2005-01-04 - 11:20 a.m.

2004 was a good year for me: I married a wonderful man, went to Paris, sold a house and bought another one, Marcellus and I became Baron and Baroness of Ponte Alto, went to Pennsic, got my Pearl and my Missilier's, and did not strangle any of my children.

Oh, and 2 1/2 years after my mastectomy, I am still cancer free!

That's pretty darned good.

The children front on the other hand, gets a bit of mixed reviews, but all in all, things are working out rather well.

Carlos has been doing well in school and, after much drama (see previous posting on it), a transfer to another school, ADS treatment and one probation officer later (a mom's best friend), he is behaving like the fun-loving, caring, helpful kid that he is.

So okay, every once in a while he becomes the surly teenager, but that is only to be expected. However, it is amazing how kids can change their behavior when they are clean, sober, and doing what they are supposed to do. He even authorized rapier. (Yay Carlos! You make Momma proud!)

Hector, on the other hand, my Dark Child, is still at large. He resurfaces here and there, usually when he needs something, and I can only hope that after all is said and done he grows up, gets seriously into rehab, and gets on with his life.

And hope that his Guardian Angel keeps doing overtime and keeps him alive and whole until that day when he finally hits rock bottom and decides that there is no other way but up.

Whatever happens now, it is beyond my control.

But I can always hope.

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New Year's Eve found us at our home, with Carlos and the rest of the household. (Minus The Pirate-Cat, who was at another party, but she called us at midnight to wish us a Happy New Year, so we did indeed spend it together.)

It was a very relaxed gathering. We ordered pizza, played Unexploded Cow and Guillotine, and then turned on the tv to watch the ball drop and wish each other a happy New Year.

It was really cool.

The funniest part of the night was later on, when we were really tired and sleepy, and we unwittingly started a pun marathon.

It all started with someone saying, "If the Burger King married the Dairy Queen, would they have a child named Wendy?"

It went downhill from there. We went through fast-food chains, candy, supermarkets, department stores, alcohol, you name it. (We discovered that, gasp, Mr. Smith is married to Mrs. Smith, who is cheating on him with Sara Lee. But she is crazy for Long John Silver and is also dating the Jolly Green Giant. Wow!)

And the worst part is, nobody had even been drinking.

We stopped when Seamus said "Do you guys realize that it is 2:30 a.m.?"

At any rate, the best pun of 2005 belongs to Delfina the Mad who, when she heard that George had traded his Accent for an indigo (that's the factory color code) Matrix, coined the now classic phrase:

"My name is Indigo Toyota, you killed my Accent, prepare to drive."

Vrooooom.

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