was amazing.

I'm also totally addicted to the new message board , which is the first time in a while that I've really been actively involved in a board. Pretty cool. Not that I have time for it.

I'm just back from PA. I got the car cleaned out and all the crap put away. We ended up running out to my MILs to have dinner. Jude of course started screaming in the car as soon as it got dark. Very frustrating and sad.

I got the hard drive from my MILs old 'puter hooked up to my computer and now have 3 gig more space! Woot! So I can get more music. Now I need to find a good price on a CD burner. any suggestions? I'd love one. Now that my computer is in my bedroom, I'd like to listen to more music downstairs, but a lot of the newer music I only have as MP3s on my computer ::sigh:: I can't afford one till spring at the earliest I'm sure, but I definitely want one.

Yo from PA

It took me 5.5 hours instead of 4 to get here. I had to stop *5* times to calm Jude down. He hates driving at night. Tonight on the way back to Erica's from my mom's house, I had to drive w/ the dome light on the whole way. Is this illegal? I don't like it but it's less stressful than that heartwrenching sad cry that he makes.

My stomach is in knots. I am trying to talk to Tom about something and I wrote him an email that i know he has read but he hasn't acknowledged it. Why are men so stupid sometimes? And then I spent the afternoon with my mom, and my teeth hurt by the time I got back here. I grind my teeth trying to keep from screaming at her I think. Everything I said was up for argument today. I'm a stupid mother, apparently. And when I ordered calzone for dinner, she even argued with *that*! Calzone's not dinner! It's not? WTF?

And all this on top of Jude screaming from NY to PA. I can't wait to drive home. At least I'm picking the girls up at 2 so I can drive mostly in daylight.

I've had a good visit with Erica and her roommate Anne though. We had a lovely chat last night and this morning. And Erica has good wine, which I'm drinking. Jude went to sleep, thank scissors. Long day. Have to go see my dad tomorrow and discuss some limitations with him and the staff. Fun shit.

OK, done griping ;).

I've decided that jude is left handed. He grabs everything w/ that hand. Today my mom and I tried an experiment where we even held a toy at his right side and he reached across with his left hand to grab it :). He was smiley again today, despite traveling and his icky cough.

I can't wait to go home. Weird to think of Rochester as home now. I feel like I'm visiting PA now. I wont' have a house officially in February as it's being sheriffed off. Very sad :(. I haven't told the girls, just told them it's not ours anymore.

Ramble...ramble. I wish desperately that Tom would talk to me and get this resolved. Think communication thoughts!

pathetic

I just looked in the mirror and my shirt was on backwards AND inside out. OMG. I need help.

we were going to go to the science museum today, but Emma took forever to get started this morning, nad is having trouble focusing, so I gave up on it. I had given her plenty of time to get ready, but she just couldn't get it together.

We're going to PA this evening after Soren's ballet class. Can't wait. Ugh. It's supposed to be icy. I'm having SAD symptoms. Don't want to answer the phone, see anyone, be with anyone. Even the kids are distracting me from my goal of being *alone* darn them ;).

Jude was very fussy yesterday with his teeth and congestion. A bit better today and he slept last night thank goodness.

I got my solstice present from Tom yesterday finally. I wanted a solitaire ring, and I ended up getting a matching ring, earrings and necklace. It's so pretty - a fiery topaz, almost clear and iridescent.

Anyway, need to finish laundry so I have a pair of pants to take with me that fit. :::sigh:::

dreams and stuff

First of all, I've spent the last hour trying to free up space on my computer, as my it keeps getting full and I don't have any hardware expertise to change out my harddrive for a bigger one. I guess it's probably not that hard. I could call Dell I guess. ::sigh::

Anyway, I had all these weird dreams last night that i wanted to write down, but they're mostly foggy now that I've spent so much time in computer hell.

I did dream that I was writing a long post in Brash Hetty's blog about visiting Hawaii, but I wanted to mask that it was me posting somehow.

Then I dreamt that I took Joe to the UU with me and then we went out for coffee with the kids, and then he was sitting in my bed smoking (he never smoked!) and Tom came home and we all went down to the garage, but then I was suddenly married to david again, and we had twin girl babies upstairs, and while we were in the garage, there was a huge earthquake and I was screaming and ran up to the deck and inside to scoop up the babies and then I woke up.

Warped.

Monday

Oh, it's Tuesday. It still feels like Monday. I thought the kids had Waldorf today, and planned accordingly. Turns out they didn't! Thankfully I found out before I drove across town. I had to take Emma to the doctor anyway, as we all have the creeping crud, except for Soren. And I do mean all of us. Oh, except for the pets.

So, instead of Waldorf, we went to see the Lemony Snicket movie. It was good. I thought it was cool that Jude Law played Lemony himself. Emma really didnt' believe me that there was a famous person with the same name as her brother until she saw the credits. Speaking of which, I almost think the credits, with the music and artwork, were as good as the movie itself.

So then we went to my MILs for a bit, after we went to the doctor, who said that we had the creeping crud and to drink tea with honey. I gave Jude some Dimetapp a bit ago and he's sacked out, but he can finally breathe. It really sucks to try to nurse and breathe when your nose is clogged up!

Tom is still at his mom's. The starter in the truck died so he is replacing it. I *hope* it's the starter because if it's not, he just spent 3 hours doing something for no good reason. I'm beat, and should get the girls into bed, but it seems like too much effort to get up.

Besides, I don't want to wake Jude up, who is peacefully sleeping on my lap.

I had a productive day, despite being sick. I got the laundry caught up (OMG!) and dishes (OMG!) and the kitchen floor and down the steps swept and mopped. I vacuumed up the pine needles from the solstice tree yesterday, and got the playroom *almost* clean. It still has some random things lying about, and desperately needs to be vacuumed, but I'll get there. Soren's room is trashed. That's a project for tomorrow, as is going to the library.

I've been more focused and disciplined about homeschooling since before xmas, so we're getting on track again after a week off. It's good and the girls seem to be doing well w/ a little more structure in their lives.

I applied for a copyeditor position today, as well as a telecommuting job doing transcription, which would be ideal. I think I'd do it in addition to working at the gym, as I do love the gym most of the time, despite my whinging about it.

Anyway, think good thoughts!

Busy

Well, Happy New Year and shit like that.

I'm officially worn out by the holiday season. We spent NYE at the townhouse since Tom was on call. Mike and Danielle and the boys, Bernie, and Bob Q. stopped by. It was lovely. We were hoping that our friend Michelle would come over, but she didn't. I quite frankly wasn't suprised. She's been a tad bit self-involved lately. Whatever.

I'm ovulating, which is making me cranky. Just so you know.

Danielle and I went shopping on NYE day, and I got my Solstice/anniversary present. A mystic fire topaz earring/necklace/ring set. I've been wanting a solitaire ring, so we spent money we didn't have to buy me one. I also went to Pier One (oh, swoooon, I haven't been there in ages, and I love it!) and got my niece a bday present, and my BIL and his fiancee a xmas present (wine glasses).

So we drank Fat Bastard wine, and the kids played hard. My girls lasted till midnight, and so did James. We watched the ball come down, which was disappointing. For God's sake, who thought to have Colin Powell dropping the ball (snicker)? And somebody better cyrogenically freeze Dick Clark and just bring him out every year for New Years Eve, because what's his face who stood in for him just sucked. Sucked!

So Saturday we had Christmas at my MIL's house. The girls got a lot of fun little stuff. Jude got a wipes warmer and a camo outfit(!) hehe. And Tom and I got a pepper grinder that is battery operated and has a light. It's really cool! We also got car wash coupons. What a great idea with all the salt here! I'm quite happy with that gift.

Speaking of cars, the starter in the truck died Saturday night, so we're temporarily down to one car, but Tom's mom let him borrow hers tonight. Hopefully he can install the new starter (yours for only $29.95!) and get the truck running again tomorrow. I need to get my car in and aligned and get new tires before this weekend. It sucks in the snow and it's so out of whack - I'm worried about driving it to PA this weekend.
Which reminds me, Erica, if you're reading, can I crash with you this weekend?

In other news, I measured Jude today, because I suspected he was outgrowing the infant car seat. Yep. 25 3/4 inches and he weighs right around 15 pounds according to the scale at my MIL's house. Holy shit! Emma weighed 15 lb. 3 oz at a YEAR! No wonder my back hurts hauling this little chub around ;).

He's teething like MAD and has been soaking all his clothes with drool, even with a bib on. He's been very congested the last two nights, poor little chap. We'v ebeen sleeping him in the car seat to keep him upright; otherwise he snores and chokes and splutters and snorts all night.

I went back to work today. Class went well. Jude was wonderful with Tom. What a dollbaby he is. Emma got her back walkover on beam last Thursday, if I didn't mention it. Very cool!

Soren did great today. She's been more cooperative lately and I've been trying to be more patient and have a sense of humor about her tantrums. It helps some.
Anyway, that's the news from Lake Ontario. Off to bed!