When, What, Where, Why, and How???

When do my new neighbors plan on letting their dogs in? Why do my new neighbors insist on having me hate them before I even meet them by letting their dogs sit outside my bedroom window, barking, at 5:00 am? My daughter awoke early yesterday, shouting "wuf, wuf, wuf" from her crib. What do you think woke her up?? Hmmm! Oh hated neighbors, I was even going to make you cookies!

What calendar says that we should start preparing for Christmas on Halloween Day? On October 31, as the Halloween items were being moved to the Clearance aisle, the candy canes were being put in their place? And I almost bought eggnog and Christmas sugar cookies, but stopped myself, on principle if nothing else. My mother has a strict rule against preparing for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving, minus putting the lights on your house. You may put the lights on your house, even in October, if its a particularly nice day. But dare you not turn them on until the Friday after Thanksgiving. (Note: Tomorrow, its supposed to be 74 degrees here, and without having even spoke to her, I'm CERTAIN that my mom will be putting her lights up, if granted the opportunity.)

Where, child, did you hide my tennis shoe?

Why do I live miles and miles from friends who I would enjoy spending time with weekly, if not even daily? Instead I live in close proximity to friends who I could get by with seeing only yearly?

How is it that my daughter is magnetically drawn to any woman in that "Fifty-ish" range, as if this woman were her own kin? It makes sense that she was so enamored with her grandmothers and even those who pretend to be her grandmother, but today, when I dropped her off in the play room at the Community Center so I could go work out, she clung to my leg as I left. But by the time I returned, she was overwhelmed with grief when I told her that she had to say goodbye to her kind 50-something caregiver, who had been a stranger to her just 45 minutes prior. As I pulled her from the room, she was shouting "Bye bye" and madly blowing kisses over my shoulder to this woman, her apparent new best friend.