otherwise occupied

Greg has been out of town since Saturday morning, and we've been trying to keep busy in his absence. We've had friends over to keep us company, we've baked, we've watched a movie, we've played with Play-doh and we've played outdoors, thanks to a healthy snowfall and a few sunny days. The kids were enchanted with The Never-Ending Story and spent a surprising amount of time crafting creatures from the movie out of Play-doh. James invented a version of chess involving Lego blocks, which, true to form, sounds convoluted and unnecessarily complicated. But imaginative, to be sure.

But most of our time has been spent in two ways. The boys have decided that all of their stuffed animals are various Pokemon -- I'm pleased that for the first time in either of their short lives, they are acknowledging the fact that they have several dozen stuffed animals in their bedroom, and that some of these animals are being played with for the first time ever! -- so they are spending hours on Pokemon games. The best part is that these games keep them occupied in their bedroom.

And me? In Greg's absence, I've fallen in love with a serial killer. Er, a fictional serial killer, that is, by the name of Dexter. The last thing I need is to be addicted to yet another TV show, but I can't help myself! The murderer with a heart of gold is just so charming. When you're spending several nights in a row by yourself, with high-speed internet and all kinds of shows freely available for viewing or download, it's more fun than reading a book, or doing housework, or going to bed early.

You can tell things are pretty boring in my life right now when I write an enthusiastic post about Pokemon and television, but I was feeling neglectful of the blog, so this is what you get for now.