casual swearing

First week post-Grandparents and Mimi has started rehearsal for Once Upon A Mattress. I've been riding the bus to work in the morning so I can ride a different bus out to Mercer Island at the end of the day to pick up kid and car and bring them home. Mimi has been getting a ride home with Meggan, her stage manager. Mercer Island is the one place I can't get to on my scooter because you have to take the highway and my scooter isn't fast enough. More importantly, though, is the fact that I can't really ride Yuki around on my scooter, no matter how cute she would look strapped into her baby harness with a little baby motorcycle helmet.

I hate the bus. Just wanted to say that. I hate the bus.

Anyway, I worked from home on Friday because Mimi had rehearsal during the day and our nanny wasn't available. Did I mention we figured out day care? We did. Yay, us. Anyway, I worked from home on Friday. Yuki was an angel in the morning and we hung out in the office at home and I got a lot of work done. In the early afternoon I tried -- and failed -- to get her to take a nap. She grew more and more cranky until we approached late afternoon, or what we call around here, "The Bitching Hour." In one of our pre-birth classes, the instructor talked about late afternoon being "the witching hour" in terms of babies being in bad moods. I misheard her. We decided that "bitching hour" was much more amusing, so there it is.

Don't make her angry. You wouldn't like her when she's angry.

Anyway, when you have a crying baby who doesn't want to nap, doesn't want to lie down, doesn't want to sit down, and is only happy if you are holding her, it makes it hard to get much of anything done. So, ever-inventive lad that I am, I strapped her into the ol' baby-harness and did the one thing that I've grown quite adept at doing at times like these. Nintendo Baseball. Yuki likes it because she gets to be up high, I like it because . . . c'mon it's Nintendo Baseball, and Trixie likes it because in between innings I stop to rub her belly. Everyone wins. And Yuki is learning how and when to execute a sacrifice bunt.

So, last weekend when we took Mimi's parents down to Vancouver to visit their friends, we stayed for lunch at the home of Michi and Yuko. Michi is Hiro's friend from childhood who happens to have settled just south of us. Yuko is Michi's wife and a thoroughly charming woman. Together they have a dog named Hana. I don't think Hana has ever seen a baby. At one point Yuko was playing with Yuki (you still with me?) and Hana positively freaked out. She started barking and pawing at Yuko until Yuko turned her attention back to her dog. I was carrying Yuki in the Baby Bjorn and Hana followed us around the house for the next 10 minutes growling. You will be relieved to know that I refrained from making any "jealous bitch" comments.

Hmm ... seems I should have refrained for a few more minutes.

They did make peace before we left.

And if I haven't put you off reading this blog forever, I thought I'd let you know that Battle of the Worlds was positively atrocious, despite Claude Rains chewing up every last piece of cardboard scenery he stood near. This week brought us Zontar: Thing from Venus starring John Agar. Thank you Public Domain!

Girl whose Father is an embarrassment.

Finally, Mimi just read this over my shoulder, patted me on the back in what I will assume was a sympathetic manner, and mumbled, "I gotta get back in there."