#1 in the 'hood, G

On the moon, the weekend has advanced beyond your wildest dreams. Weekends now take up the entire week, and jobs have been phased out accordingly.

I finally remembered to watch Aqua Teen Hunger Force tonight. I feel like I've now successfully done everything that I missed out on doing while away. So, I suppose it also means I'm just about ready to get out of here again...

Erm, we'll have to see about that one. First, need to formulate plan of action...

But in the meantime, I've been just been enjoying being back with my family and friends. This evening, I looked after my two nieces Gabriella (7 1/2 yrs old) and Zoe (5 ... until she turns 6 at the end of the month) while my sister Gillian and her husband Dave went out on the town.

I've got quite a few nieces and nephews -- nine of 'em, give or take -- but Gabi and Zoe have always had an uncanny ability to amuse (and sometimes amaze) me.

Like, for instance, it amused me to play a game of mini-pool (like on a kid-sized pool table) with my 5-year-old niece... it did wonders for my ego/self-esteem to finally feel like I didn't totally suck at the game.

It also truly amazed me how much a 5-year-old could be capable of such blatant cheatery. If the cue ball stopped within even an inch of any hole, Zoe would "accidentally" bump the table, blow on the ball or even knock it into the hole with her stick, and then yell "Scwatch! My turn!" Then she'd retrieve the cue ball and set it up directly in front of the ball she wanted to hit.

If that isn't cheatery...then I don't know what is. Good thing we weren't playing for money.

I suppose you can't really expect anything different from children who idolize both Darth Vader and Boba Fett.

They forced me to play Return of the Jedi on Super Nintendo for roughly two hours straight and THEN they criticized not only my playing skills, but also my choice of Chewbacca as the player.

The only thing I got out of the deal (with the kids) was the hand-drawn picture that you see above. Granted, I do think it's pretty damn good -- but, as you can see, the picture does not say "We love you Aunty Raven"

I would have even accepted the following variants:

"We love/<3 Aunt(y) Ray-Ray/Raisin/Rave(y)"

It clearly states "We love you Darth Vader" (alright it says Darth Vatr...but she's 7 for cryin out loud)

But seriously though, does Darth Vader make you popcorn and give you soda and sneak you cookies when your mom isn't around?!

Didn't think so.