Thank you to everyone who signed my guestbook or left me a note to reassure me that I'm not damaging my relationship with my son or showing extremely bad parenting skills, by allowing him to share the details of his day without scolding him about language or his role in the events he shares with me.

It means a lot to me to know that I have your support and you don't think I'm being lax in my parenting.

He also told me last night that one of his friends made reference to a maneuver called the angry dragon within ear shot of a teacher then had to explain to the teacher what it meant. I asked John if he knew what it was and damned if he didn't.

"Son, where did you learn that?"

"School."

"I see my education tax dollars are hard at work."

"Nah, Brett told me."

I was about to ask how Brett knew, but decided at the last second before the question left my mouth that I didn't really wanna know. I'll let his mother worry about that.

Zoe is still sick. The transmission in Larry's Beetle is being replaced so I had no wheels with which to take her to the doctor. My mommy, however did. Another strep test was performed. Negative. No sign of sinus infection. Lungs clear. Sinuses supposedly clear.

Okay, sure. That's why I had to prop her up in a car seat to sleep and can still hear her chugging away via the nursery monitor.

Larry and I have come to the conclusion that the doctors are seriously missing something. She's been sick almost constantly since John started school, which means her contact with her brother is giving her multiple, concurrent viruses, or she is suffering from allergies. I keep the house as clean as I can, but dust does build up sometimes, so it could be that. We have no furry or feathered pets so it can't be a pet dander allergy. In fact we may not even have the fish much longer. Moby's got to be getting old now. Once she takes her final swim to the great pond beyond, it is my intention to not get any more pets for awhile. It's just too much work right now. When I'm ready I'll get some more hermit crabs. They're cute, they're funny, they're lovable and they require about as much care as a cactus.

Anyway...

Once we get Zo-etta past this round of yuckyness I want to get her to an allergist as quickly as possible before she relapses again. The man who treated John's allergies was excellent and it was obvious he really loves working with kids. He's got the cutest personality and made us both feel completely at ease. He also got John's allergies under control and kept him from having a very lousy, sneezy, strung out stoned and tired from decongestants summer.

When we took the babies to the doctor today I didn't have the car seats so Zoe had to use her old one. It's too small for her, but I can't exactly expect her to stay strapped in without her seat. Trent, on the other hand, did very well. The novelty of riding without his car seat had him smiling and content through the entire drive. So enthralled was he, that the only articles of clothing he shed were his shoes.

Now that's special.

I may not be back to update for one or two days. I have so much to do and Zoe's being down with this virus or allergy or whatever it is keeps me busy. She allowed me about 90 minutes of sleep last night. I got another two hours this morning, but I'm really dragging.

I just wanna have some veggie sushi and go to bed. For a week.

I can't seem to get the house clean enough to make me happy because of all the attention the babies need. I give it to them and my chores suffer for it. Larry says it isn't a big deal but to me it is. I'm not only very picky about how I want my house to look, but very proud when I feel that I've made it look nice.

I do enjoy that time with those babies though.

I guess what bothers me is that after all of this time I've discovered that the superwoman ideal my mother created as an example for me by working full-time and taking perfect care of our home as we were growing up is not my reality.

Ah well. They'll never be this age again so this is my one chance to enjoy them - as they are right now.

The housework will always be there later.

P.S. - If you're waiting for design help from me, I haven't abandoned you. As soon as Zoe is better I'll get right on it. Right now I have so much to do and very little time to sleep, so I'm taking my opportunity to rest when it presents itself. I will help you with those, though. I promise. :o)