If I keep this up, then I will lose all six of my faithful readers. Geez. :D

Today I cleaned the bathroom, and doing one load of whites right now, and am currently in the long process of making some bread dough. Tonight for dinner, we are going to have pumpkin soup in bread bowls! Neat. You see, when someone stays home like this, strange dinners are possible when you have the three and half hours to make them. I decided this year to print out a paper calendar and keep track of what we eat every day and on the back of it, I make a list of possible dinner options. It's SO much easier to figure out what's for dinner then, and makes it clear that we are not having dirty mac and texas hash every night of the week. In truth, it is more like once a month. It also helps to figure out how often we go shopping. So far this month we have only went shopping once and that was about 100 dollars.

Monday I was on goblin duty because of Martin Luther. The young one was sick and crabby and crying the whole day. The other one didn't take her pay attention medicine for a couple days and was in her own little world. Tough when the younger one wanted attention and wanted things her way. Normally she isn't so salty. At one point, she was just walking back and forth crying about "nothing was going right for her," and "there is no happiness for her" etc. etc. She is FOUR years old! And she sounded like a teenager. Geez. Finally I decided to pop in strawberry shortcakes - a berry merry christmas which is her favorite movie. Thank god she feel asleep. But as soon at the short movie was over the other one wanted to run around and dance and jump on the couch. No way was I gonna let the young one wake up (she really really needed that nap), so I let her watch another movie -- this time Hercules.

I think what struck me most, was my tolerance for letting them cry. Sometimes they just wanna cry and miserable and there is nothing you can do. On the good note, I earned 73 bucks for my efforts which will cover my birthday expenses. NOt that I am thinking I had to earn that for my birthday, mind you. I like to think of it as buffer for next month. Or something.

This last week I have also gotten TWO letters from people I NEVER get letters from. Amazing because they are the only mail I have gotten in the new year (aside from my Mom's letter and early birthday card). Usually I expect a little more. But then I guess I have been slacking a little too long inbetween the letters lately. Still, it's cool and I have been trying to make time and write and send out more. Which was easy while I was on goblin patrol because I didn't have anything else to do. Here, there is much more that distracts me. Cleaning, cooking, laundry and most importantly writing. So far I have three stories in the works (complete with research). Two of them I really like and the third I feel like I have to finish. Plus writing exercises galore to keep me in the mood.

Tim and I have been recruited into a reading group in which we get together with other "community folk" and students to discuss Globalization and it's Terrors and Prison Nation. This is a grant funded study and our first meeting is on this Thursday. Tim got the books yesterday and already read the first part and said it was extremely boring. Yah. What have I gotten myself into? Well, something. At least. It's been awhile since I have done something like this. I think the last real group thing I worked on was my writing group two years ago. We have to meet twelve times through the semester to discuss both of these books.

Hm. I went to the Inferno again last Saturday after I had vowed never to go again on my own accord. I will only go when it is Tim's suggestion from now on, and what do you know? Tim suggested we go. I think it helped that Ben and Jen, as well as Sarah asked if we were going to go. A little peer pressure goes a long way.

Tim joined a new gaming group. One of the people on his Mech League apparently lives in Middleton and has a group. So far he has gone only once (last weekend) and will have to go again before he can form a good opinion.

The animals are in a uproar! Restless, unhappy little buggers. Pluto looks bored most of the time. Migo wants to play constantly and yowls inthe middle of the night. Koopa runs for miles on her wheel and has been active a lot during the day time. The other two bitchs fight. I try to play with them and interact with them, but to be honest? It's boring and my attention saps after ten minutes. Migo especially needs at least 15 minutes a day because I have noticed she has stress spots on the back of her ears. Stress spots are when they lose the fur it it starts to thin. Speaking of which she has just licked my face and keeps headbutting mmy hands. I have to go. Blah;