HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDOG!!!

My favorite little girl in the world, MadDog, turns the big 4 today, so a happy birthday shout-out to her! She is currently preparing for a princess puppet party (Beauty & the Beast theme) with a princess castle-shaped pinata. I am jealous and plan on arriving after all the dozen or more kids leave and I can eat my cake in peace. Plus, then I can play with the Barbie Totally Real House I got her without having to fend off several 4 year old girls.

Top on MadDog's birthday wishlist was a boy doll. We had a hard time deciding which one to get her. Eerily reflecting reality, there appears to be so many more women than men in Barbie's world. Is Prince Ken in his tights better than surfer Blaine who doesn't come with any clothes (or a job)? I wanted to get Bride Groom Ken, because at least he's ready to commit and he's got a nice suit on. (As my friend aptly put it, we don't want any broken families moving into the new house.) However, the options at the store came down to Beauty & the Beast Prince or Surfer Blaine. MadDog preferred B&B Ken even though he had a bad ponytail and a Beast mask. Barbie could totally kick his ass. But at least he's not a beach bum.

So what's it like to be four years-old? She faces quandries such as these: how to deal with days of the week princess panties. First off, she can't read, so she has to ask her mom which Princess she's supposed to wear that day. But then it gets complicated. If you take a bath on a Saturday night, do you wear the Saturday panties? It will soon be Sunday, so would those be more practical? I'm more than 25 years her senior and I don't have an answer to this. This is another reason why I shower in the mornings...

Royal flush

I went to see X-Men3 recently and afterwards, there was a super long line for the ladies' room. Not unexpected. Except I noticed that the handicapped restroom was empty. I realize that there is some social protocol (and the American Disabilities Act) that requires those who are able-bodied to not use those stalls and if we do, to feel really guilty and try to pee as quickly as possible in case there is an irate person in a wheelchair waiting (and I have heard of this happening. No joke.) I feel this is fair. However, this is what I want to know: if there is a 20-person line for the bathroom, does a handicapped person have to wait in line or can she roll by and make a beeline for the handicapped stall?

On another note on bathrooms, I find myself constantly perplexed by the bathrooms at work. The kind of toilet paper that is offered changes EVERY day. In fact, I noticed today that the extra roll in my stall was completely different in texture and ply (one roll was two-ply, the other single-ply.) How can this be?! You would think that a large institution would consistently order the same kind of toilet paper. This boggles my mind.

By the way, my little nephew's new nickname is E-Money. Between him and MadDog, my sister has herself a little gang in her home.

buffalo wings, waffle fries and celery, oh my!

Apologies for the incommunicado. I wasn't trying to break up with you in some passive-aggressive fashion or anything. For real. The past two weeks have been a little hectic with visitors and way too many birthdays to count, culminating in tonight's mandatory Team Cookie meeting to celebrate Little Cookie's birthday. This celebration consisted of eating far too many buffalo wings and waffle fries and an attempt to counteract that all with half a plate of celery with blue cheese dressing.

Hey, at least I wasn't drinking also. But I'm having a fat week and this isn't helping. Perhaps that was an overshare...

Sooooo, let me do a bulletpoint highlight of what has occurred over the past two weeks:

1. I got a promotion! BLING BLING. Okay, not really, but the raise should cover my Wednesday night happy hour habit and a few choice wardrobe additions.

2. We returned to BFF Bartender last Wednesday night and he came through for us in full force (even the hater of the group, ahem, you know who you are Mr. EastSideGangSignThrower, warmed up to him when served his beer of choice without even having to tell BFF). I missed it, but the Regulars decided it was time for some eastside action and cheated this week. No word yet on how successful they were at getting free drinks elsewhere.

3. I am currently in a training to learn how to "Present with Confidence." I am the best presenter in the class and I learned that I actually don't gesticulate quite as wildly while I talk as I had thought. Whew. I had been concerned that I might take out someone's eye one of these days.

4. Baby E.T. has gained about a pound in his less than three weeks of life. He's getting chubby. But only in the belly and face. He still has skinny old-man legs. MadDog is dealing well with having a little brother and is very quick to hold his hand when he cries. On the other hand, she is also quick to ditch the family when the opportunity to go do something fun arises (Bronx Zoo, cherry lime rickies, etc).

5. I went to a party and my friend's brother had on penny loafers with pennies stuck in them. Um, and no, he wasn't five years old. More like 35. You'd think someone would tell him that that was so 1992, right?

That's about all I can think of right now. I guess that it's been busy, but I can't remember all of the usual inane fodder to post about...