Well, fourth grade seems to be looking good for Joey. She *loves* her new teacher and has made some new friends in her class and the menacing Brandon has decided to leave her alone after arduously pursuing her for the past two years. I'm so glad. The last two years, she came home on the first day of school in tears and this year, all smiles and raving about Mrs. H, who has 3 children, ages 26, 23 and 9. (That's some kind of spread, eh?) She also has a tattoo. A small one on the inside of her left ankle. She's quiet, orderly, creative and keeps a very controlled class. This is very good for Joey's learning style. She has trouble with loud, distracting classmates. I'm feeling good about this year, indeed.

I had the nephew today. He wasn't supposed to be here for 24 hrs. but my BIL got called in to work overtime so there we are. He didn't seem to want to sleep today. He never took his long, 2-3 hour nap, just two 20-minute catnaps and a 70 minute nap. And then I had to take him to bookgroup where he was quite the high-maintenance child. Finally around 9:30, I put his blanket over his face for a second and it was like turning off a light switch--instant sleep. I wish I'd have gotten his blanket out sooner. It was pure magic.

That Chunkenstein is going to be the death of me, though. He's so freaking heavy--over 20 lbs. and 27 inches long at 5 mos. old! He's the size of your average 1 year old but I didn't get a year to build up my muscles--only a measly 5 mos. My back is killing me! Especially between my shoulder blades. We need to change his name to Baby Huey. My daughter was quite petite--still is, weighing in at about 63 lbs. and she's nearly 10 years old--so I never had this kind of trouble. I've got sore wrists, forearms, shoulders, back--I need to start pumping some iron if I'm going to be watching this kid because it doesn't look like he's going to get any smaller.

So I stayed in my jammies today until 3pm. That's because I couldn't take a shower with High Maintenance Boy around today. Just when I was thinking he was solidly asleep, his eyelids suddenly sprang up like window blinds and he was awake and wanting attention. Finally, at 3, I got in the shower. I ended up taking him with me. It was pretty fun--I used to shower with Joey, too, when she was little. After the shower, though, I was exhausted because I'd been up since 6:15 (and I didn't get to bed particularly early and I woke up twice during the night). I told Joey I'd pay her to play with the baby for an hour while I took a nap. That was a delicious nap, too. And much needed.

Nothing fun on deck for tomorrow night. We usually do something on the weekend and I didn't plan anything. Of course, I'm going to be so tired that I probably won't want to do anything. Amy and I are going to the mall tomorrow, though. I like that part of the day. And I have my babysitting bucks to spend. Wee haw! I'm not sure what else I need besides mascara, though. I'm sure I'll find something. I always do.

Time to run... (and by run, I mean go to sleep)

--L