My blog turns 15 years old this month. Happy Birthday to Blog!

I emptied the dishwasher, took the boys to school, and did this. (I'm I hate telemarketers.)

Not sure how BK managed to catch Ehren's cold, seeing as they live half a nation away from each other and, oh yeah, have never met, but that did not stand in the way of germ transference. I was up from 9:30-11:30 trying to calm a sick BK. I fed him grapefruit, changed him, put him down in the playpen in the office (so as not to bother his four-year-old nursery roommate), left, couldn't stand the sound of him crying so I sat with him in the family room, that didn't work, sat with him in the office, which would have worked except right when I was dozing off I felt him stroke my arm and that sent him into gales of laughter. Tried bringing him to bed with me but he'd doze off and then get excited by the fact he was dozing off in mommy and daddy's bed so he'd start singing/talking. We're pretty sure he's added “Peter Cottontail” to his repertoire. Finally, I just put him down in the damn playpen and he cried it out for five minutes, slept for 10, cried it out for three minutes, and finally slept… until 4:00, when I had to get up and re-insert his binky. Truly, I am the best mom on the planet, present company excepted.

It's been a super-busy day, weighted with incessant rain and skies that prompted Lex to say, “The clouds are all gray.”

Class went great last night and then I figured out a big thread in my new play. It's funny how the building blocks that you don't know where they come from within you but you build with them anyway and boom, they pay off on a whole 'nother level. I love that.

I am further bolstered by the increasing realization that I am the author of the funniest joke ever written. My chicken-or-the-egg joke is funnier IMO than the Fishstick joke on South Park, the best joke by South Park since Clooney voiced kitty. It's fun.

Happy birthday Ehren; I love you!

After our hot-tub date, I was so exhausted that I went to bed at 9:00 and didn't do any reading before turning off the light. I think I was passed out by 9:03. Niiiice. Unfortunately, my 90-minute run on Sunday — which included distance, hard hills, and speedwork, plus negative splits — jacked up my foot something awful. I thought the side-bone of my left foot was all healed but apparently I was mistaken. Good thing I still have a sports-medicine doctor appointment on Friday. Good Friday, indeed. Now, I have a bandage wrapped around my foot, which means in this pouring-down rain, the only shoes I can wear are my Birkenstocks. Ahh, life, you torment me so.

Mmmmm. Just back from a three-hour date w/ my sweetheart Monstro. The first hour was spent at the local redwood hot-tub facility, where we spent the 1 hour gift certificate he gave me for our anniversary. Then, the second hour was spent at Mosaic Cafe, where we enjoyed fresh foods with Middle-Eastern spices and freshly squeezed juice. I was butter in his hands for the third hour, which was spent buying groceries at Stop and Shop. Now it's nearly 8:00, the groceries are put away, Monstro drove the babysitter home, and I'm seriously thinking it might be time to go to bed. Nighty night!

I am officially writing a new play. It is about a female stand-up comedian and a man who doesn't find her very funny, and why. I have written an entire page of stand-up comedy and will be sending it to the only stand-up comedian I know personally, for his illustrious comments. I think it will be a 10-minute play and I look forward to submitting it to Humana this year, once it's done.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Answer: The egg.

Why? … Because the egg got laid!

Last night was our first class back from Spring Break and about three minutes before class was going to start, one of my students strolled in and plunked a withdraw form on my desk.

“I'm withdrawing from this class,” she said.

I was a little surprised — her work had been solid and, to my best recollection, nobody's ever withdrawn from my digital photojournalism class so far into the semester — but I found a pen and signed her form.

“Wait a minute, let me see if I still have any of your work.” I flipped through my portfolio and couldn't find any quizzes, but did locate the printout of her self-portrait.

See, with the self-portrait assignment, I tell the students that they aren't to submit a caption. “Instead, I write the caption about you, using what I observe from your picture.” It's fun.

Or maybe not so fun for the more humorless… as I pulled out her self-portrait, which was of her leaning back against a “True Blood” poster, eyes shut, two bleeding puncture wounds on her neck, I said, “I loved this shot — very strong work.” The picture prompted me to write a caption that described her as romantic but edgy, and suggested that if she liked the Twilight books, then Breaking Dawn was probably her favorite.

She took her picture, leveled her gaze at me, and said, “I hated Breaking Dawn.”

By the time I thought to ask whether this was why she was withdrawing, she was already gone. Ta ta!

Yesterday, Monstro and I went to the kids' school to pick them up early. BK's nursery-school class has been studying pets, and as a way to augment the curriculum, the teachers planned a field trip to our local no-kill animal shelter. Monstro and I were particularly looking forward to it because this was the same shelter where we'd procured our cats about 5 years ago.

BK's teacher Peter gave us a clipboard with directions and questions to answer. BK is “pre-verbal” so we were to show him around and mark his responses. BK was quite taken with a scruffy grey mix pup — four months old and bounding with energy. I, however, had alerted the world that though we were going to an animal shelter, we would not be coming home with any new animals. The last thing I need is another small mammal to take care of.

BK's favorite part was running from one side of the doggie area to outside where the dog runs were. Lex's favorite part was holding a 10-week-old kitten, and petting Buster the Dixie Dog.

It was a great time. Thanks CEEC and Peter and June for putting it together. It was our boys' first field trip and they had a blast.