Today in the paper ( which now requires all sorts of registration and stuff- so I won’t link to it unless you really want it) they mentioned that the royal heir most likely would be born before the year was out. While other statements had said that the babe would come ‘ some time in January’, a quick overlook of the royal itinerary seems to show that it will, indeed, arrive before January.

While I don’t go so far as to hit the pulp magazines, I find myself very curious about the new member of the royal family. No matter what the sex, it will be the next ‘regent’.

And the Netherlands is so much a country for a Queen. What- in fact- will they do when they finally do, once again, have a King ? A King ?

How archaic.

I just gave the dogs their worm pills. Now, I know how to give a dog a pill : have them sit, open their mouths all of the way- at an upward angle- shoot the pill in as far back as possible, clamp their muzzle shut and stroke their necks. That causes them to swallow whether they want to or not.

Fine, until they spit half out in a hacking cough. Repeat. Again. The first try went fine, but then they decided taking pills was no fun at all. It degenerated quickly into a sort of back yard alligator wrestling match, me clamping a dog between my legs, him facing away from me and then being slammed back and forth as I attempted to keep the muzzle shut until the pill went down.

Of course, I ‘won’.

I leave how I came to determine that today was the perfect day for worm pills to your imagination. Yukkus , eh ?

But if you think that’s yukkus, wait until tomorrow.

Note to self : no spaghetti for dinner tomorrow.

Meg calls up to the second floor room-of-my-own :

MOM ! TELL MIKEY I DON’T HAVE A BIG MOUTH !

( Well, actually, dear….

I hate these trans-floor conversations.)

It’s a beautiful morning here, just the sort that suits our town so well. I didn’t notice it at first- I had my face in the newspaper and was drinking coffee when Sally said to me, as she breezed through the kitchen ‘ Boy, it’s really misty outside’. Looking out of the kitchen windows, I had to agree. It’s one of those mornings with that thick, low hanging mist which obscures most of the view after about 10 meters.

If I wasn’t so determined to enjoy not having to walk, I would go outside the fortifications and walk a bit in the direction of Meg’s old school. Turning around and looking back at town , I would see my favorite view- low hanging mist hiding the last few centuries and town rising above it, looking much as it must have in the 1700’s.

But I am determined to sit here and enjoy my last cup of coffee. We live near a river. There will always be more mist in the future.

Well, of sorts. Meg had her first little friend over on a ‘play date’. It was Roos , best friend number one. I haven’t been pushing these play-dates over at Casa Kitchen, as Mike and Sally usually have friends over as well. Alright, I just didn’t feel like it.

I spent an hour and a half running up and down the stairs, helping them to try on various Princess dresses that inhabit the rooms upstairs. They had fun, it went well, Meg’s room only needs Dorothy’s house plopped down in the middle of the debris to complete the picture.

Oh well. I had to clean the room up in any case, as during a few days scattered throughout the beginning of November a Chinese business associate of Han’s will be staying here. Han has already filled the family in. I have been told that he is very easy going and that he eats anything. That is supposed to calm me down. The children have been told that he is very tall and has an unusual English accent. Instead of saying ‘Red Rabbits’, he says ‘led labbits’.

The children have been forewarned.

One of the minor disagreements that Mr.Jo and I had regarded the tiles which we chose for the kitchen. It’s a given that any tile that Han and I chose during the rebuilding was difficult to set, so that goes without saying. I, however, insisted that these tiles would not show dirt at all. Mr. Jo disagreed, in fact, he insisted that every speck and spot would capture the eye as one entered the kitchen.

Having just scrubbed the kitchen ala Cinderella, with a stiff bristled brush and much elbow grease, I must confess : I was right. I can hardly tell where I cleaned and where I didn’t.

As well as sopping up the silence, I have been sent in search of ‘ a program that we can use to draw t-shirts and stuff’.

I’ve pissed away a few hours today doing this search and it looks like it comes down to vector graphics.

I repeat, vector graphics.

I’m going to go and do something useful, like scrub the kitchen floor.

Today is Meg’s first ‘official’ day at school- that one week was a bit of a ‘practice run’. Don’t ask me.

I suppose I should be feeling maudlin about this, wandering through the ‘empty nest’ maze, but instead, I feel like I’m lazing around in a warm bath filled with time. Imagine, in a few minutes I can go up to the third floor laundry room and actually fold an entire ( albeit tiny) load of laundry, without having to run down to the first floor for some do-it-now request.

All of the T.V.s are off, the sun is shining and I’m free until 11.45.

While at times, I doubted that I would ever get here, it is indeed wonderful.

I just found a phenomenal auction at ebay -the seller has goods up for auction worth about $750 for a starting bid of $1. No reserve.

What is the catch ? The seller has no reputation at ebay for selling this product. None. Zero. But I know the seller from somewhere else- in fact, Han and I were just talking about him on Saturday. He’s more then reliable, more then professional. I think he is trying to establish a reputation for himself in this field at ebay via this stunt.

Of course, I put in a bid and now the waiting begins.