Dad's home. It is nice to have him back. He's been complaining about Rick's kids. XD It's nice hearing him tell stories about the people whose appliances break, and general stuff about Montana.

Well, we're home. I'm mostly unpacked, in what is record time, since we only got home a bit after midnight. Dad is coming home today to spend a few weeks fixing up the house. Hopefully he's bringing a Dillon phonebook. Oh, yeah. Apparently Rick's found a three-bedroom apartment within our price range, whatever that is. I hear the word "apartment" and instantly shy away. It might not be half as bad as it sounds, but associations and all that.

On Wednesday Sid Seaman took Doug, Owen, and me to the Garden of the Gods for a hike and lunch. It was fun. The gift shop has these beautiful little porcelain horses with designs on them. For example, one had black saddlebags, exhaust pipes, and flaming legs. It just made you think "motorcycle". And it's a horse. That was just the funniest one. Sid works in the jewelry section, so we got a tour of the Navajo rugs from a half-Navajo friend of hers. Tina was nice, and funny, and educational.

Dad just called. He's crossed into Nebraska, but there are still four hours to go. He sounds very happy.

In Colorado Springs

We got here Friday night. Baron is behaving himself fairly well. Philip took Peter to Golden with him this morning. Mom's going to have us all doing school, except that some of Peter's schoolbooks somehow got left behind.

Philip took us to Barnes & Noble and the library on Saturday, and I got Dragonhaven and Making Money, but my fifty bucks has been magically reduced to nine and some change. At the library I got a Patricia C. Wrede omnibus, Shadows Over Lyra, and a couple of Lois McMaster Bujolds. We also went to Best Buy, where I was tempted by all the anime DVDs, but I withstood, fortunately considering my current state of finance.

We stopped by B's when we left, and she has a couple of boxes of books and magazines for writers. I brought a couple of the Writer's Digests with me, and they're pretty good.

Mostly packed. I'm taking a break from Power!! to read Chibi Vampire. This may sound weird, especially considering the titles, but I think that CV may be better.

Ugh. We're leaving tomorrow morning. Sara is going to take care of the animals for us, for three bucks a week.

I'm reading Power now, having finished Fruits Basket. It's basketball, but shoujo enough that I'll probably read it all. The art isn't much, though. I mean, it's okay, but I don't really like that style. But it's funny, and I like the heroine.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh! Check came! Total amount: $448.27. Deduct 35 bucks for Susan, who was included in the lot but who wasn't mine. Leaves me with $413.27. Add to that $383.38, and...hmmm... $831.65. Muahahahaha.

Yesterday afternoon Darrel and I took all the sheep and Susan to Palmyra. Dale was there to unload them. There weren't very many lots there, but then it was still a few hours before the sale.

I'm at B's right now with Peter and Owen. Doug wormed out of it. B isn't very happy about us moving, and it doesn't help that Mom found out that she's been tearing Dad down to us--Owen and me. Peter and Doug aren't very satisfactory audiences. Anyway, it very nearly started a war, and we didn't come yesterday because B was sulking. So we got lots of computer time, especially Doug and me, 'cause Pete an' Ownie went to town with Mom. Mom's gonna come get us at 8:45 or thereabouts. You would not believe how slow OneManga is on B's computer. It kinda looks like Tohru is going to end up with Kyou, but we'll see. I'd kinda prefer Yuki. 57 more chapters, I think. Man, it's scary how different Momiji looks after his growth spurt. He is actually positively identifiable as a guy now. Nice change....

There's a trailer running on the Disney Channel for a movie called Sydney White. It looks like a high school retelling of Snow White, and it occurred to me: waking her up with a kiss is a waste of a first kiss. Not having seen the movie, I don't know whether it actually is the first kiss, but the question still arises.

Mom, Peter and Owen have gone to town. We have enough money to buy Peter a new pair of boots, which is why he went.

Still reading Fruits Basket. So is Doug, on his own.

Doug and I went to the Amens' after the route. They're going to be taking the job when we move, it looks like. Tomorrow, Saturday, and next week we'll be training them. Mr. Amen is, well, acting like Dad would. Telling them that it'll be a responsibility, etc., etc. Speaking of whom, Doug is a little taller than he is now. :-] So anyway.

Dad called. He told us to do devotions without Mom tonight. Owen kicked up a bit of a fuss. *sigh*

Reading Fruits Basket. It's starting to get serious. Ehh.... Oh, well. Can't be helped.

Spent the morning in town, starting with a trip to a little bakery for donuts, or rather, baked breakfast-ish goods. Not really donuts. Also went to Wal-mart, Barnes & Noble, and Super Saver. Got the latest issue of Shonen Jump, Vol. 1 of MeruPuri, and Full Metal Panic: Fighting Boy Meets Girl. I am now flat broke. Doug found some Bionicle books.

Mmm. The Ouran anime is pretty funny, but I wouldn't watch it for just the art. And--um--I'm playing the Gaia game. It's an even more elaborate game of dress-up than Yahoo avs is. Unfortunately clothes cost money, so it's a bit more than dress-up.

The boys are watching .hack Sign. The music is by the same person that did Noir's soundtrack. Emo.....

Reading the Beauty Pop manga whenever Doug isn't reading Ouran with me. It's really funny, despite the subject. I think my favorite of the guys is the black-haired one with glasses, Kazuhiko Ochiai. He's the one who keeps trying to manipulate Kiri into joining the S.P. club. The club president is the the one who doens't like her, 'cause she's a better hairstylist than he is.

Oooooh! Yay! Ochiai has a crush on Kiri-chan! Yessss!

Been sorting the books from Owen's room. We're flat out of packaging tape. Running low on boxes the right size. Mom's going to work tonight, so Owen's probably going to have at least one tantrum. Actually, he already had one this morning, but I doubt we can count on his having exceeded his quota.

Watching Bleach 127. We now have Noir, Bleach, and Eureka Seven music on Della. It's a pain depending on Owen for blank discs, though. It helps that we're buying them from them, since then he can't claim that they're actually his and he only lent them to us.

Eh. The problem with Bleach is that since Ichigo and co. run into all the most powerful people, they keep getting beaten all the time. Constantly. And Ichigo agonizes about it, too (with some justification, admittedly). So it's really dark and painful and stuff. *sighs* Shoujo really is more what I want to read/watch. One Piece is about the best shounen gets. Well, maybe Claymore too, except I'm not consuming that. I don't know which category Rurouni Kenshin is in. I think it fits them both, really.

Well, B took Owen to spend the night as well as tomorrow at the farm, which is an enormous relief, because he is never at his best when Mom goes off and leaves the four of us with the computers. Rather the opposite, in fact. Especially tonight.

On ep. 121 of Bleach. It's about all I can do without Doug, that I'm in the middle of at present. Noir? We're doing that together. Rurouni Kenshin? Ditto. Ouran? That too. Mattaku ne....and I haven't much to do between turns, because I still don't have any new books. Moan. Except learn Japanese, and there are limits when it comes to studying on a half-holiday, or whatever it is.

Owen found an anime music download site, so now we can burn CDs of our favorite anime music. *happy* Furthermore, Mom got him some CD-Rs for his birthday, and since there isn't much that he wants, Doug and I can have some.

Dad just left.

Okay, yes. Ouran is very very funny. And yes, the Club President is the other half. He is certifiably insane. She's good for him, though. Doug and I are reading it together.

Dad is leaving early tomorrow morning or late tonight, however you look at it. Looks like he's gonna miss Owen's birthday, for which we are inviting B and Darrel. The menu is deli sandwiches and mud pie. We got the dining room bookshelf upright and out of the way so there'll be enough room, and most of the books are boxed up. I still have to get the encyclopedias off the bench, though.

Just got back from B's. Man, my muscles are going to be sore tomorrow. We spent three hours or so at the pool, which is closing after Monday. B joined the party telling me to go off the diving board. I probably could have withstood her alone, but since Doug amped it up after she joined I went. It wasn't fun. My brothers kindly told the lifeguard to watch out for me, too. So helpful. B thinks this will make me more willing to go next year. Nope. I won't be thinking all winter, "Well, I did it and it was okay," I'll be thinking, "Well, I finally did it and I barely made it to the side." On the plus side, nobody rescued me.
And speaking of diving, there was this one guy, Doug's age or maybe a little older, who was great on the diving board. On the other hand, he had a tendency to depreciate other people's performances. My brothers', notably. They're working on flips just now, and he wasn't much of a help. It was funny how the lady in charge kept calling him to the front and making him pull his shorts up so his underwear didn't show, though. It happened three times. Sometimes redundancy is very funny.

We all got comp time. I finished Zettai Kareshi, and I've started Ouran High School Host Club, which may be a mistake. It's very funny shoujo, though. And the protagonist is a girl, which one is a bit doubtful about at first. If she ends up with that Taku wacko, or whatever his name is, though, I will be most displeased. On the other hand, is there anyone else who really seems like an option? Manga rule: if it's romance, you have to meet the other half before the second chapter. I've finished the first chapter. Looks like we're doomed.