Don't worry - I'll give you an easy 'awww!' post of kids pics soon enough. 'til then, read this. :)

These kids, are kicking my a**.

As usual on Thursday's, Lisa went to dance class and I put the kids to bed alone. No biggie - I've done it a hundred times this year. (and before that statement starts a fire, let it be acknowledged that yes, Lisa has probably done it a thousand times in our marriage).

So all is quiet and well and I chose to go down to the basement, to read a little Stephen King on the throne and then take a long hot shower in my Fortress of Solitude.

Only the laundry sinks were again backed up, and water was about to overflow. Well bleep and bleep.  I went through all the normal steps, conceded something was again blocking the trap, vacuumed out the water, and tried to dump it down the sewer drain.

I say try, because I tipped it and dumped it over the basement floor.

I mopped up what I could, took the trap apart - yet another sock, and God knows (Smiley) how they wind up there - and put it back together. I took my shower, trod across my bacteria water ridden floor, and journeyed upstairs. Maybe an hour and a half had passed.

All - the - kids - were- up and watching TV in our bedroom. 

LuLu was resting comfortably on a child's patio recliner she apparently dragged inside at some point in the day. Smiley had taken a Pokemon-ish mask and glove set and put them on, realized the gloves squirted water, and filled them with Diet Pepsi. The baby was standing and screaming in her crib down the hall, and YaYa was just lying there watching TV and eating an apple, calm as calm can be.

For the next scene, picture King Kong as he escapes his bonds at the theater. I was the star of the show.

I can handle Smiley finally hitting a delayed 'terrible two's' at three, and LuLu is four, which in my experience is one of the most miserable years to deal with as a parent, and YaYa is just downright Evil by nature, a regular Junie B Jones, but c'mon!

A few years ago I wrote about a behavior chart we had for the oldest girls,one that worked well but was destroyed in the move. I think it's about time it was resurrected.

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Some positive news of the kids: Smiley can now say a slurred 'one more' on demand, YaYa has been invited by Lisa's childhood dance instructor to do a dance at her studio's recital, LuLu exhibited incredible politeness and self-assuredness while on a trip to the library with me today, and the baby possesses 7 teeth, digs cheerios and has started to crawl.

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Big day at work tomorrow, with the new owner coming in for a meeting and a big farewell party for the current, long-standing owners. No matter what,  a decade long chapter of my life is coming to a rapid close.

Hmm. I wish I could pop into my grandkid's history books and see what happens next, because the options, conceivably, suck.

* * * *

The appraisal came back on the house, and it was good news, a solid 10% increase in the value of our home in a just over a years time.

* * * *

I tenatively accepted that offer to write a weekly or bi-weekly column for that communtiy newspaper, with details to be worked out on Saturday.

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To all you commie pinkos out there, Happy May Day!