It's Friday the thirteenth and all is well in the land of WACKOS. Hubz and Spaz have taken off for a dad-son weekend at a friend's cottage up north, and Fuzz and I are settling down for a relaxed weekend at home. Cheez is here too, but like the 18-year-old that she is, she'll be in and out, probably mostly out. When she's in, she'll more often then not be napping or FaceBooking or doing homework.

So it's Girls' Weekend here, and I am in relax mode. With Hubz gone for a couple days, I can leave laundry in the living room and dishes drying in the "forbidden triangle" between sink & stove. I can get up late; I can throw together untimely, undernourishing meals; I can play work on my computer with toilets unscrubbed and carpet unvacuumed. (Well, OK, I do those things anyway, but with Hubz gone I can do them unapologetically.)

Fuzz, for her part, is relishing the idea of having Mom mostly to herself. And much as she loves her brother, she is already enjoying the thought of a couple days without the wonderful, ubiquitous Spaz Man dominating the environs.

(Ubiquitous [adj. yoo-BIK-wit-ess]: existing everywhere; present everywhere at once, or seeming to be. In other words, always drawing attention and/or being in someone's face. But we love him anyway.)

So Fuzz, having had a nicely productive and creative "school day", has been downstairs spending some quality one-on-one time with the Wii. Cheez, having arrived home from school, is taking a nap before going out again. And I, having taken some random pictures and done a wee bit of school prep and tidying up, have at long last settled onto the couch with the computer for some chill time of my own.

Of course, this is the signal for Fuzz to finish playing Wii and come upstairs.

No thanks, honey, I don't need more coffee. Why are you standing three feet away from me staring out the window? Yes, thank you for checking off your Wii tickets. Yes, it's light out for 6:30 pm. No, I still don't need more coffee. Do you have nothing better to do than walk in circles around the couch upon which I am sitting? No, this isn't my blog; it's someone else's. Don't you want to GO BACK DOWNSTAIRS AND PLAY WII?

I make BLTs for supper and do not serve baby carrots as an accompaniment. The two of us open a brand new bag of chips and consume half the contents. Afterwards we sit on the dining room floor with our backs to the chairs and our fronts to the heater vent and discuss Sunday School friends, whether she can start saying she's in 5th grade instead of 4th, the merits of private hidden diaries as opposed to journals that Mom looks at and assigns topics for, unchurched friends and being afraid that they'll go to hell but more afraid to tell them about Jesus. And then it is enough of that and time to play games.

Cheez comes in the door as Fuzz is announcing her choice of "Nicholas I, the czar during the Crimean War" as her choice of Notorious Person Beginning With N. She is duly impressed, as am I, since I would not have been able to name the czar who reigned during the Crimean War despite having read about him with my children a mere six weeks ago. I still manage to whomp all over Fuzz by a 19-point margin. I am not one for letting the kids win, although I do keep my competitive edge at bay and allow her much grace. I am quite certain this is the first time I have ever played Scattergories non-stop through all twelve cards. In order, of course, because this is Fuzz.

That finished, it is time for teeth-brushing, The Long Winter reading, and bed-going. For her.

While she settles under her covers with Nancy Drew, I return to my comfy chair and pick up the youth historical novel that Spaz had declined to read this week. (He'd had choices and chose another.) I read it through in an hour and a half, chat briefly with Cheez, and head for bed myself.

With my laptop and a bag of chocolate, of course.

As of this moment, there are eight empty wrappers (they're minis, okay? like little teensy minis. and one was a Special Dark, which cancels out at least three Mr Goodbars) and 23 minutes remaining. Oh, 22 now. I deliberately left the cord in the other room.

Tomorrow, Panera bagels for breakfast and deeply-discounted lunch at Cheez' restaurant after she finishes her shift. (Note to self: wear make-up and try not to look dorky in front of Cheez' boss & co-workers.) And more work on pics for Cheez' grad scrapbook, mini-books with Fuzz, and some blog time, and a bit of work on the computer & around the house.

Maybe I'll even put away the dishes and the laundry.