birthday!

(Click here for a bigger version of the comic above.)

Hey, it's my birthday today! Thanks for the birthday greetings, everyone, and to Allison for posting these birthday photos :-). Happy birthday also to Katy, who is probably on a plane right now, winging her away from Germany to Toronto for FiLKONtario. Ruth's taking me out for lunch, then Jeff and I are going to Canoe for dinner (my choice of restaurant).

So my Tamagotchi (here's an explanation of what a Tamagotchi is, for those of you who don't know) did survive his first full day; my wee little Sam is still snoozing away even as I type this morning. So HA to you, Andy and Kaarel! He even evolved from a baby to a toddler. Hey, parenting's not so hard.

Though I did have to call my niece Sara (my Tamagotchi expert) at one point for advice.

ME: "Um, Sara? Sam's stats say that he isn't hungry or unhappy, but the attention icon is highlighted. What should I do?"

SARA: "You need to give him a time-out, Aunt Debbie."

ME: "What? Why?!?"

SARA (patiently): "Well, if your Tamagotchi is asking for attention for no reason, so you need to discipline him."

I thanked her and followed her advice. And it worked! Sam cried a bit but then was fine. Then I rewarded him by giving him a snack. Sara hadn't advised this part but heck, I figure it couldn't hurt; poor thing was probably still smarting from his time-out, after all. I gave him several snacks during the day, actually. He gained a bunch of weight but didn't die. Yay for me! I was disappointed to see that ice cream isn't an option as a food item. :-(

Anyway, here's my handwritten entry today (click on any page to enlarge):









Two days until I leave for FilKONtario! I'll be rooming with Dave Clement on Thursday night, with Allison and Jodi the rest of the weekend. Hoping to see some of you at the convention!

March 2005 comments: Read Blatherchat | Post in Blatherchat | Livejournal comments