Karin pulled a melodrama queen evening, flinging herself about with over-the-top declarations of the impossibility of slumber. She CAN’T close her eyes. She CAN’T go to sleep. She CAN’T stay in her bed. I’m so tempted to find a pacifier and stick it in her face, it’s not even funny. Anders thinks she’ll get over this pretty quick once she’s back on a regular schedule with daycare and too tired to do this kind of thing every night, but I have my doubts. It’s like she has to test every boundary and go in the opposite direction of everything we...

I have such mixed feelings about the whole LJ Friends thing. On the one hand, I really enjoy the community aspect and look forward to comments and reading what others are into and up to, but I’m not much into the politics and even though it’s stupid, I admit to feeling a little sting of rejection when someone drops me from their Friends list, even though I do it myself, in an increasingly futile attempt to keep my online life under control. Ultimately, I don’t care, and my needs for validation are taken care of quite well in many other...

I’m doing it again. I’m doing it right now! I don’t even want to stop! I’m STAYING UP LATE! Dag Nab It. I ate a normal portion-sized dinner and have been fighting cravings all evening long. A few minutes ago I went into the kitchen to, um, browse, and upon opening the refrigerator, said, “Isn’t there anything in here I can eat without getting fat?” Anders laughed at me, but he didn’t have any answer. Hmph. It was cold today. Bone chillingly, ice crackingly, knee sufferingly cold. I know this because I spent 2.5 hours out in it, patiently waiting...

Getting out of bed is impossible in the morning after you’ve been up to 3 a.m. web-surfing, watching horrible late-night TV, cuddles and conversation in bed. galestorm and I had great fun at IKEA yesterday and in the restaurant we discovered a candy bar by the cashier with the rather suggestive name of YANKIE. Just because candy bars have a phallic shape doesn’t mean you need to give them any ideas. Turns out it was a Danish candy bar and a yummy one: very 3 musketeersy with a little bit of caramel. Mums. Questions Anders has been asked at 3...

Can you search for “feeds” like comics and news sites or are they in the regular communities? and what the heck is JABBER? (It’s a search category, but what does it bring up?) Edited to ask GALE! Was the comic you mentioned tonight Sinfest?

3 things that made me laugh out loud last night while watching bad TV: 1. What is UP with Jay Leno’s hair?! He looks like a reverse skunk. 2. Dana Carvey, doing a Dubya impression, said, “Jaysus, Obi-wan, put a sock in it,” and the Swedish subtitles translated it as, “Beklagar, Obiwan, gnäll inte.” 3. “You’re either SWAT…or you’re not.” Tagline from the S.W.A.T. movie trailer with Colin Farrell. Well, DUH. I didn’t realize this, but I’m officially a baby boomer. I thought baby boomers were babies born at the end of WWII, that is, those born in the 40’s...

If it’s true what galestorm said earlier, that you’re going to spend the new year doing what you did the first day of it, I’ve got a fairly boring year coming up. But it involved sleeping in and getting things done, so it won’t be all bad. Things Karin has used as attempts to get up in the last hour, after being put in bed and told to stay there: I’m hungry, I’m bored, I’m not comfortable, I’m thirsty, I have to pee, I need a comfort rag, I want my bappas, I don’t want to be alone, I can’t...

The temperature dropped drastically yesterday and we went out at midnight to a crystal clear, frosty night with fireworks already crackling around us. We walked up around the corner to the open field and set off our own fireworks while watching the light show. Angie’s little boy Alex is terrified of fireworks and, forced to come with us, he had Anders’ ear protectors over his hat and his eyes screwed tightly shut for the entire half hour we were outside. Karin had a blast being in charge of the fireworks and choosing which rockets to give her daddy to light....

Our sleep/wake schedules get completely screwed when we’re on vacation. We stay up way too late, and as a consequence, sleep even later in the morning. I, who could happily sleep in until 10 every morning, passed that mark today because I was up past 1:30 and Anders woke me up when he came in at 3:30 a.m. Karin gave her pacifiers to Santa and has been struggling all week since to fall asleep at bedtime. Normally, she’s asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow. Now, she’s awake for several hours, with huge dark circles under her eyes,...

Conversation a few minutes ago that made me laugh until I cried: Karin: Mama, can you sing the Charlie song? Me: What? *puzzled look* What Charlie song? Karin: You know, the fa-la-la-la-la song. Me: Oh! You mean Deck the Halls? Karin: Yes! That one, the Charlie song! Me: (singing) Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, ‘Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la OH! JOLLY! hahahahaha!!!