Last night I took Bastette The Sponsee out to a meeting. This is one time I can definitely say I needed it just as much if not more than she did. A recap of last week in memorable quotes should give an idea of why:

Geekster: "Thanks to my paycut it looks like we have about $500 more a month going out than coming in. I think you're going to have to start bringing in some extra money right now. In the meantime, what can we cut?"

There's nothing like a Sunday bill paying session to start your week off on a positive note.

Dentist: "It appears we're going to have to pull all four top front teeth. They're too far decayed. Had his regular dentist referred you out to a pediatric specialist the first time you went in we probably could have saved them."

Yay! We get to the play the woulda-shoulda-coulda game? And it's only Monday, too. What luck!

Me: *cry* *sob* *blow nose* "My baby's teeth! It's so not fair!" *screaming into a pillow at 1AM so as to not wake up the rest of the house and have them awake with me while I cry, which would promptly end my little pity party*

A true display of my upbeat, positive attitude at work. It's beautiful to behold, isn't it?

Pixie: "Oops! Looks like Spawnling's truck collided with Einstein's nose and caused a nosebleed. It's okay, Einstein. Let's just go in the kitchen and get some tissues. Oh Maven, don't worry about it. Einstein will be fine. And about my white designer sweater with blood all over it? That's why I have this stain remover pen with me. See? All better."

My friends make such a big deal out of Spawnling's little love taps, don't they? Look at how upset she is. She's practically screaming at me. That just added to my stress level.

Spawnling as blood pours down his face later that day: "I try to hit Gutsy wif a Rescue Hero but I hit myself wif a Rescue Hero an' now I am full of red on my face and it hurts!"

What's that squeezy feeling in my chest? Must be all the love inside.

Gutsy: "Mom, the school needs us to raise more money for textbooks by getting people to donate to our bowl-a-thon"

Wow, really? That's awesome! I was just thinking that I needed a little fundraising in my life this week. It's been so monotonous, after all. How about we use the one free day we have this weekend - Sunday, when we're not three hours away seeing your grandparents for the day - and spend that time walking door to door and trying to collect money from people who are in the middle of an economic crisis?

A good week overall, but there's a little bit of stress mixed in there - no clue why, really - and I felt I could use last night's 12 step meeting. By "felt I could use" I really mean "ran out the door, jumped in the van, cranked up the punk music and took off screaming angry lyrics at nobody in particular before picking up Bastette The Sponsee and trying to make it seem like I was doing this for her"

She knew better, but she didn't let on. Instead she bought me coffee and let me act all sponsorish.

We saw Jobthingy after the meeting and went to a diner below the scariest strip bar in Ottawa. They make good poutine, but I had to stop eating it when the cook came out to talk to someone and wiped his nose on his apron.

Anyway, I'm off to pack up our stuff for this morning's excursion to Peterborough, Ontario. I'm one of those freaks who actually loves my in-laws (and I'm not just saying that because they read my blog - Hi in-laws!). The trip involves beautiful countryside, coffee, and three extra people to lasso the gremlins. These are definite Maven-enticing bonuses.

Given the week I've had I may sneak away for a walk. Or maybe just make a run for somewhere tropical and skip all the preliminary steps of slowly distancing myself from reality. I haven't quite decided yet.