*back over 50%, again.

The t-shirt rotation starts again.

It was such a thrill to be able to sleep in and not have to spend a few hours in Davis. We were exhausted when we got home yesterday... hauling rocks in the heat is not all that great.

I was beginning to chug around getting ready for my visit with Casey when the phone rang. It was my niece who was coming through town with her family. She was going back after 19 days at Fallon NAS in Nevada to go to Moro Point. Now, when I'd talked to her husband a couple of weeks ago, he'd said they weren't going to be stopping here, so I'd kinda stopped getting the rooms ready, so there was a panic finding the beds.

I had to leave almost as soon as they arrived, but it was nice to finally meet my youngest great-nephew and to see the other one and his Dad for the first time in, uh, 6 years or more. My niece was at Roni's wedding, three years ago today.

The visit with Casey was rather mixed. We started out by delivering old blankets and towels from Gerhard's house to the vet. Then we went to Walmart. It turns out that the Walmart McDonalds doesn't make McFlurries, but we settled for a shake each. That went well. Then we were looking for a good present for the little sister. Of course, Casey had to play with everything which I expected. Eventually li'l sis got a Fisher-Price stacker. So far so good. Then we got checked out and got to the lobby. Casey wanted one of the 50-cent little toys, I said "no" and all heck broke loose. Casey refused to move. The child wouldn't go to the car.

OK, if this child were one of mine, first, this would not have happened, because they would have known by this time that I would not have put up with this sort of nonsense. Then I would have had two other options I couldn't use with Casey. I could have started off without the child (however, not in Walmart, not in 2002) or I could have administered a swift pat on the rear, a "get over it NOW!" swat. I don't believe that's battering, but I agree with the rules that say a foster child can't have that.

So there I was, stuck with a stubborn kid who wasn't planning to move. I grabbed a wrist and out we went with me thinking all Casey had to do was to shout "YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!" and I'd have been tied up with legalities for quite a while. I finally turned 6 years old myself and threatened to tell on the kid, and Casey began to behave better. "I don't want to get in trouble." "Fine, don't get in trouble."

Argh. OK, back at the house with the Taco Bell catering, and Rich had remembered to locate the dining room table so we could eat. The boys were playing with Super Soakers when I left, and with Lego, my Monsters, Inc. toys, and the Animaniacs tapes when I got back. We had a nice evening. I'm so glad to see these people.