Random Notes

The

Laura reads The Zombie Survival Guide.

kids are always hounding me to play Dead Rising because they love violent anti-zombie action. I like the game, but the structure frustrates me enough that I haven't bothered playing it much since I beat it. I finally realized the best course of action -- one that would probably have child psychologists screaming for my scalp -- was to just turn them loose and let them play it.

They don't get very far, but that's okay because they just enjoy whacking the zombies in the first area. Andy would pick up potted plants and slam them down on the zombies' heads. Emma was partial to the baseball bat, although April and I had to keep telling her to stop hitting the characters who were still alive.

While they played that, Laura discovered my copy of The Zombie Survival Guide and started reading it. I was so proud. She thinks Night of the Living Dead is boring as hell -- she's nine, so what does she know? -- but she likes zombies in general.

April went shopping again, this time to buy a change of clothes and spaghetti supplies. I had the ingredients, but I wasn't sure I had enough to feed six people. It turned out I did, but I added the meatballs she'd picked up.

She also bought a few things for my apartment as an early Christmas present. "Now that I see how you live," she said, "I have a better idea of what you need." The fact that I rarely dust was really grating on her every time she stepped into the bathroom, so she came back with a good broom and a dustpan. She also had two new pillows and some spoons to replace my escapees.

"You

Joey plays Pain on the PS3.

know this bathmat is dry-rotted on the bottom?" she yelled as I was making dinner. I went in there to check it out. Yep. Lots of yellow dust under the mat.

"That explains why it's been feeling so strange for the past week or so," I laughed. "More crunchy than springy."

I popped in another movie for the kids to watch while we ate. They played a few more games while I finished reading Heir to the Empire and started Dark Force Rising. Laura wanted to play Animal Crossing, so I let her make a character in my long-neglected town of Tonberry. I was surprised there were still animals living there.

Laura and Andy got into a fight and lost their gaming privileges, and then Laura got into an argument with April about the fairness of their punishment. It morphed into an argument about whether Laura was actually arguing and almost turned into a Monty Python sketch in the process.

They eventually conked out watching Aliens in the Attic. April, meanwhile, was thrilled to learn her power and Internet were back in working order when a neighbor started posting on Facebook. They're heading back to Drawdy tomorrow.