One way to feel good about that fucking Hummer you just bought.

Speaking of car choices…Bruce’s friend is visiting for the weekend and drove about 200 miles to get here…guess how much he spent on gas? FOURTEEN DOLLARS. He’s got one o’ them sweet newfangled Prius cars. They get about 50 miles to the gallon–sometimes even better. We thought about getting one a few years ago, but had to say “fuggetaboutit” after we knew we were going to have twins. (Oh, and I can just imagine what those two little button-pushing fiends would do to a car with a push-button ignition!). Damn!

I’ve been reading a book about earthquakes and the author has been talking about various earthquake prediction theories out there, ranging from weird clouds to strange animal freakouts. There is a section on “earthquake weather,” a concept the merit of which I have often wondered about. California natives know what this is: it’s when everything is hot and dry and strangely still. Supposedly birds will fall silent just before a quake too, though I can’t say I’ve noticed this one way or the other. But the hot and dry weather, yeah…my mother called October “shake and bake” month when we were kids.

“Another October earthquake, I think, like 1865 and 1868, and this recalls something Jim Berkland once told me–that, in the Bay Area, October is a particularly treacherous month. The thought gives me a little tickly, a tremor of anticipation, but, as always in earthquake country, denial is as powerful a force as superstition, and the world around me looks so solid…I put the possibility out of mind.”

I know some people consider this superstitious bullshit, but I must say it does seem to match up pretty well with my life experiences in California. Even Beck knows about earthquake weather.

Another new book in the house is The No-Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers. This one came through Amazon, and I gotta say, I was immediately struck by one thing–its fat ass. It’s literally two or three times the size of the baby sleep book. To me this is more frightening evidence that toddler sleep issues are sooooo much more complicated than baby sleep issues. And I was thrilled to see there was a chapter on twins in the back, but this turned to disappointment when I saw how thin it was, and how much of it was the old unhelpful copout you hear from everyone, “just do whatever works.” Right. Suppose nothing is working. It would have been better if Pantley had scoured some of the twin mom bulletin boards and took note of some of the things mentioned there, where some of the most desperate moms on the planet have come up with creative solutions.

So far so good with Saige. Except for a few relapses, for the most part the last couple of weeks have been MUCH better. (What seems to be working: seperate napping rooms, earlier bedtimes and more time reassuring that I’m not disappearing when she goes to sleep).

I also figured out my little medical issue…I was only taking half the dosage I was supposed to. Oops. Saw the “take one pill” and didn’t see the “twice daily” on the other side of the label. I’m pretty sure the nurse at my doctor’s office thinks I’m a complete moron now, but in my defense, IT’S A LITTLE HARD TO READ THINGS WHEN YOU HAVEN’T SLEPT ALL WEEK. Now I’m on the right dosage, but the side-effects, ughk…massive headaches and nausea. I thought it was too easy.

And now before I head off to bed…behold the tranformation of the $5 garage sale nightstands!

They were just the right height and–thank you God!–there was actually two of them. I’m pretty happy with how they turned out. They go well with the rest of their Goodwill Modern room decor–a lamp rescued from the trash in New Jersey and a framed embroidered animal thing (there’s a better name for it but I can’t think of what it is) that looks to be about as old as I am. Yay recycling!

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