Here's Mindy (I uploaded a picture but don't see it here. Find her in my profile, she's black and white). She is the boss of everybody around my house. I thought I was an emancipated woman but I am slave to Rin Min Min. With the boy and the husband and the dog out of town for the last few weeks, I thought she'd give me a break. But noooooo. She's got to have fresh, crunchy kitty food at exactly six IN THE MORNING or else I get kneeded with her paw claws like so much unbaked bread dough.

Now that Mindy has me up and making coffee as well, I will blog about the first independence I have known in 16 years. That's how many years I've been married, since 4 July 2009.

At first I knocked around the house trying to use my independence wisely. First, I had to order 'ma girls' over for a little party. Would I be a rational and stable person if I had not thought of that first? After I got over the punishing hangover I began to think about the husband. You know the Mom Phenom law of physics mentioned in blog post number one? It bears repeating:

Mom Phenom of the day, last week: It is an established law of physics that for every swipe of the Swiffer and scrub of the dish brush, there is an equal and opposite reaction from my husband's libido.

Honey this house is CLEAN --- save for Mindy's shedding coat. But she doesn't seem to mind our occasional cold baths together and a brushing to remedy that. Taking into account my new independence and the triple-digit heat wave, a cold bath is good for both Mins and me.