It's a dog eat dog world out there . . . . :)

So - I have a few things to share with you today.

Which do you want first??? Cuteness or ALIT???

Hmm - since I'm not planning to wait for an answer(grin) I'll go with ALIT, so then the coolness and cuteness can wash away the taste.

So - I'm sure you are all wondering what happened at Sukaspawn's 1st birthday party. (since that WAS the topic of my post a month ago.)

Unfortunately, we did not have a full on spy there. No one wanted to share much with us. (heck, when we were in NY the last time with the lawyer, we asked Auntie Em what they were doing, and she said "oh I don't know, something at the house, or at the temple. Nothing big." OF course, cousin P had already gotten the invitation so we knew just what was going to be happening - at least in part...)

So -turns out that Auntie Em who wasn't supposed to be paying at all, ended up paying for all the food. Only about 40 people showed (some snafu about RSVP's i think.) And Suka's parents must have reneged on some of what they promised as there was No moon bounce, No face painter, and No Disney princesses. They had a DJ. Who played all teenagery techno dance music. They paid for a 4 hour party at the temple and everyone had left by 2 hours. Sounds like one hell of a flop to me.

Now - Our trip to NY. We didn't accomplish all that much really except to solidify the divide in the family. We went through the list of items, and a good portion of them are still "missing" and of course Auntie Em says, "maybe KAR has them..." so she won't have to admit where they probably are. The big thing was the Chandelier. That is the one and ONLY item we contested on the list. Auntie Em kept saying "you take whatever you want..." and that is the only thing she flipped over. And FLIP she did. She was like a rabid thing - going from meek and sad and miserable to screaming. I swear I could almost see spittle flying out of her mouth. She went on and on about how hard her life is, and how sick her husband, and she has to deal with this and that and KAR and everything else, and now when she goes to her son's house she can be at home in her mother's dining room and everything is just like it was, with the china etc, and with all of this going on in her life how can my mother care so my about a F*CKING chandelier. Then she put her head on the table and cried. It was impressive to say the least complete with, "you said you were never coming back, and that you had everything you wanted..." - Tell me, do YOU remove light fixtures when a house is up for sale?? Exactly. Shortly thereafter she left the house and went home and refused to finish leaving Cousin A to finish up for her. It's still contested but we will probably never get it because it is already hanging in SukaStar's house. Cousin A even pulled a Tony Soprano. He very deliberately separated my mother and I - and when he had her alone in his car did the "what will it take to get you to give up the chandelier?"

Then he pulled me aside later saying he wanted to ask me something. Next thing I know he's giving me a lecture about how it's all between the sisters and I say things I shouldn't say in front of everyone etc. It was a very nasty and sneaky methodology - and there was a lot of reinforcement to the "you aren't here, so you don't know. " It was a pretty miserable visit to NY let me tell you.

So then we are on to more recent events - KAR is back in the loony bin. Psychiatric ward at the hospital. This time involuntary.

The events as I understand them are as follows. KAR is watching TV. The companion (L) says "come on KAR, we need to get ready for the dr. It's time to get dressed." (she is supposed to go for a neuro workup b/c all the drugs don't seem to help so they are looking for neurological reasons to her issues.) So KAR says No, i want to watch tv. (jerry springer in case anyone is interested.) L says "ok - you have 10 minutes, then you have to get ready." So 15 minutes later L comes to get KAR and get her ready and KAR refuses. Says she doesn't want to. Then she says that she is going to call the police and tell them that L is trying to kill her. And that she will tell them that L treats her so badly she wants to kill herself etc. It's all attention grabbing on her part.

Well - She picked up the phone and dialed 911. Then she hung up. Well you can't do that, because if you hang up on a 911 then they start to worry. . . so 5 Cops show up at the door. At which point KAR is going a bit nuts and saying L wants to kill her etc. And that conditions are so bad she wants to kill herself etc. Well.. that was that. You can't threaten to kill yourself to cops - so it was immediate involuntary commitment. She keeps asking everyone in th hospital what song it is she keeps hearing, but no one else can hear it. (at one point we were told it was Onward christian soldiers, and that she was singing Oh my darling Clementine to try and overpower the voices in her head.)

Are we having fun yet?? Oh and she needs the MRI for the neuro work up - but the hospital only has a closed one, and KAR refuses to go into that one.

LI keeps turning faster and faster eh?

Now on to better stuff.

I got a tattoo this weekend. :) Here's the picture - it's on my Upper Right Arm.



















This weekend I was also puppy sitting for part of the day for my brother's dog. :) Here's some uber cuteness for you all. :) She is now 10.5 weeks old.

using Zoe as
a chin rest.












Perpendicular
Puppies :)














Falling asleep
with her head
still up. :)