I gotta toot my own horn here -- I can make anything fun, even moving. Okay, okay, it wasn't just me, but it was fun, if not exhausting. Spent most of the evening trying to make Ellie's room livable before "Grandy" brought her back- though she's still confused, poor kid. We could have moved in on the 1st if we were crazy enough, but apparently we're not that far gone yet.

Now I'm gonna drop into bed and sleep for a week.

There must be a blue moon because I'm not at work on Christmas day. Yeah, I fainted, too. Maybe Pickler is going soft... HAHA. More like he's finally realised it's not worth the hassle keeping me around.

Got to spend most of today with the first kid. Running out of ideas on what to do on these days/weekends... since she stopped liking the decent things in life, like she used to. Bah. Now I get the joy of going to an Eames family dinner. It's not as bad as I made it sound. No, really. The food is good and I get to hear stories of awkward and stupid things, then use it later. *insert a criminally insane cackle here*

And no, none of you getting gifts from me. Only gifts I'm giving out are the ones that Alex remembers to attach my name to. I'm lazy, get used to it. I technically did *buy* them, so don't go calling me a Scrooge or anything.

Max is obviously getting ol-er than he cares to a-mit. He's just not motivate- to -o anything, actually he seems sick. I'm worrie- about him. *sigh*

No, I -on't have a speech problem even though it rea-s like it.

Ellie broke the -amn - key on my laptop. She -amage- the B key once an- I repaire- it, but she just pulle- this one right off! Work relate- emails will be more interesting, that's for sure. It's my fault for letting her watch Elmo, -ammit.

My teenage daughter asked for a HDTV for Christmas. What the hell? Do I look like I'm made of money? I thought my suggestion that she ask Santa was pretty valid, he *is* about the only guy who can afford one. Sam disagreed, judging by the dog-eyes and the slamming of her bedroom door. Another one with PMS - I'm surrounded by them. God help me.

Anyway, hopefully her tantrums don't ruin the weekend, because this would be the first one where the chance of it being good is above 0.1 per cent. The reason being the bastard got what he deserved. Well, actually, he's not exactly in any physical pain, but this will do. The look on his face was just the icing on the cake.

Going back to the talk of Christmas - I tried to get Ellie to sing along to "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer" earlier. What? I was told that we need to set "traditions" for her, I like that song!

I'm not sorry for what I said, I'm sorry for the way it was taken and for the way I said it. There is a difference, and maybe I shouldn't have said anything at all. But, yeah, that wouldn't have happened no matter how much practice I do at biting my tongue. I'm not stupid and I thought I had a good point, I still don't believe anyone can predict the future, or say without any doubt what will happen next. I want to believe that all will turn out fine and dandy, but I know that it could go both ways. I've seen it all go wrong when it shouldn't have.

Still, I probably should start saving up for that drink I owe her. If anyone stands a chance... heh.

Private

According to Alex I'm suffering from "man disease." In her words, this means I think she needs protecting and that's partly why I blew up at Connie (I thought it was just a tiny pop, but whatever, details). She can call it whatever the hell she wants, but I'm not gonna change anytime soon. Whether she likes to admit it or not, she's struggling right now. But I'm relieved that she's now looking forward instead of trying to be "brave" and stay miserable forever. Maybe something good came from my lack of ability to shut up.

Hmm, I must have man disease if that means I want her to be safe. I'll accept that, if she will admit she's got the woman version. Hmph. And even if I do have it, I failed, clearly.

It's coming up to that time of year where people start to put up Christmas decorations far too early. By the time it gets here, I'm gonna want to rip them all down. Hell, I want to do that now. It's too soon to hear about those jingle-f*cking-bells, thank you.

Sam is being carted off to Chicago for Thanksgiving. One of those damn family gathering things that I am so glad not to be part of. Trust me, it was never fun and I almost died of boredom at every holiday. I don't think Sam wants me there anyway, she seems to think I embarass her or something. *eyeroll*

And I forgot how time consuming it was looking at places to live. FYI, it's not fun either.

[Private]

She knows I'm right, and I wouldn't have even suggested moving if she hadn't eluded to her struggling before and staying regardless. I'll keep looking even if she is being too stubborn about it. Sleep deprivation will eventually make her come to her senses. It'd be nice if she just admitted it, but then I can't talk. We're both very good at just not speaking about stuff, so she probably just thinks I'm being a hypocrite for trying to get her to let it out. Whatever. If nothing else, we can get some kind of fresh start going and maybe she'll feel better.

Damn. The beer bottle is still full, not even in my hand, and I'm already in a weird, wordy mood. Mindless TV time, I think.

I don't want to think about this *thing* with Mulrooney. If I start forming sentences then I'll start wanting to punch things, and that won't go down well, so just don't ask me.

We got a distraction yesterday when Isabel had to spend the night at our place. To say she was unimpressed with that would be an understatement. Personally, I think we're a hoot and a half- hmph (...okay, maybe not right now). But at least it wasn't any longer than one night. I think she may have had an even bigger tantrum if we told her she had to stay one minute longer. That, and I don't think we would've lasted much longer given everything else. The poor kid was just lost.

How do I get Ellie to stay where she is so we don't get THAT?!

[Private]

I don't know how to make it so she feels safe? comfortable enough to sleep in her own home. All I seem to be good for is staying up with her so she's not alone in her crazy. I feel like the definition of useless- you'll find my name in the dictionary.

My kid (the teenage one) has suddenly turned into of those rebelling teenagers you hear so much about. Damn genetics. Since she's adamant about getting what she wants -- this being money for whatever thing it is her friends have said she needs -- and not afraid to use tactics such as stealing, I feel an argument on the horizon with her mother.

Grounding them never works, as Sam proved when she crawled out the bedroom window.

[Private Thoughts]

We always disagree on everything. I knew it was gonna happen eventually because Sarah has this thing about trying to get me to do things her way when it comes to raising Sam, or else. Forget that. Alex reminded me that this isn't a place where Sarah can dictate anything. But she'll try, and then I'll be in hell again. I think Sam's attempt to pilfer some money was a first time thing, and arguing with her mother over it isn't my idea of punishment, but I'm not keeping my mouth shut, tucking my tail between my legs and being a good boy when she tells me what to do either.

Damn Sgt. Pickler has ruined my day. He's insisting I stay here until I've finished this stack of reports -- something about my reward for going home early the other day to take care of our sick baby. He probably hates me (the feeling is mutual), but I was hoping to spend a mindless evening watching the TV, eating a pizza and maybe entertaining a one-year-old. Now I'm gonna have to settle for pizza over paperwork. It's such a shame he won't let me have a beer to wash it down...

I'm kinda surprised he hasn't tried to pass off another poor sap to partner with me this month. He usually tries to "encourage" my people skills, that or he just wants to annoy everyone through me. Here's hoping he's not planning something at my expense. It never works out well when he does. When will he learn?

RP thread for csu_claire_fish

David used to believe the worst chore in the world had been anything to do with laundry. He was, however, quickly changing his mind. It was grocery shopping. Not that he'd never done it before, but he'd always tried his best to avoid it- and he always cursed Alex whenever she won. And lately, she won more often than he did. He realised he needed to change his tactic before he became doomed to repeat the experience every week. That was unacceptable.

Laden with food, he aimed the cart toward the exit -- freedom -- and picked up the pace.

[RP thread for goren_mcs]

Long day--this was going to be a long day. They were the words swimming in David's head as he walked towards the MCS squadroom. Hoping to catch Alex because they were supposed to be going to lunch together--and he was starving right now.

And then he was disappointed when he noticed that she wasn't at her desk. Never one to allow himself to feel down for long, he dropped himself into her chair and waited for her to return -- unable to keep his eyes from roaming around her desk and her partner's.