Walking Talking Nina
Walking, well, that’s old stuff, she’s actually able to run now, but what is new is that she will say certain things. And we’re not just talking about saying “mama, mama, mama, mama” like she does when she panics, she can actually say words to get stuff. And typically, it’s food words.

Tk’tcccc = Tic Tac. For some reason, despite the fact that she sometimes gets pieces of breath saver mints in the car, she has really latched onto the fact that, somewhere, hidden in the house from her view, are Tictacs. I think they are supposed to be peppermint, but to me they taste like Pepto Bismol.

Bbbkk = Book. Ok, not all things she says are food. She also wants books read to her and will say that too.

Stttstttsttt = Stairs. Her favorite thing to do, in the entire world...well, no, that would be brushing her teeth. In any case, one of her favorite things is to go up and down the stairs. Getting there is all the fun, as she really has no desire to be upstairs, she just wants to go up and down the stairs.

Booh-Bah (formerly Hmm-Aaah) = Booh-Bah. She still likes to “sing” Hmm-Aaah just for fun, but if you ask her to say Booh-Bah, she will. However, Booh-Bah does not necessarily mean the show Booh-Bah, it means “Could we watch some of my TV, rather than listen to Christmas music on the TV?”

Tee = TV. She only uses this when pressed for what she wants and is told to say TV. When just asked what she wants, she points at the screen and says “ght!” We had a bit of a misunderstanding the other day when she pointed at the remote and said “ght!” I thought she wanted to touch the remote, so I said, “Nooohooohooo.” She cried and then we taught her to say TV (or at least the T part) so there wouldn’t be a misunderstanding in the future.

Cek – Cake. Specifically, these are those hexagonal Little Debbie holiday cakes. I let her have one bite of one last week and she instantly learned how to say cake. On a side note, the dish we had go out to Moulton (we didn’t go since Nina was sick) was a baking pan layered with these. They were a hit, and with zero preparation time and only $4 for ingredients.

Ghaaaa! (rising tone) – Cat. How this happened I have no idea. But by yelling Ghaaaa every time a cat is nearby, it insures they’ll never let you touch them.

Dad Update
While I still thought that Dad was unemployed after being laid off the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, such is not the case. Dad went to a job fair that [Military Contractor with Acronym Name] was at and got hired on the spot making the same amount he did a few years ago (before being laid off the first time). Needless to say, Mom and Dad are much more amiable now. However, Dad’s new job involved traveling. He’s been in DC this last week. I should have gotten him a Gameboy for Christmas (as if he’d play with it).

I’m not sure what he’s doing now, but he did say that the new wave in militaryness is for the troops to be able to know enough about the enemy surrounding them to not engage if it is strategically better to just march on past. Sounds cool to me.

Oprah is a Freako
Almost as freaky as Barbara Streisand’s need for the petals of a dozen roses to be deposited into a toilet before she goes, so as to shield herself from her waste products (I wonder if she has the help wipe her too?), but Mom told me that Oprah is repulsed by chewing gum. In fact, Oprah said on her show that (1) she does not allow any of her staff to chew gum at any time and (2) she had someone over for a social engagement at her house and they put their gum on the side of the plate. After they were gone, she had the help throw out the plate since it was mentally contaminated.

I can’t help but notice that if Oprah was not a rich person, she’d be considered a lunatic.

Braille Update
Slim Smokey, former Temporary-Director and now Contractor Dragoon, visited this morning. While speaking with someone in the hallway, I heard my name mentioned. He was saying how we didn’t pay for the Braille signs that were put up since I found out they don’t say what they are supposed to (the lab is labelled classroom, the restrooms are offices). I was going to link to my write-up of it on my old blog, but for the life of me, I can’t find it.

- posted by Nick Postagulous @ 8:16 AM