There must be some sorta moon-earth gravitational pull problem thing going on these days, as there seems to be a lot of diaryland strife about. Hugs to those out there who going through crap. You know who you are.

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Speaking of strife, Pinky just called me in a barely contained rage. She could not vote at our polling station for today’s election because she is registered to vote at another location. I guess she and I differ in our attitudes toward elections; I do think it’s important to vote, but have to admit that I won’t turn my life upside down in order to do so. Conversely, Pinky was taciturn and fuming from the minute we left the polling station until she kissed me goodbye in the metro. A few enraged phone calls since then indicate that her mood has not changed, thanks in no small part to the fact that the store where she is trying to buy shoes for the gym doesn’t open today until noon. I just hope she doesn’t jump the poor owner and choke him to death. Fortunately, while he *is* approaching 70, he does run actively and should probably be able to outpace her…

Anyway, right about now I’m wishing she had a cell phone on her, or that I’d given her mine, so that I could call her and offer to take her to lunch when she gets downtown in the hopes of cheering her up a bit.

Pause...

*Heh*heh* Whee, I just called the store and asked if there was “a young woman there named Pinky who’s trying on shoes.” Turns out there were two young Pinkys there, but anyway -- yes, we’ll meet for lunch. :-)

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This weekend was excellent. It started with dinner with the kids in Kingston at Swiss Chalet (their request) and ended with a relaxed, cheerful drive back to Kingston. In between there was:

* The return of my radio and heat controls, marked by the kids dancing to their favorite tapes in the backseat as we drove, and then quiet conversation with Eldest, who told me she still misses the house I sold before moving to Montreal, and that she’s looking forward to spending 6 weeks with us here in the summer.

* Littlest crawling into bed at 3am Saturday morning saying “I had bad dream; can I sleep with you for a little while?” upon which I raised my arm and enveloped her in warmth and cuddles for the next hour or so.

* Littlest finally opening her birthday presents Saturday morning. She *loved* the volskwagen Barbie car (hey, her request), adored the Beatles CD I made for her (also her request), and also adored the clothing that Pinky gave her. Everything was a hit.

* Letting the girls take showers at my place for the first time (instead of throwing them in the bath)

* Sister and her daughter coming over at lunch for hotdogs, fries and cake with us, then walking over to the park to watch the girls run and jump and spin themselves into dizziness the way little girls do.

* Eldest watching Monster Garage or something with Pinky, learning how to turn an RX-7 into a sand-roving race car, while I did the dishes. Sometimes I wonder if I really have the Y chromosome, you know?

* Dinner of leftover Shepherd’s Pie and Tuna Casserole with the four of us at a table together.

* Watching Guinness’s World Records with Eldest at 9pm, including the world’s loudest belcher (115db, woah!)

* Taking them to the department store Sunday to exchange Littlest’s new pants for ones that fit, and getting her a skirt instead; listening with surprise to Eldest saying she’d like to get a skirt too, then hearing later that the reason she doesn’t usually wear them (confessed in private to Pinky) is because “of the problem when you sit.” My little girl is growing up.

* Stopping for a snack on the way to Kingston and watching Eldest escort Littlest, arm around her shoulders, to the washroom like a loving, older sister.

* Returning home, accompanied by old tapes of Led Zeppelin and Green Day, to round up Pinky from her mom’s to rent a movie and go home, only to end up staying for dinner and watching mom and her sister giggle like schoolgirls most of the evening, which was kinda entertaining. Um, I think I'll have to keep in mind in the future when Pinky announces “well, I guess it’s time to go,” that means another hour-and-a-half before we actually get going...

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