Tonight, Rowan had some kind of reaction to something perhaps. She started hyper-ventilating, teeth chattering, and saying she couldn't breathe. There were no other symptoms - no fever or closed throat. After several minutes, she calmed down and seemed to be fine. We don't know if it was the expired Benadryl from 1999 that Pam gave her that cured her or not.

This afternoon, I asked Berit to read one of those Magic Treehouse books to Griffin though Merit was still here and she got mad and burst into tears. Naturally, I over-reacted in kind, as I am wont to do, and told her that I do a lot of things for her that I don't necessarily want to do at the time, and then I grabbed the pinhole camera that I've been building with her for her science fair project and the photographic paper I bought for her today and thrust it at her telling her that she could do her own damn project.

God, I want to be the Buddha so badly , but when it comes to parenting I am so freaking far away from that it's depressing to me.

Of course, I had to make amends, not only to Berit but also to my amazingly empathic daughter Rowan, who was in tears over me being so mean.

This morning there were lots of girls in the house as Berit and Rowan both had friends sleep over, so Griffin and I escaped to breakfast in Boulder at the Village Coffee Shop, followed by used bookstore (I very recently turned him on to the Magic Treehouse books and he can't get enough) and swimming at the YMCA. Twas a great adventure.

Rowan thinks my job is cool :) She said that she wants to be a web designer when she grows up. I told her that we could make her a web page.

Berit's been practicing her Cockney accent for The Wind in the Willows which she is performing with the Peanut Butter Players Lunch Theatre. She's a stoat, among other things.

Last night as I was lying down to sleep with Griffin he asked me, "When people die Daddy, are they still able to think?"

I told him that I wasn't sure but that some people believed so. He was lost in thought for a while, and I fell asleep.