A special message from the Department of Troll Control, come and get it!

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans and ban certain undesirables from using our airlines. They demand the right to criticize and blaspheeme the name of our supreme commander and cheef George W Bush while forcing multiculturalism down our throats and praising Bill Clinton. We all know however that it's totally Clintons fult for everything bad in america. Now we are at war and we must make a decision. support the safty of America and defeat terrorists, or support civil liberties and give victory to the enemy. Its all because of Bill Clinton and civil liberties that we are in this war so it is only fair that we give it up. no one said life was supposed to be fair you liberal crybabys. Dont give me that rubbish about equality and diversity. WE ARE AT WAR! If your not for Bush and against civil liberties your a terrorist! Your probably even a Communist and should be detained. Therefore fellow Americans we must throw all of our trust and resources behind George W Bush and behind this war with no ifs ands or buts. Be sure to report any and all detractors and freedom supporters to your local military and never question. Bush knows what hes doing and we will win this war once and for all. Thank you and May God bless America.

I thought the artist was the same that he has used for serveral of his works, "Eyes Of The Dragon" among them? Maybe I'm just not that attentive...

I'm going to start "Wolves Of The Calla" tonight, but I will probably have to get "The Song Of Susannah" from the library before moving to the last volume.

I usually already have a "vision" of whatever I'm reading long before I see an artist's rendering, and luckily, I can keep my own ideas, so that the renderings don't interfere. That's been good, especially for LOTR and the Harry Potter books.

I'm so glad you're getting back to "normal" again!

Naps are very good! How much weight has he put on in the almost month that he has been here? Is he a cuddly guy?

How are things going otherwise?
Has your weather been as odd as the rest of the country?
Did the kids get a break from school while you were in the hospital?

(Sorry! Curiosity is something I've never really had control of...)

:o|

Let's see ...

Vlad will be three weeks old on Monday, so he probably weighs about 9 lbs. by now. This is based on his weight gain in the first week, and confirmed by his size relative to his clothes and diapers :-). He's very cuddly, but he doesn't mind lying on the floor for a few minutes occasionally, if we can clear a space of brothers, sisters, and their debris.

It's been a very odd winter. Today it's been in the 70's, but they say we may have snow tomorrow. Plenty of rain. Everything has been going well. The girls had a great time at their Girl Scouts program yesterday. The attendees ate all my fried rice, but not my salad. Der Prinz and Bill have been eating it!

The kids had only a day off while I was in the hospital. We've been kind of taking this week off, because I've been tired and they had things going on with Scouts. I'll probably record one day as a vacation day (today), and figure they did enough that was Educational on the other days to count as a school day! I think we'll have Monday off, too, since the schools are closed for President's Day.

Sounds like Vlad is Digesting, so I'd better go look into his diaper. Not too much on the calendar for the weekend - Bill and Dad have a 5K run tomorrow morning, and Tom has an overnight at the church with Cub Scouts on Saturday, but none of those is a big effort. I'll concentrate on sleeping as much as possible!

Three weeks? ALREADY???? Dang! Time flies...

It seems to have been an odd winter all over the country this year, for some reason. We haven't had rain since October 17.

For some reason, I'm not really surprised that you've been tired this week. You seem to have been going at full speed since Baby Vlad came to stay. It's good that you can give the kids a four-day weekend (not to mention yourself!) so you can rest a little.

I truly hope you get the rest you need while the guys are doing the running things. Just remember that you can't be much good to them, Baby Vlad, or yourself if you aren't rested.

(Of course, those of us on the UT want you around, too...)

Thanks! I'm holding up pretty well, especially compared to some previous deliveries. No infections, no collapses, no crying fits, baby is eating well, etc. Just not *quite* enough sleep!

I hope Vlad will start sleeping longer stretches pretty soon. I don't mind feeding a baby at night - I'm an uneasy sleeper anyway - but every 2 hours is a bit much! Ideally, we could sleep 4 hours, get up and nurse for a half hour or so, and than back to bed for 4 more.

I'm actually amazed that you have the strength to be HERE on a somewhat daily basis.

Now that Vald is three weeks old, his demands on you should lessen somewhat. At least, in frequency.

I think the "uneasy sleeper" thing is a part of motherhood, and once it's engaged, it's never disengaged. My mother could sleep through a tornado, but whisper "Mother?" from across a ballroom, and she was up and ready to go!

Here's hoping Vlad will eat more, less often!

I think the "uneasy sleeper" thing is a part of motherhood,

Also, I'm a Weight Watchers member, and we drink lots of water :-).

Since we don't have TV reception, except for PBS when the wind is just right, FR is my only source of outside news. I keep up with the NC news, the major columnists, and the Undead Thread. It's much better than relying on U.S. Mail for human contact!

Back in Oklahoma, I had several friends with lots of young children, so I did more things in real life. Since we moved here, I haven't found the same kind of network. There are some large families among Elen and Sally's Girl Scout troops, but I haven't got to know them well yet, since I was very pregnant when they started Girl Scouts this year.

I'm not a Weight Watcher, but because CFIDS gives me a constant sore throat, I drink enormous amounts of ice water, no matter what the temperature is indoors or out, so I know what you mean about being up in the night!

Until I got really involved with FR and the UT, I didn't have much in the way of "human contact" after I had to quit work. And since my mother passed away, all I get in the mail is bills and ads. I can get that online, if I choose...

How long have you been in NC? Sometimes, it's not easy to get into the local "groups." However, I think once you have been able to get Vlad less "dependent," you'll probably have more things to occupy yourself than you can shake a stick at! (As me mum would say..!)

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