This is a glimpse of how a family manages to get through a bout of the plague. I highly recommend keeping these suggestions in a mental file.

Here is said family’s recycle bin. Note how Mom and Dad deal with stress by drinking cheap beer and large quantities of wine. Oh, and see the Mueslix box? That’s what happens when you haven’t been to the store in over a week and want to make Magic Wheaties Meatloaf, but after you’ve started mixing ingredients together you realize there isn’t a Wheatie to be found.

If your substitute choices are Kix or Mueslix, go with the Mueslix. It’s a good alternative, but you will have to take some time to pick out the raisins.

This is what happens when a six year old plague victim gets tired of playing with his Matchbox cars. He makes stick figures out of the track. Don’t be alarmed when he tears it apart limb from limb.

These are bath toys, and because Mom’s tend to make plague victims bathe a lot, these toys get frequent attention. If the victim happens to name them…oh say, Jessie, Jessley, and Jorley. I highly suggest knowing those names, which one is which, and be able to make up some great stories about the three of them on the spot. Because a soaking-wet, tired, rash-covered, feverish, projectile pooping kid tends to be a little sensitive.

Get used to running out of clean clothes. It’s okay. There is absolutely nothing wrong with sending your daughter to bed with plaid pajama bottoms and a camouflage top, and putting your son down for the night in fire engine pants and a green, dinosaur shirt. No one can tell they don’t match in the dark.

And finally, about that laundry…if you wear a zip-up sweatshirt to pick up your daughter at school, and you don’t have a clean shirt to wear under it, make sure the plague victim you’re holding doesn’t pull your zipper down. Just sayin’.

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In honor of Halloween, I would like to share our family’s costumes that have been my favorites…

This is my daughter as Jessie from Toy Story II. I know, she’s adorable.

This is my son as Frankenstein. They have a lot in common, what with the stitches, scars and speech delay.

This is my husband. He really likes bananas.

And, here I am as Milk, Gone Bad. Get it? You can tell I’m a chain smoker by the way I’m holding the cigarette backward. Speaking of hands…with palms that large, I should’ve gone as Meadowlark Lemon.

Tell me, boys and girls…which one is your favorite? Hint: Don’t vote for the monkey.

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Today, I’ll be giving you a view of our master bathroom. Please don’t think me a bad housekeeper because of the hideous shelf paper and chipped wood. We’ve been redecorating this room…for almost eleven years.

This is my husband’s shelf. The trimmer set is only used for about a month out of the year when he grows a goatee. Also, keep in mind that we share the dental floss and mouthwash. I wouldn’t want you to think the jumbo Blue Mint is because the poor guy has a major case of halitosis.

This is my shelf. Actually, there’s even more stuff hidden in a nearby cabinet. About three times more stuff. It takes a village, people. It takes a village.

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These are four of the six Canadian men who were at my house this afternoon. Oh sorry, they were at my hoose.

They came for a visit because Hurricane Ike decided to go a little off course and do this to my Ohio backyard. Yes Canucks, those are maple leaves.

And, after one full week without electricity those wonderful fellows from the country up north made it possible for me to not have to pee in the dark anymore.

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