J. Munchkin.

Good morning everyone:-) Did you miss me? You probably cried a lot...I understand. No need to worry, though, I am back.

The weekend was awesome, and I am really looking forward to going back this weekend for the rest of the festivities. As a reminder, this was a family-friendly, G-rated beach weekend with tons of sun and sand and good food and such. Next weekend is the all-girls booze-fest. Trouble will be had.

Munchkin really wants to go next weekend, but I am putting the kibosh on that. I don't want to leave her home alone when we go out, and I don't wanna have to worry about getting out of control a little bit. Read: me gonna be drunkey-drunkey.

Speaking of her...when The Boy and I finally got there on Thursday, she and her big sisters were cocktailing on the deck. I was greeted by a vision of her with ultra-blond hair (it gets really blond in the sun), white polo with her collar up, Nantucket red shorts, flip flops and super-chic aviator sunglasses. Oh my god, who replaced my little sister with a J. Crew model?

We didn't really do a ton all weekend. Hung out on the beach, played in the water, ate a lot. Drank a lot. Actually, I slept a lot, too, which was nice. The weather was very nice...even the thunderstorms were sorta cool when they came.

This weekend we will be a little trendier...likely to get dressed up and go out at least a couple of times. Not sure who is on Munchkin duty just yet:-) Papa Bear might take her to the beach, but if she wants to stay home, I will have to make some arrangements. She has some friends she could probably stay with, or Twin Sister said she would gladly watch her if need be, too. At this point, it is kind of a low-maintenance babysitting job...

I guess that is about it...kind of a boring post. New thought for the day which, if no one else, Aaron will appreciate. Well, now I better get back to work...

Long Weekend #1 of 2

I have a little time this morning before I leave for the (looong) weekend, so I figured I would drop in here so that you don't have to go like a full week without me:-). I know how difficult that can be....

We were planning on leaving early this morning, but The Boy felt like he needed to go to work for a bit and get some stuff done, so he is going to put in a half day and then we are gonna leave around lunch. Fine with me...I am in no huge hurry, and this leaves me with some me-time:-). Well, not totally by myself...I am dog sitting...

Munchkin left yesterday via sailboat with Papa Bear, Smoking Hot Roommate and some other people, which means two things. One, Papa Bear's dog is staying with me and we are driving her with us to the Hamptons. And maybe back on Sunday, depending on how he gets back from there. We went for a lovely walk this morning:-). Two, plenty of alone time with The Boy!

I am not sure I have ever really explained how much I like having sex outside. OK, maybe I have. Not like "ass on bare ground and leaves" outside...but "on the table on my deck" outside. Fortunately, no one can see onto my deck (unless you have binoculars from one angle...please tell me you don't have binoculars), but it is still complete with all of the sounds and smells of the city. It makes me feel kinda slutty, and I am always a fan of that;-). The chill you get from a little breeze after you get a little bit sweaty...yikes...better than any vibrator... (I really, really hope that Jenn's Grandfather doesn't read this today...if so, many, many apologies...:-D)

So, we christened the deck for this year, and I am happy about that. Actually, I am not sure I won't divert him there again when he comes to meet me after work. Something about him in a suit...grrr...

OK, I am totally off track. Sorry, it happens. Back to the plot, The Boy, the dog and I are leaving about Noon and getting there I-don't-know-when. There may be a ferry involved, I am not sure. I will provide the car, and he can do the driving. Why must men always drive? Fine with me, but it seems to be something with the Y chromosome...

This should be a really fun weekend. Very tame compared to the mess that we should cause next weekend, but just as much fun. Lottsa sun, some beach, maybe go out a couple nights...we shall see! In the meantime, I hope every can manage without me;-)

Have a great weekend!

OK, I have gotten totally sidetracked.

Quick...what is the capital of Alaska?

I am a little surprised that I didn't get a little bit more of a reaction from the teen pregnancy pact story yesterday. Seriously...these girls sat down together at age 16, and planned to all get pregnant together. Who the fuck gets herself pregnant at 16 on purpose?! Also, it hasn't really come out, but there is absolutely no way on earth that there are 17 different fathers. There are a couple of 16 or 17 year old boys who now have 2-3 kids...good luck with that.

I know that some people have blamed it on the glamorization of teen pregnancy in things like Juno and some other stuff. There could well be some truth to that, but I don't know that I am willing to just blame it on Hollywood. A lot of this has to fall on the families. Teen pregnancy used to have a stigma, and to be honest, that is not totally unhealthy. And that stigma should come mostly from the overriding thought that "My mother will kill me if I do this."

Which is not to say that teen mothers should be branded with scarlet letters and shunned by society. The truth is that there are a lot of really good mothers who had babies long before they probably should have. But, VERY few people are emotionally, financially and otherwise prepared to really care for a baby. Scratch that...very few couples, and almost no individuals. My guess is that these 17 babies in Gloucester are not attached to any couples...I don't see a forthcoming wave of marriages to follow.

I know that shit happens, and kids make stupid mistakes. Me included. What is alarming about this is that it wasn't a mistake...this was a conscious decision made by children who are not equipped to make that kind of a decision. And there was not enough moral guidance around them that was able to input the correct decision-making framework into the situation.

Before anyone gets snippy...I am fully aware that I am not exactly June Cleaver. I have acquired the responsibility for a 13 year old, and I routinely break all kinds of parenting rules (she has no bedtime, she had very fuzzy "family" boundaries, she spends an inordinate number of nights every month sleeping in other places, she hangs out in bars...the list is pretty well documented.)

But you know what I do? I talk to her. A lot. About what she does all day, who she sees, what they talk about, etc. And we talk about all kinds of things that are at least a little uncomfortable for me to think about when they involve my baby sister. But if I don't talk to her about it, somebody else will. Mostly, I don't want her to ever think she needs to go somewhere else.

What's my point? My point is this...you don't have to be mother or father of the year to be able to convince your 16 year old not to get pregnant on purpose. Just take the time to impart some common sense.

Is it the weekend again yet?

I have three unrelated things today...two small notes and a disturbing story. So let's get right to it.

1) Tinkerbelle's Mom has to have back surgery later this summer. She did some damage to a disk moving some furniture around and they need to fix it. Which means that I get to babysit:-) I am either going to go out there for a bit, or she is going to come and stay here for a bit. Just like 4-5 days or so while she gets through the hardest part of the recovery. Very excited:-)

2) Golf yesterday. We played when we got back from the beach and here were the scores:

Big Sis: 59
Munchkin: 59
AM: 52
Smoking Hot Roommate: 35

That is my best score ever! I did really good:-) Never mind SHR...she doesn't count...

3) Anyone seen this story? Short version...a bunch of 16 year old girls may or may not have made a pact to get pregnant and have babies together this year. I am having a hard time getting my thoughts together on that one...didn't there used to be a stigma to being an unwed, pregnant teen? Is shame always a bad thing?

I am sure some other people have more articulate thoughts on this than I do...I can't get very far past "What a bunch of stupid whores"...

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Short week for me, I have Thursday and Friday off for the first half of SHR's bachelorette party. I think I will have to work next week, so I won't be able to stay the whole time, but I will be there for four days this weekend, and then probably four days again next weekend. Kind of hard to argue with that;-)

Hope everyone else had a nice weekend!

Looking around the blog world, and Q&A

I am not feeling like a very creative blogger today. Not that I am really that creative on a daily basis...just even less so today. So, I guess...some random notes from around the blogosphere...

Megan cracks me up constantly. Pretty sharp wit on that one, I tell you;-)

I have randomly discovered in the last few days that I have a lot of family-related things in common with both Jenn and I'm Not Carrie Bradshaw. Jenn has some father issues and some younger half-siblings just like me (for which I did what I do best...offer unsolicited and possibly unnecessary advice;-)). And INCB has a younger half brother that is just about the same age as Tinkerbelle, too.

Jessie has discovered that Carson Daly apparently has an eating (and tanning) disorder.

Don't ask me how I know, but GreenLineBoy got married about a month ago, I think. It would be nice if we could get him to un-retire from blogging, but I don't hold out a lot of hope...

I strongly encourage everyone to lobby Jenny to get a tattoo. Or two. Look, all her friends have them! All the cool kids are doing it! Like So Midwestern, for example;-)

Billy is officially an America-Hater;-). No word on which perfect other country he is thinking of moving to...I will await that anxiously:-P

Still Just Me may be embarking on a trip through family-court paradise. Send good luck her way...that can be a struggle.

And for chrissakes...where's Ally? I miss her:-(

How is that for a lazy-woman's blog? Just highlighting other people's work...

And, since I am out tomorrow and will be at the beach all weekend, I won't be posting until at least Monday anyway. C'mon...it is summer...I can't be expected to be as productive now as I was in the colder months...

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How about Q&A? I haven't done that for a while, and I feel like I have some newer readers...so, anyone have anything they are dying to know? I promise to use my four days off to write a really good response...:-)