It's been an odd day so far today. I've done some overdue things, some work for SkyWorks, got really angry and insulted, washed part of a wall, edited several pictures and started packing some more orders. They all tie into each other somehow, in interesting ways.

I think the best part so far has been playing with iTunes. Mike said that it was great to organize music with. I figured I'd give it a try and see, and I'm in love. I've been listening to my music so much more than I have in months to rate and sort through it all. There have been songs I forgot I had that are favourites. I really like that it lists the total songs, disk space and time to listen to all of them.

I had a great outing this weekend with The Boys (they hate being called that, but it's easiest and relatively anonymous). We spent the entire Saturday together going to a car auction then a miniature show and finally the jewel, Ikea. It was just MG and I for a good chunk of the morning at the Car Auction and waiting for R to meet up with us back at their house. We ended up in a talk about the disastrous camping trip this past summer. I'm not even sure how we got on the subject, but it morphed into a huge discussion about how we function together as a group. Also responsibility for how we interact with each other.

I was pretty insistent that he had hurt me in his continuing to tease me after it was obvious I was upset. He had some good points there too, and I was too wrapped up in being right and proving my point that I didn't honestly take account of myself. He was right. I did go into the weekend with a bad attitude and I didn't make it clear what I needed to re-balance myself. I do get less reasonable and clear when I'm angry and frustrated. None of this takes away from his responsibilities to rein in his teasing when it's not funny anymore, or any of the other things he did to contribute to the tension. But I'm adult enough to take account of myself and admit when I was wrong. So I think I need to email and say it.

It was a good discussion. We stood in the backyard, freezing for most of it, me tucked away under my gaudy purple umbrella and just hashed it out. It's interesting how much we change as we grow up and how much we don't. I could always have the good talks about life with MG, if we got there in our roundabout way. It was different with R, sillier. We can go either way, wonderful silliness or we can be sandpaper on each other.

It was a good day. Cramming a couch into a Ford Focus already filled with 3 adults was insanity and I didn't think we would manage, but we did. I got some more plants. They're beautifully coloured and shaped. It was good to get out of the apartment and away from my precious yet stifling routine. I'm glad I have them. They've always understood the need to escape and adventure the world.

One of my best memories of them is the weekend they stole my Silver E. (Silver E was awarded on graduation for extraordinary Extracurricular involvement. It's one of my prized possessions.) They came to the apartment I shared with my baby and husband at the time, grabbed the Silver E and left a note that read "You must come out with us if you ever want to see the E again!" I, of course, went out. I don't remember what we did; I just remember the note and the way they knew I needed to escape somehow. This weekend was a repeat of that. I needed to escape for a day, and boy they had a day planned. Busy busy. Gave me the breathing room to rebalance myself oddly enough.

Now I'm back into my week and the routines that keep us as a family moving. One of which will be a daily 30-minute entry. And with that, the bell goes saying That's 30 minutes.