Charlotte and I went to my parent’s “hobby farm” yesterday while Mark was playing in a poker tournament that never happened. Someone was killed at the Casino the night before, blah blah, you know how it goes.
Here are a lot of photos!

feeding the dog peas. yes i cut her bangs.

My first post about China is up on Tonic (my alterno-blog). I have never written a travelogue before, so I hope it isn’t way boring. I have an entry that is all about mocking fellow airline passengers. I wrote it with a PEN! and PAPER! That is coming eventually. If I can read my handwriting.
Go NOW!

Charlotte got sent home from “school” today for a near full body rash that she has been sporting off and on for the last several days, plus a little bit of a runny nose. I know it is an allergic reaction, I gave her some Benedryl last night and it was almost gone this morning. I understand preschool freak out though, so I took her to the doctor. Diagnosis: allergic reaction to unknown irritant. Irritant, heh. The doctor also gave her Zantac, like the stuff I used to take when I had heartburn pre-weight loss surgery. WTF? I could google why, but he said something about reducing something or another from the blood stream or insides of her whatwasthatagains?. She is not itchy at all, but it looks awful. It pains me to look, not because I am sympathetic, but because it looks gross. I also hate the mystery of the unknown “irritant”.
I am an AWESOME mom. She also has constipation and is still pooping in her pants. Cat barf is starting to be the bodily malfunction I look forward to the most.
Mommyblog post: ✓

Six years ago this past thursday, August 12st, I started my blog. My first entry involves avocados. It continues to be an awesome experience and the community of people who have web logs has just grown and gotten better. I often feel like I am a slack ass blog hostess, and, well, I often am. I remember painting a fence at my parents “weekend farm” when I was about 10 and my mother telling me that I always do things “half assed”. ‘Tis true, and here I am half assin’ it again.
Eleven years ago on Saturday Mark and I got married. We celebrated by having a lovely meal at a nice restaurant and then I threw up in a Dairy Queen. Ahhhh Weight Loss Surgery, I wish I couldn’t half ass you. Mark has been working hard to help me do some more things with the blog. You see, he does have a PhD in Computing Science, but he is a code doctor. If you wanted someone to write you an emergency program that would help you calculate your statistics in your office Hockey Pool, he is your man! If you need someone to bug fix the GUI interface in your Nintendo DS game code, CALL MARK! Web stuff? Not so much. But like so many overachievers before him, it figured shit out lickety split. I am not sure how someone so good at being good marries someone so half assed and being half assed, but dammit, I will take it. Hopefully Charlotte will get his tenacity for starting, finishing and doing things well, and get my nose and fashion sense.

photo: June 2005

10:00 pm, way past bedtime for child
Benoit (the cat): MEOW MEOW MEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOW
Charlotte (the child): BENOIT USE YOUR INSIDE VOICE!
Me: I am not sure Benoit has an inside voice.
Charlotte: well if he doesn’t use his INSIDE VOICE, no crunchies (cat food) FOR HIM!
I was trying to think of a suitable threat regarding USE YOUR INSIDES TO SLEEEEEEEEEP! but was too tired to come up with anything for my audience, a four and a half year old pre-school teacher to two cats.

New bloggy thing, an alterna-blog where i can do things that I cannot do here. All my China entries will be there, see the tonic button on the top. OK, not quite working yet. Mark is becoming my blog tech support, so go read his fabulous entry in this new foray. He just wrote a riveting post on a Canadian confection. To “test” out the style sheet. Hey Mark, the tonic button doesn’t go where it should, I get “links” (horribly in need of updating). I think the error is with the index.html vs. just the directory. Look into that.
Lots more soon.
xoxo

Yes, I could be updating. I do have stuff to write. I even took notes, with a pen! and paper! on our trip, but I am currently obsessed (belatedly) with the stupid twilight series of books. Bella and Edward. I can’t sleep until I am done. Everything else interrupts my READING about vampires! Please no spoilers. Will update soon. I am on book three.
I haven’t even looked at our photos yet. I have a problem.

how phallic is that last cover? I can’t believe these are marketed to teenagers. HEY YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!

home. It is 2:33 am MST and 8 hours later in China. Good times! Fast Times! More!
need sleep

Who knows when you will hear from me again! Maybe from the business centre at the hotel, but WHO KNOWS?
I am packing……

aaaaaaaaaaigh!
It is almost 8pm, we leave tomorrow at about 3pm.
xoxoxox

Charlotte’s preschool class is going to the lake tomorrow! Ok, it is a man made lake with sand hauled in from who knows where, but it is her first foray into water than doesn’t involve an indoor pool or a kiddie pool, ok, or a sprinkler. I am going with the kids and teachers. I don’t want to miss her reaction, hopefully I will get some decent photos. Of course, it is never a good time, but we are living for our intercontinental trip to China on Sunday. I must make sure we have enough clean gonch/underpants!
Also, (name dropping), I talked to my good good lovely friend Lisa Stone (of THE BlogHER), today and every time we speak she makes me feel better than I did before we spoke AND a little twinkly. Thank you Lisa.
I will post before I go, but I am going wireless while in we on on holiday. Well, laptop-less. You never know. I am going to bring a notebook and a pen. WTF?? I KNOW! I case I am inspired, hopefully I can read whatever I wrote when I get back and even more hopeful that I write anything down.
I am sort of looking forward to sleeping without a little troll jumping on me asking for milk or “that kitty”, or a snuggle at all hours of the night. She used to sleep through the night all the time! WTF? She is so cute though.