Last night one of the cubs had scared himself sleepless with thoughts of 'what if' (what if the house burnt down? etc). His brother cheered him up by reading him some of their favourite Thomas stories. I think he was embellishing them with funny voices and rude noises. That would explain the shrieks of laughter... :)

Night before last I dreamt I was getting ready to travel to America. I only had a short time to prepare so I was charging around digging out clothes and things, always conscious of the time ticking away. In the midst of the chaos an old acquaintance wandered in to the dream, someone I haven't spoken to for years. We caught up, briefly, and I was pleased to hear he had a partner and was looking towards the future. (I suspect my subconscious gave him a happy ending out of guilt for not keeping in touch. Because, yes, that's the way my mind works.)
I woke up from that dream frazzled and not at all rested, funnily enough.

Mum's dysphasia manifests in a few ways. Most common - and the most frustrating for her - is not being able to remember the word she wants at all. Next most likely is using the wrong word, but being aware she's made a mistake. Least common is where she uses the wrong word but doesn't realise it's wrong. Chatting with Mum is always an adventure now, never know what she's going to come out with. <g> For instance she was talking about getting a new 'fridge and mentioned she only needed one with a 'small giraffe'. <giggling> Oh, we laughed...

I was lurking on HP Essays recently where someone was discussing threesomes in fanfic. In amongst the fic recommendations (and there were some happy hours of reading there, let me tell you! Wasted loads of time...) the author dropped the comment about 'where in canon does it say that Draco is attractive'? She has a point, the only physical description we get of the Slytherin Prince is 'pale and pointy'. But then, considering the series is written from the viewpoint of a young/teenage boy (whose author is on public record about her dislike of slash) Harry would be unlikely to notice any potential male phwoarness anyway. <pats him> That's all right, the fangirls make up for that blind spot.
[Edited after spell-checking: Bwahahahaha! Blogger suggested 'threshings instead of 'threesomes'...]

Hee, and still rabbiting on about HP... Can't remember the fic but this struck me as a particularly odd use of 'ameliorate'.
"Silver and gold dust combed liberally across the lush foliage that ameliorated the halls..."
True, the word means 'to make better; to improve' but, um... <scratches head> I don't think it's in quite the right context here.

(And my latest Snupiney thing has been posted in The Zone. Thanks, Joules!)

Awwwww!
Usually KittenKong wakes up long before I get this close...

Hehehe. Xmas cake makes me fart...

Oh, whacko, it's State Election day tomorrow.
... I did have something to say about that but for the life of me I can't remember. Eh well.

Been a pretty full-on kind of week - I've spent roughly 11 hours in the car, driving Mum to and from hospital appointments. But it's all coming on nicely - her therapists are very pleased with her progress. Next week shouldn't be so hectic, though, with only one day of appointments.

Stone fruits are back in season, at last! Still hideously expensive and likely to remain so cos there was a freak frost not long ago that destroyed a large proportion of the crop. This follows on from the cyclone that wiped out the banana crop earlier in the year. Not that I eat a lot of fruit anyway - prefer veggies - but they're more of a special treat now than chocolate. <g>

Haven't done much of anything these past several weeks - probably not surprising given the disruptions - but I have finished another installment of the Snupin plot arc. Well, more SnOMC, really - Snape/Original Male Character.
Hah! And I just remembered what it was I had to say about the election!
Our next door neighbours have a Family First placard in their front garden. I doubt they'd be impressed to know they're living next to an avid reader/writer of queer smut. Hee. Good thing I don't advertise my predilections.
Speaking of queer - I finally got to see Brokeback Mountain. Waaah! So sad. I'm glad I didn't catch it at the cinema after all, even though it means I missed the opportunity to immerse myself in the scenery. (That's real scenery, mountains and such, not bishieish ambulatory 'scenery'.) Bawling one's eyes out should be done in private. :)

International Buy Nothing Day. Dem good idea, and surprisingly hard to do. Spending - even on the small incidentals - is insidious.

Gah. Tired. Not sure how much sense this is going to make...
Mum's home at last and I've just got back from spending 5 days with her, helping her settle in and - frankly - seeing how she copes. Cubs came with me (cos it was too much effort to try and organise something with their father) but they had no objection at all to missing a few days of school. Little buggers. :) But they were very well behaved, I have to say, and Soulsis (thankyouthankyouthankyou!) had them for a sleep-over on Saturday night.

I think Mum's going to be all right; she'll never be the same as she was but it could've been so much worse. She's not happy, especially without her car, and with the ongoing outpatient appointments at the rehab hospital she says she doesn't feel like her life is her own yet. It's going to take time, and I'll probly have to keep reminding her of that fact.
It was encouraging to see her putter about the unit. She had no problems using microwave/washing machine etc. (I won't mention the green tea made for me with sugar and milk <g>) She has problems with numeracy now, unfortunately, which is going to make shopping interesting, but if I can't be there to help then one of her friends will.
Meals-on-Wheels has been arranged for her. The service delivers one main meal a day - and Mum's quite happy cos she's never been that keen on cooking. :)
We've made a start on decluttering her unit, but only a start. It's a big task. But now the microwave is within easy reach, the table and kitchen unit have been (mostly) cleared and I went through one of the cupboards and got rid of a lot of old, old food - the earliest use-by date I found was 1997! <shakes head> - and culled some of the surplus canned goods she tends to hoard. Neither of us are anticipating with any pleasure the fuge stack of craft/quilting magazines that need to be cleaned out.

The best thing for Mum about being home is that she's got her cat back. He was very, very pleased to have her back. So pleased that for the first couple of days he was actually quite nice. Didn't take him long to get back to normal however - Mum and I both have scratches...

The thing I like most about Mum's car is that when you drop in $10 of petrol it makes a significant difference. Unlike the big old Ford we had, which, much as I loved her, $10 went nowhere, even with the slightly lower prices at the time.

I was a little late picking Mum up yesterday and when I eventually hurried into her room she said she was worried that something had happened with the car.
Hah! So that's where I get it from! If someone's late meeting me then they've obviously had an accident and they're dead. <rolls eyes> I can blame my mother for that slightly less than optimistic personality trait anyway. One night, many many year ago when I was about 14, Dad was at work and Mum had taken my brother to ballet. I was home alone, supposedly doing my homework but in reality trying not to twitch at every noise, but that was fine cos I knew Mum would be home soon...
I started getting worried when she wasn't back half an hour after she was due; by the time she and my brother rocked up - two hours later - I was frantic. Oh, everything was fine, she'd stopped off for a cup of tea with a friend...
That was the first time, I think, I ever told my mother off. Yes, I was worried, she should've let me know she was going to be late! <g> Of course, the shoe was on the other foot a few years later when she was berating me for staying out late and not letting her know.
Lessons learnt? Probably not. I look forward to similar exchanges with the cubs in the future.

I received notification in the mail yesterday about a change in a payment schedule for one of the bills. I thought it was for the gas and I was outraged! A hike from $20 a fortnight to $72! How was that justified?! Then I read the letter again and realised it was for the electricity and that it was, in fact, a slight decrease. <head->desk> Then I calmed down.

This morning, while routinely deleting the spam that'd wriggled through the filters, I noticed one that had the subject line - [SPAM] Dear friend.... Truth in advertising? I approve of that.

Another oddish sort of dream recently. Only remembered the tail end as I was waking up. Myself and nebulous others (sometimes the cubs, sometimes 'dream friends' ie: not known in r/l) were on a trip somewhere foreign, hot and dusty. We bought tickets for a famous local attraction, a ride of some sort. We hurried on to that to find it was like someone's cluttered lounge room filled with shabby but comfortable sofas all lined up neatly. Before the ride began - and I still have no idea what it was actually sposed to be - a frantic woman stood up and asked us if anyone had seen something important that she'd lost. People obliged by standing up and looking under their seats etc, and I spotted a collection of objects off to one side. I pointed it out to a friend who relayed the info to the woman. The thing that'd been lost was there but obscured by the other stuff. So, though it was me who was sort of responsible for finding the location, my friend got the kudos.
<eyebrow> I'm sure I've got no idea what that could mean.