Don't let this happen to you!

• If you're a mom you recognize a certain funny smell that reaches your nose. You  might be, say, loading/unloading the dishwasher/washing machine/dryer and you stop and sniff. Yep, definitely a poopy-diaper in the vicinity. 
  

You could:

 a) drop whatever you're doing and rush at your toddler's side and change her diaper 

b) ask your spouse to change her diaper 

c) finish loading/unloading and then address said diaper 

d) Ignore it until it's too late. 

You're spouse is at work and he's not coming home anytime soon. So you pick Door #4; or rather, you wait until that's the only door left to open. I did. The results were a disaster. Before you call Child Welfare Services on me, know that I usually don't  ignore a soiled diaper. Dealing for a week with a diaper rash just isn't worth it. But I don't drop whatever I'm holding either. 

This time, my daughter was faster than me, though. She took off her diaper before I could address the issue properly. Next thing I know, she's running with stuff stuck to her seat and the boys are yelling with pure delight, "Ewwww!" 

Fortunately, the carpet remained undefiled.

The Lesson Learned: 

Three, actually. 

1) While a baby will usually not mind a couple of more minutes of discomfort, a two-year old will not put up with it. 

2) Never underestimate a toddler. You'd think I'd have learned this lesson after three toddlers. I don't know why they think they can do everything an adult can do, mess up and then claim they did it better than you could have. (This is where the timeless virtue of Patience comes in.)

3) I really should drop everything from now to address a soiled diaper--if only to prevent a rigorous carpet cleaning.

• On a different note, the date of the Los Angeles Marathon for 2009 has been changed--again!  It's always been on the first Sunday of March. Then they changed it to February 16. Seems a lot of people complained. Two days ago they changed it to May 25--Memorial Day. Great! It's a Monday. 
  

Since I'm running the Phoenix Marathon in January, a four month recovery and maintenance is very possible. We'll see, but I'm tempted.  

As promised...

But before I start pasting political comics, here's some female humor...

Case Closed
Several women appeared in court, each accusing the others of causing the trouble they were having in the apartment complex where they all lived. The women were arguing noisily even in the court.The judge banged his gavel to quiet them and said, "We are going to do this in an orderly manner. I can't listen to all of you at once. I'll hear the oldest first."

The case was dismissed for lack of testimony.I don' t know if nuclear is the answer to our energy crisis. I haven't bothered to read up on it. I've other things to do--like raise children, write a blog. But we're going to look mighty foolish if it is the answer and nobody's really bothered to look in on it--especially those annoying environmentalists!  On the other hand, I'm not totally ignorant about nuclear waste and the fact that the government wants to pack it away inside Yucca Mountain in Nevada. If you lived near Yucca Mountain, you'd be pretty upset, too!

This one's a hoot. I don't mind the FBI or the CIA spying on my conversations with my sista. I hope they laugh, too. And I hope they understood the last recipe my mother dictated to me 'cuz it didn't make sense to me. 

The point is do we have to wait for another security breach with its intended crisis of X amounts of deaths to consider doing without a few civil liberties? If you've nothing to hide, really, what's the problem? I know I've nothing to hide from my husband, so who cares? And, yes, I've read George Orwell's 1984. Choose now: Privacy or Safety.

George, George, George. So misunderestimated... 

I'm not sure I'll post tomorrow. I've sixteen miles to run, a wedding to go to, library books to return, grocery shopping... This will NOT be a restful weekend!

Funnies

Check these funnies out. They come from Australian newspapers, and they're courtesy of my sista, Wendy. (Thanks, Gwen!)

I will still be laughing when you see this one!

Just goes to show you can't trust the media... Everybody in this room knew this already, right?

For the record, I have never ever liked any of the Kennedys. Ever!

Fox News, again... If I had cable, I would definitely have Fox News, the History Channel, the Discovery Channel, and the Bad Hair Day Channel.

I don't think The Surge was the panacea Sen. McCain would like to think it was, but it deserves more credit than Pres.-Elect Obama is willing to give it. (If he gave it any credit at all, it would mean he was wrong and what an awful way to begin your presidency!)

Still, that donkey looks adorable, doesn't it? Looks like... Sen. Kennedy, actually.

All right. I'm not a political junkie. So, I'm done for today. I have more of these comics, though. I think I'll post them tomorrow.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Most people don't know this about me, but Halloween is my favorite holiday. And I'm going to ignore all the catcalls that claim that Halloween is a pagan holiday--yes, yes, I know all about Hallows Eve. And you're missing the point, people.  

It's the air of Autumn; th

e smell of sharpened pencils, of clean unmarked paper, of new books with stiff bindings and bright pictures, of new plastic pencil cases. I also love the colors of autumn: golds, reds, and oranges, deep browns. There's such a sense of renewal in the air. Too bad we can't really enjoy it here. Autumn in Los Angeles sometimes seems like a slightly cooler summer. It's boring. So we can go to the beach whenever we want. Big deal. (I can already see my sister Wendy looking around for a hefty rock to throw at me from Utah.) And as the weather turns colder, I can't wait to turn my 

oven on and start baking.

As for Halloween itself, it's fun to dress up. This year Brett and I decided to go all out for the Ward Halloween party on Saturday, October 25th. We won the Men and Women's Costume contest. (Thanks, Serene!) It was fun. As to why I was able to fit into my wedding dress after three pregnancies, I have my theories. Either I'm slimmer than I thought I was, or when I got married I wasn't as thin as I then thought I was. Still, the waist was stretched to its max. I'm not sure I breathed that evening. Explains the pale skin, doesn't it? Brett looks great. I'm not sure I like him all that much with hair, though. Believe it or not, he looks best with a shaved head. My opinion. 

Don't forget: The most beautiful, most wonderful and gracious day of the year happens every October 5th.

(Yes, I am still receiving presents, checks and candy. Mail to the usual address or bring it personally. It's not too late! And if you're really good, I'll admit that I turned thirty-six!)

I had wanted to begin both my blogs simultaneously--the other's by invite only and its titled "The Secret Pink Pages"--but after wrestling with posting all the Halloween family pictures, I've decided to give up on it for now. I'm calling Angela so she can give me some pointers. She's the expert as far as I'm concerned.

And I finish this first blog with a public request: Please vote Yes on Prop 8 this Tuesday, November 4th!