Rough night last night so forgive me if I...umm...kind of...my bed...pillow...what? What was I saying? Oh yeah, I might space out a little today.

Sick child and sick puppy last night. What? Oh yeah, we got a puppy. Her first night was last night and she didn't fare too well, apparently picking up a virus before we brought her home. Brought her to the vet who did not inspire confidence when, after the examination, he asked, "Have you named her yet?" and tsk'd when I said yes.

The chosen name was Sally, after a character in one of Syd's favorite movies (The Nightmare Before Christmas). This was better than the alternative Syd originally came up with.

We had initially settled on Atticus for the puppy after a long successful campaign of smear and slander by myself against Syd's choice, Buddy. ("Honey, Buddy is the name of a singer with big goofy glasses that died in a plane crash. Is that what you want to happen to your puppy?") But when Syd eventually picked out a girl from the litter, it became clear the name would have to change. No problem, says Syd, we can call her Attica instead. That's a girl's name, right?

So after explaining the ramifications of naming our puppy Attica ("Darling, if we give her that name, it will bring about seven plagues, each more deadly than the last, culminating in the election of a religious zealot to the White House"), we settled on Sally.

But alas, we shall see if a strict diet of Pedialyte and soggy Rice Krispies mixed with bacon fat can nurse her back to health.

The child is nursing a more standard illness in the form of a cough due to cold which has numerous remedies, all based on the idea that if you can make it taste like bubble gum, the child will get better.

This follows on the heels of a particularly active Sunday when we had four little bundles of birth control visit us for a play date, ranging in age from "boy, that electrical cord looks tasty" to "if you don't go swimming with us, I'm going to call family services".

So again, apologies for....the drifting...dozy...zzzzzz.....