*Whew!* We narrowly averted dinner with the Genuine Clan and the demise of Castle Rock (as we all know it)

Listening to: Panthergirl's summer mixmania! disk

BTW - I - *I* Mr. Mixmania! yadda yadda yadda have still not received a disk from my match! So there!

Go HERE to cast your vote for August's mixmania theme - deadline is midnight July 31

OK, if anyone doesn't know I was kidding with the title of this post, well, fill your palm full of Xanex and wash it down with Crown Royal, smoke a bowl, throw your head back and wait for the Weebles to wobble listlessly through your soon-to-be loosened up consciousness. I mean, really. That and check your bottom feeding "Carnival of the Vanities" ass at the back door. Because although bloggers may be at the bottom of the food chain but those who bother to read us and then criticize us reside under several layers beneath us. Think about that and get back to me, moron.

Anyway, Michelle suggested another meeting, one with broods involved, way back when we first met back in late May. I guess she and G would like to prove theirs out-brats mine but I'd say the smart money is with the Wild Bunch. Either that or Michelle is some kind of angel sapping the insanity out of stressed-out parents. Whatever it is, The Outback was spared a fate known only to residents of Fallujah.

Just ask Lu and Kaleigh.

Speaking of which... if you haven't read TOOMA's account of our weekend, you ought to get her take on things before swallowing my happy pill. All I'm going to say is that we drove around forever before we found a place to set up camp and allow the wee ones to plant their indelible mark on the wilderness and send Bambi fleeing in mortal terror.

It wasn't easy, finding a place to camp, not if we wanted a fire. Prolly 70% of the state of Colorado is under fire restrictions due to the hot weather (Holy Mother of God in Thong, it was 102° today!) and we drove through most of Park county and probably all of Teller county before we finally landed at Round Mountain campground. Fires were acceptable in developed campgrounds.

If you've been reading me, you know all this, about my pack of imps and the lengths I go to in order to keep them entertained. What you don't know is the "wha?" of what could be a "blended family".

TOOMA's wonderful oldest daughter is as good as gold. Everything you'd expect Lu to be, smart, funny, beautiful, and adored by my children. I think she thinks I'm pretty cool, so that works out well (she knows I'd let her watch movies her mom would call verboten). Really, she's an awesome kid, navigating that awkward place between pre-teen and teen with aplomb, grace, and best of all, humor. Likewise, where her mom is my best friend, I can see the potential for an awesome friendship.

Uh, OK, I didn't mention Lu's youngest a couple weeks back and I should have but that's the kind of self-centered dipshit I am. Still, the sense I got a couple of weeks ago was that the lil' one dug me, found me fun (after our initial check-me-out phase) and sent me a sweet drawing to reinforce that (with massively decorated envelope and everything). And so, I should have reported, wow, what a beautiful five-year old, full of life and wit and fun... and goddammit, I didn't. Nor did I carry back any pics. Which sucks. As this all comes together (RE: TOOMA's posts), my soul dances, I'm loving more than one, I'm loving six, her, hers and mine. I feel I'm up to the challenge but hers are such awesome charges.

As far as the past couple of days, the experience has been increasingly groovy. Getting to know Lu's first has been an immeasurable pleasure. My kids are too young to separate from me but Kaleigh is her own person - and a person I'm dying to get to know. I'm positive Grace will get the same sense.

Lu says she's "the cool mom" and she didn't overstate that. She and Kaleigh get along like girlfriends - in a good way. Not "the cool mom" in the kind of sick "let's do an ounce of coke and have an orgy with your teen boyfriends" kind of way but with firm boundaries and exquisite guidance. Just the kind of dad I'd love to be with pre-teens. To watch Lu and Kaleigh interact, laugh, love, and be mom and daughter should be a template for every troubled mother and daughter relationship. What L & K have bodes well for good and all and you all should be so lucky.

Unfortunately, they both leave early tomorrow. Leaving me to write about my usual senseless, snarky shit. You've been forewarned.