Nigel Drummond (Saturday, October 4)

On Saturday night it was my Grandma's birthday. We had a cake with a bunch of candles.

I asked Grandma how old she is but she wouldn't tell me. Daddy said I could figure it out because I know how old he is and if I asked Grandma how old she was when she had Daddy, I could use addition to find out.

Grandma said she was four when she had Daddy.



I didn't understand why everyone thought that was funny until Mommy explained that Grandma was pretending to be younger then she is for a joke.

I still didn't really get the joke, but Neville said he thought it was funny, so I laughed.

Mommy and Daddy got Grandma an exercise bicycle for her birthday.



I wouldn't like to get an exercise bicycle for my birthday but Grandma liked it. She says if she rides the bike that she will be able to play basketball better. Grandma likes to play sports better than any old lady I know. Everyone in my whole family likes sports except me.

I went to bed and had a funny dream that I was playing in our yard and there was a unicorn there!



I wanted to keep dreaming about the unicorn but I dreamed instead that I had to pee and then I woke up and I really did have to pee.



I was glad I woke up in time this time!

I remembered that the toilet in my bathroom is broke so I went to use Neville's.



When I went past the stairs, I heard the grownups talking in the family room. Mommy always says it's not nice to eavesdrop but they were talking about me so I did eavesdrop. And I peeked over the banister and looked at them, too.



They were talking about Sophia Baldwin who is a mean girl at my old school. She used to pick on me all the time and make me cry. She picked on Neville, too, but he didn't cry except one time.

Mommy said that Sophia might start going to Jarman Academy which is my new school. Daddy and Grandma kept saying for her not to worry.

Since Mommy said she wouldn't be worried, I thought that I should not worry, either, but I did.

Sophia's Ire (Friday, October 3)

I am so mad!

Dad gives Marcus all kinds of stuff and he never gives me anything. I don't usually get mad at Dad but now I am. The first thing was he bought Marcus a whole bunch of new pajamas and didn't get me anything excpet a stupid watch that I already broke.

Then Dad found out about some people called Design in a Day and they come and redo your whole room in one day. So I was real excited except for two things. Marcus got his room done first and that made me mad. Marcus always gets everything first because he's little and that's dumb.

His room looks pretty and mine is still ugly. And he doesn't even care because he's a stupid baby.



The other thing is that Dad is getting these design people to redo the bonus room because we have to get a NANNY! And she is going to live here!

I don't need a nanny like some stupid baby. I can take care of myself.



I don't need a nanny to stay here and boss me around all the time. And the lady we will probably get for our nanny has a baby! I hate babies! They smell bad and they're dumb!

I don't understand why my mom just can't take care of us.



Mom never does anything nice for us like other moms do for their kids. I hate her!

And I am mad because Dad says I might have to go to private school at the Jarman Academy, which is where those retards Neville and Nigel Drummond go.

I might not be mad about that later. I hate the school where I go now.



The teachers are stupid and they make us learn stupid stuff. The playground is stupid. The lunchroom is stupid. And all the kids are stupid except my best friend Marisa Japp.



I am going to be mad if I have to go to private school without Marisa!

The only good thing that happened is that since the nanny has to live in the bonus room, Dad moved the computer into my room!



Now I just have to make Dad buy me some more games! All we have now is some snowboard game and The Sims. Those games are stupid. Especially The Sims. The only fun thing I like to do in The Sims is make Sims of people I know and then be mean to them. Like I have Sims of the Drummond boys and I make Nigel pee in his pants all the time just like he did in school last year.

Haha, if I go to the Jarman Academy with them, I am going to make all the kids call him "Nigel Pee Pants"! Hahahahahahaha!

Kate Seldon (Thursday, Oct 2)

I was eight months pregnant when I graduated from high school and I knew that my life would never be easy again.



My daughter, Brianna, is my whole life. I would do anything for my little girl.

We don't do to bad for a single parent family. I work at the grocery store full time and I make enough for us to have our own place.



Well, I wish I could afford a double wide. Some of them are almost like houses. But for now, Bri and me are stuck here, which is not even really a single wide. It's one big room with a Murphy bed and Brianna's crib has to be shoved up right next to the front door.

But it's ours and it's clean.

So I thought we was doing pretty good until a couple of months ago, when there started to be problems with Brianna's daycare. I get a subsidy from the government to send Brianna to daycare, but she has to go to the daycare with all the other low income kids and most of them are just pure T trash.

This one little boy kept biting her and they didn't do nothing about it.

I don't think they were feeding her the special healthy treats I fix every night to send with her.

And then she came home with lice and that was the last straw.

I about died. Lice!

So I got to thinking about jobs I could get where I wouldn't have to send Brianna to daycare while I work. And I hit on the idea of being a nanny.



I don't mean a babysitter. I mean a real, rich person, Mary Poppins without the funny dress, sure thing nanny. I applied to an agency that is real strict on both sides. I had to take a drug test and a background check and the people that apply to employ a nanny are screened really careful, too. So I don't have to worry about going to live in the house with some psychopathic axe murderer.



It took several weeks but finally the agency hooked me up with a family needing my help. I talked to the father on the phone. He's a scientist! For real! Like with test tubes and everything! So I was pretty excited. 'Cause I kept thinking about what it would mean to Brianna to grow up in a house with a scientist's family. Much better than her hanging out with those trashy little lice spreading hoodlums she has to spend her days with now.

Dr. Baldwin (that's his name) set up an interview time for us, and he also told me all about his kids and what they were like. I am sure they will be good playmates for Bri!



I did think it was kind of weird that the mother in the family is a stay at home mom. What does she even need a nanny for? I mean, if she had like ten kids, I could see needing some help, but how hard is it to take care of two kids when you don't even have to have a job?

But, really, I don't care. I guess that's just how rich people are. Whatever. All I know is that this is going to be a great thing for my daughter. And who doesn't want the very best for their kids?

Ben Takes Time Off (Monday, Sept 29 - Wednesday, Oct 1)

After staying up so late Sunday night, helping Laurel clean up her kitchen, I overslept Monday morning and nearly didn't make it to work on time.



I want to give my best to my kids, my job, and to Laurel, but there are just too many things pulling on me. I thought that if I could just get enough time to get caught up on all the things I needed to do, I could then stay caught up without half killing myself running here and there.

I decided to take Tuesday off. My experiment did not need my attention at the moment, and I had been in the lab all weekend, so today was a good day to try to play catch up in my personal life.

I also told Laurel that I thought we ought to take a little time apart this week.



I'm going to miss her like hell, but it'll be worse if I keel over dead from exhaustion. Besides, in addition to everything else I have going on, I'm trying to get Sophia into the Jarman Academy. That's the private school Dr. Drummond's kids attend, and she's always raving about how great it is. I'm sure Sophia's grades are good enough to get in, but I have to fill out a long ass application and arrange for references and interviews and all that mess. And I have to have it all done this week.

Plus there are a million other things I need to do. Like getting Marcus some non-girly pajamas. And I guess Laurel could use the time off, herself. She's got a lot going on, getting ready for her Grand Opening and everything. I'm thinking she could use some extra hours in the day, even if she won't admit it.



I went shopping on Tuesday after I got Sophia off to school. I got several sets of PJs for Marcus, but they didn't have any decent ones for Sophia. That was troublesome. She's likely to get upset if he gets something and she doesn't. So I got her a real, big-girl watch. If she has a fit over the PJs, I'll give her the watch. If she doesn't notice, I can put it aside for Christmas.

I'm getting so damn organized!

Anyway, it turned out to be a good thing I did arrange for some time off, because by the time I got home from shopping, I felt like hammered shit. At first, I thought I was just tired, but then I recognized the symptoms of the flu.

Isabel said she thought she might have it, too.



It was a struggle, but I did manage to complete Sophia's application to the Jarman Academy.

I felt so bad, I took Wednesday off work, too.

Sophia woke up sick Wednesday morning. I kept her home from school and just let her goof off all day.



I'm afraid I didn't pay much attention to Marcus, either. I stuck him in his high chair and let him watch Blue's Clues all afternoon.



Isabel wasn't much help. She said her sinuses were bothering her.



It was when I was lying on the couch in a fever-haze that I reached an important conclusion.



I decided that the time has come to hire a nanny.

I've been thinking about this for quite a while now. But I never could bring myself to do it. It means admitting that something is wrong with my wife - so wrong that she can't or won't take care of her own kids.

And even now, I feel bad about it. Like, if I wasn't spending so much time with Laurel, I could do more for my family.

But if I have a nanny to do the everyday stuff, like feeding the kids and cleaning up after them, I can concentrate on the good stuff. I can play with them and take them to the park and help Sophia with her homework and read to Marcus. All that kind of stuff a Dad should do.



Isabel was pretty pissed off when she looked at my laptop and saw that I'd been searching for a nanny. I don't feel like getting into the shit she started over that.



I feel like right now, hiring a nanny is the best thing for our family. And so that's what's going to happen!

Vince Jamison (Monday, Sept 29)

So I was in the storeroom at the bookstore Monday morning, minding my own business, when I hear someone out front BELLOWING for me to come and wait on her.

I went out there fixin' to give her a piece of my mind, I tell you what.

But then it turned out to be that TOTAL HOTTIE Laurel Hastings who lives next door to me! w00t!



She was buying a book on fire management, which I thought was pretty damn funny, seeing as how she just set fire to her kitchen yesterday. Well, OK, she says she didn't cause the fire, that it was bad wiring, but hey, I've lived here for three years and never had a problem with my wiring yet, so I'm thinking it was really her burning some bacon or something and she's just too ashamed to admit it. But, since she's a total smokin' hottie - hahahahaha, get it? Smokin'?!?!? - well, I didn't say anything about the book and how funny I thought it all was.



We talked for a really long time and I told her all about my family and how come I moved to this town and how I got started with my bookstore and then we talked about the city council and how I think they suck and the new zoning laws and the broohaha over that and how all the lawyers down at the courthouse are just a bunch of crooks and in the city council's pocket. Laurel seemed really interested in local politics.



Yep, she's totally hot. But you know me, well, I guess you don't know me, but never mind that. I have a THING for fit looking redheads. The only problem with Laurel is that I'm pretty sure she has a boyfriend. She didn't say anything about him today, but I've seen him coming 'round her place kind of late at night.



Still, I think I can get her. I mean, I definitely sensed some chemistry between us!

Laurel's Monday (Monday, Sept 29)

Monday was a pretty hectic day.

I got up early and went to the grocery store, since the fire had burned up all my food. Not that I have a stove to cook anything on at the moment, but Robert promises he'll be bringing one around as soon as possible.

Ah, well, the refrigerator still works. I can eat cold cereal to my heart's content.



I got to the grocery store so early, they weren't even open yet. I had to stand around outside for ten minutes, waiting for them to unlock the doors.

That made me feel pretty good - like a real go-getter, up with the chickens.



After doing my grocery shopping, I decided to make a quick stop by Jamison Books to see if they had anything about fire safety. I don't know, I guess seeing my kitchen in flames upset me more than I thought. I just have an urge now to learn all I can about how to protect myself from fires.

Jamison's did have several books on fire safety. I chose the most basic looking one to start with. I can come back for the others later if I want.



This was supposed to have been a quick trip, but it took forever to get waited on at the checkout counter. Normally, I am pretty patient in situations like that, but I kept thinking about the gallon of milk in the backseat of my car and finally I had to call out for someone to hurry up and help me.



Then I found out that "Jamison" of "Jamison Books" is actually none other than Vince Jamison, the guy who lives in the apartment next to mine.

When I saw Vince, I felt really embarrassed about about hollering for someone to come and wait on me. But I consoled myself by thinking about how embarrassed he must be to be standing face to face with the lady who hears through the wall when he watches dirty movies late at night.



Vince didn't seem a bit shy, though. In fact, he talked and talked and talked and talked and TALKED. I know everything there is to know about Vince Jamison now, because he told me his entire life story. I kept thinking about the milk in my car and trying to edge away.

I was very relieved when another customer came up and Vince had to go wait on her.

I'll admit I scrambled out of the store with a bit less grace than I would have liked.



Robert still hadn't installed a new stove when I got home, but he did at least drag off the smoking ruins of the trash compactor and replace it with a plastic garbage can.



All of my clothes smelled like smoke, so I did what felt like 437 loads of laundry.

I didn't get a thing done at the shop today, and didn't even have a minute to sit down at the sewing machine!



It looks as if I'll be having more spare time in the near future, though. Ben stopped by after work to tell me he's not going to be able to see me for about a week. He's trying to get Sophia into a private school, and he needs some time to work on the applications and so forth.

I told him I understood.

To be quite honest, I guess it's probably a good thing. I'll miss seeing Ben for the next few days, but I have a million things to get ready before the Grand Opening.

I'll just have to look forward to seeing him again next week.

A Little Relief (Sunday, Sept 28)

After getting Laurel's phone call, I rushed home from the lab as quickly as I could. Isabel and Sophia were both asleep when I got there. Thank God!



I fed Marcus, gave him a bath, and hustled him into bed.

I also made a mental note to buy him some new pajamas this week. What the hell is up with these little pink squiggly things? What are those even supposed to BE?

I was worn out. It had been a seriously long day already. But I went over to Laurel's, anyway. I made it over there about 11:00.

I felt really bad when I saw her. I mean, really bad.



She was trying to get her kitchen cleaned up. She was worn out and in shock and trying to scrub up all that sticky black mess from the smoke.

She didn't say one word of complaint.

But that didn't fool me. I could tell how upset she was.



I helped her finish scrubbing the cabinets. That black smutty residue from the smoke was a bitch to get off!

Then we stretched out on the couch together to rest. A tight squeeze for the two of us, but always nice.

I kept thinking about what it would be like if Laurel was my wife instead of Isabel. What I wouldn't give to be able to take care of Laurel AND my children the way I want to! I'm sick of always shortchanging someone as I shuffle them around.

But I can't get a divorce. I can't! I know that Isabel would fight me for the kids just to spite me. Judges are always inclined to give full custody to the mother. I would probably end up seeing the kids only every other weekend and two weeks in the summer. Maybe every other Christmas if I got lucky.

I can't leave them on their own with Isabel for all that time.

I can't ignore Laurel when she needs me. Hell, I can't ignore her when I need her, either! And this is all unfair to her, too.

I just hope I was able to give her a little relief tonight.

Heidi Drummond, Ph.D. (Sunday, Sept 28)

There are many, many reasons why I love my dear husband, Joel.



One of them is that he understands the delicate balance between family life and professional life.



Since I had to stay at the lab and help Dr. Baldwin fix the mess he'd made of his most recent experiment, I was quite late getting home Sunday evening. The rest of the family was at dinner, and the twins were already in their PJs, for goodness' sakes!



But Joel was very understanding. He listened attentively as I described Dr. Baldwin's mishap. Although Joel works as a sports writer now, he was a biology major in college, so he has a decent grasp of basic scientific principals and can follow me when I describe my work. Well, as long as I don't get too technical.



Tonight, though, I found myself biting my tongue. It wasn't work that had me upset, it was the mere presence of Benjamin Baldwin. I don't at all mind discussing my feelings about Dr. Baldwin with Joel or my mother-in-law, but I didn't want to get into too many details in front of the boys . . .




. . . and especially in front of my dear, sweet Nigel, who was bullied so cruelly by that little Sophia Baldwin that Joel and I ended up taking the boys out of public school to get him away from her.

Sophia, ha! Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth when she talks to adults, but I believed the boys when they told me how harsh she was to them on the school bus and at the playground. Last year was a misery for both boys, but I think it was worse for Nigel. He's so sensitive.

Sophia was in the third grade last year, and my boys were first graders. I know that kids will be kids, but Neville and Nigel were just babies, really. I was glad that we were able to enroll them in the Jarman Academy for their second grade year. It really is a wonderful school! The boys are learning the cello, studying Latin, and next term, they will have the opportunity to join a club or sports team of their choice. I know that they are getting an outstanding education, and Joel and I don't have to worry about subjecting them to the tender mercies of hoodlums like that Baldwin girl.

I suppose it's wrong of me to hold a grudge against Dr. Baldwin because of this, but I can't help myself. One should never disturb a mother bear's cubs!