I know - not the most original of titles. 3:00am this morning Steve got up to get ready for his drive to MA. He finds that leaving at 4am makes it a very peaceful, traffic-free drive. I woke up to look at him looking down at me and he says "There's a bat in the sink". "There's a bat in the sink?" I say looking for clarification? He either nodded or said yes, either way it was an affirmative. I say "you mean the flying kind?" (because obviously there might be a baseball bat hanging out in the sink that would be worth waking me up for at 3am right? but hey - I was asleep!).

So I get up and look and sure enough there's a bat in the sink. It's itty bitty talons were hooked in a washcloth I had left there. Hmmm. What to do. Normally, I'd say turn off the lights, open a window, close the door and it will get out. But it was stuck. So I told him to toss a towel over it and throw it out the window. So he grabs MY towel - NO! Not my good towel - use one of the older ones in the cabinet (because obviously we need to not use the good towels for the bat, right?). So he grabs one, opens the window, covers the bat, scoops it up and whoosh - out the window it goes.

I go back to bet and he finishes getting ready to leave. Of course it took until well after he'd left for me to get to sleep. Because there had been a BAT in my SINK! I like bats. And I know that the reason we don't have a lot of bugs is because we have a LOT of bats. They seem to like the house and the garage a lot. I'd just prefer them to not share living space with me.

When I went out later today to get the towel (I kicked it, it didn't move so I picked it up by a corner and flipped it over the gate, then dragged it to the back door. It's raining now, I'll check it again tomorrow, then wash it. A lot.) I heard a peep peep peeping. And found a teeny tiny baby bat. It didn't even have any fur. After reading about these nocturnal guys it may be that this baby had been clinging to the one that got chucked out the window and maybe fell off when it landed. I assume the adult was OK, because it's nowhere to be seen. So I called animal control and a woman came out to retrieve the baby. Adorable - No really, it was tiny - about the length of my thumb, and just totally adorable.

Later on in the day I found a guy to come out and look at our bat issue. We know there's a colony in the attic and there are babies. They all peep and squeak when we knock on the ceiling. They need to get out and it's going to cost us. Ugh. Why couldn't they nest in the garage like the other colonies??? I like bats - just not in my HOUSE!

At any rate, I also spent some time reaching out to the Environmental Health department - we were worried we might need to get rabies treatment (and I hadn't thought about it when we were tossing it out the window...). Turns out they don't consider our scenario 'contact' because we didn't wake up to a bat in our room. Steve had gotten up on his own and discovered the bat in the bathroom sink - and it probably crawled/fell out of a small hole in the ceiling directly from the attic - so very little chance of exposure.

That was our bat adventure. The hole now has a washcloth shoved into it. You'd better believe the bathroom door, the attic door and the window that has a hole in the screen will all be closed up tight tonight!!! I think all the bedroom doors too for good measure!

Royal Carri bean is teaming up with Dreamworks to bring animated friends to live on Allure of the Seas. Guess I know what our travel fund is targeting now ... :)

IBM has broken the Petraflop barrier...

Brian over at Rossidudes posted today about a local fire.

My fire story today isn't as alarming. But that's probably because of the fast response.

While sitting down to dinner at my Mom's on Friday several fire trucks pulled up to the end of the street. When they got to the end where the woods start, the bigger trucks (tankers) backed back down and parked in the cul de sac my Mom lives in. There was a brush fire up in the woods. They waited for their nifty all terrain thingy to show up and sent it off with some guys on foot to take care of business. Mostly, they were standing around and waiting. The buggy thing was some sort of cross between an ATV, a golf cart, and a water tank. It came back 2 or 3 times to be refilled.

The view from Mom's driveway:


Ky came out with me to watch the trucks. And he was obviously worried. At one point the chief asked another of the firefighters for status... "something is on fire in the woods" - which made me laugh right out loud.

When Ky told me he was worried I asked him specifically what worried him. He said it was that the fire would come down to Nanna's house. So I pointed to the firemen - do you see all these men? They are here to make sure it doesn't happen. It has to get past them before it reaches us. AND if it does make it this far, that big tanker will just spray it with water - it can't make it up into the woods, but here on the road isn't a problem.

One of the firemen saw me talking with Ky and came over - 'wanna sit in the truck?' - Ky got a personal tour of the two big tankers at the end of Mom's driveway. Total little boy heaven!



Holly got to look too:



The fire didn't come down to the houses. There was no property damage and no injuries. Thanks in large part to the firefighters - all volunteer by the way.

A great big personal thank you goes out to the Warwick Fire Department. You guys rock. Specifically, I also need to thank Charlie and Wendel for showing my kids around :o)

Ryan chose to stay inside to tend to his skinned knee. So he missed out. Hasn't complained about it though.

The boys went back to school after four days at home. Saturday was winter lessons (Ky boarding, Ry skiing), then haircuts, then the pine wood derby. Neither Steve nor Ky brought home any trophies. But Ky recovered quickly - and we're quick to point out that he came in 1st in 2 out of his 4 heats. Not shabby, that!

After the derby Steve headed South to visit with Paul and family. Biggest thoughts and prayers being sent that way as L. was admitted Monday night for pneumonia and is still in the hospital today. A long few days for them. But before that Steve got to visit and they had a great time. Me and the kids hung out - we skipped church on Sunday, opting for the less crazy morning. Then went over for groceries. There is a reason that I go for groceries WITHOUT children. In fact there are multiple. And they reminded me of every single one of them. At least they seemed to amuse others.

Monday was MKL day and Ky spent most of that at a friend's house - yay! Just two years ago the thought of sending him off for hours without me was too much to handle! He has really come so far! I worked 1/2 days from home Monday and Tuesday (a professional day at school so no school for boys) and Ky and I spent some time learning how to play the real Pokemon Trading Card game. Wow! Each move I pick a new card, then I can add energy if I have it, AND add Basic Pokemon to my bench, AND retreat a Pokemon if I can spend the retreat cost, AND use a Pokemon power AND attack! That's a lot to remember each turn :o) we played for about 20 minutes - just long enough for it to actually start moving (you basically don't have enough of anything to do very much at first... so it builds momentum) and then Ryan got him interested in something else. Steve was very amused.

Holly has been home all week because of a fever. But she didn't pick back up today, so she should be back at school tomorrow. We had a repeat of the wheezing about a week ago and at that point we put her on Pulmicort Respules for the winter. The idea is to prevent her from having these wheezing attacks with every cold she gets - and we live in New England and it's only January - yeah, there'll be more colds!

Finally, in the Ryan and the bus department.. Ryan has decided that he can get on the bus beautifully. This morning he RAN in front of Kyle so that he got on first. Bounced into his seat and waved at me with an ear to ear toothy grin. Yay. Maybe, just maybe, we are past this hurdle. Now we can focus more solidly on school. This week is odd, so I'm going to say he had trouble transitioning after the long weekend. Both boys brought home classwork that they didn't finish in class. But the last few weeks, he's done really well the first 2 days of the week, followed by days of ups and downs. Like he runs out of steam by Wednesday? Not sure, but I'm continuing to pick him up at dismissal on Thursdays. I'll actually change our after school program's schedule so that we pay a little less for him too. Since it seems to be working. I bring him home and we play whatever he wants for 1/2 an hour. It doesn't seem like much, but I really think that JUST picking him up would do the trick. I just want to make sure there's extra value in it. Then he plays on his own while I finish up my day. It's way to early to see if it's working. I'll try to remember to report back on this at the end of next month.

Oh - speaking of February - Ryan's birthday is next month! We're getting ready for a party here on Saturday for family - for both Holly and Ryan. Ryan has requested a chocolate cake with mint icing - yum! I think I can do that ;o) and I have to plan some munchies too. Now that the threat of Holly being sick for the party is mostly past, I'm feeling better.

There was a fatal stabbing a week ago in a neighboring town's high school. It's awful and tragic. A 16 year old boy stabbed a 15 year old boy - who was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

What really stands out for us is that the attacker's attorney has come out and said that he has Asperger Syndrome and a history of hyperactivity dysfunction. That "What is clear is John has a serious disability". I'm not sure what his point was supposed to be here, but I know that to me it sounds as if he is drawing a connecting line directly between the disability and the action.

Now, Kyle has had trouble in the past with acting out - he's show aggression to other students sure. But it's spontaneous, in the heat of the moment. And he's 6. When you talk to him about it - he KNOWS what he should and shouldn't do. But when the frustration is high he has trouble stopping his immediate reaction. Bringing a knife to school doesn't fit with that. I'm not judging the boy in question - that's certainly not up to me. But to have the attorney come out and make a leading statement like that has the potential of creating even more stress for these special kids that are on the spectrum. It's good to increase knowledge of the spectrum disorders - but not necessarily like this.

I'm not sure where I'm going with this. My heart goes out to the families involved and to all the students there. Your biggest problem in high school should be in figuring out if Jimmy in history class likes you. You shouldn't have to worry about safety.

... if he had commited the murders

OK. So ummmm, why exactly would you do this? "I didn't kill these people, but if I had I would have done it in this manner". I don't understand the need for this interview. This is just media sensationalism.

These two were murdered quite a long time ago. This interview does nothing to bring their murderer to justice (whether it's some unknown person, or OJ himself... ) - it just brings it all out again. Can't we just let them be?

The Rossidudes are holding their 2nd Kickin Cancer on the Common. Check out this article in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

hmmmm.... if you are running from the cops on drug charges, it's probably not a good idea to be rescued from the snow and gain National news coverage ;o)

Couple Whose Family Was Stranded Arrested

Village elders ordered a Muslim man in eastern India to leave his wife after he accidentally divorced her in his sleep, a news report said Tuesday

Ummmm.... let's just say that I'm glad I don't have charges pressed against me for things that occur in my dreams ;o)

The Scientist who discovered LSD turned 100! Happy Birthday!

If you are in an airport, or on a plane, and CLAIM TO HAVE A BOMB - you will be shot. There is no joking about these things. Don't be stupid.

You Are 23 Years Old

23 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.