(This was a family where, for the most part, the father was very insistant that his boys didn't play with "girls toys," but the father did most of the cleaning and a good portion of the cooking in that house, so toy vacuums and kitchens counted as acceptable boys toys.)

Heh. Chris's baby doll is still one of his favorite toys. He was fighting with Juila today, because she wouldn't share some of the little dolls she was using in the Play School Castle that used to be Ben's. He probably mostly prefers so called boys' toys, but that Baby is by far his favorite. Ben is old enough, he wouldn't be caught dead with a girl toy, and was probably more conscious of it. Chris doesn't seem to have a clue about boy-girl stuff yet, except he loves all the colors but pink, "'Cause it's a girl color, Mommy. But it's okay if you like it, 'cause you're a girl."

My brother used to like to get a fingernail painted when my mother did hers or mine. And he would really hate that I told that on him, but he doesn't have a drag show or anything.

STEPH!

If you're around, last night I dreamt that you were really sad, and that I wanted to cheer you up by dragging you for a pedicure, but you didn't believe me, and started painting your own toenails, which made me sad, and then there was a shopping adventure, and we never did get our pedicures.

I dig it fine, except you can see the thing filling up and it makes me look at Ruby and say, "Will you STOP SHEDDING?"

Ohhh yeah. And remember, I have 2 cats. And it is the smaller one that is the biggest offender.

I have a bissell cleanview bagless. I'm quite happy with it, and it is fairly cheap (under $100.) It is also easy to empty without all the gross. The filters it comes with are foam, so you can wash them and reuse, though I think you can get hypersuperduper filters that are disposable.

I gotta say, it is quite satisfying in that you see all the crap it picks up. But since I haven't vacuumed in 3 weeks (too hot, otherwise, I vac once a week) I forsee multiple emptying next time.

Arrowroots! That's what I was thinking of.

I dig it fine, except you can see the thing filling up and it makes me look at Ruby and say, "Will you STOP SHEDDING?"

Ha, I say. Ha. I have to empty twice during vacuuming, more if it's been a while. I swear to god half that dog's hundred pounds is hair.

Shreddies! Want.

Cindy, you could teach them to use the regular vacuum, but would they do it? You gotta get all Tom Sawyer on them if you want that job to go away.

I have a bissell cleanview bagless.

I have some flavor of that, too, and it does a good job, especially considering what I'm dealing with.

My brother used to like to get a fingernail painted when my mother did hers or mine. And he would really hate that I told that on him, but he doesn't have a drag show or anything.

Emmett got his toe and fingernails painted up into first grade. When he's old enought to appreciate BtVS I'll point out that Oz sports black nail polish.

My town is pretty white, but not outstandingly so; pretty educated, but not outstandingly so; pretty well off, but not outstandingly so. So what makes us outstanding? I'm not sure, but I think that having Mosquito Lake, population 221, listed as one of the nearest cities has to be on the list.

Were you talking about the city info site for your comment about temps in Fairbanks, juliana? They look about right to me, if you consider that they are average highs and lows for the whole month. I remember being surprised when I first saw a chart like that for Fairbanks, but this looks pretty much like what I remember.

Cass, I have a Bissell Powertrack 12amp. I like a lot.

My home town is 50.7% white, which is very different from when I lived there.

The town I live in now could give tommyrot's a run for it, 94.7% white.

My zip code:

White population: 11008
Black population: 53699
American Indian population: 129
Asian population: 276
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population: 24
Some other race population: 379
Two or more races population: 843

But that's old data, 2000. There's been a huge influx of hispanic folk, likely displacing the "white" immigrant population, which was largely russian/ukrainian jews. They are moving more toward suburbia. There are only 10K more people in my zip code than in my home town. This, I find funny.