Byzantium's Shores: chronicling the misadventures of an overalls-clad hippie

Notes from real life:

:: It strikes me that sometimes I have to actually remind myself about parenting stuff. A little while ago, my daughter asked if she could have some strawberries. Problem was, I had already taken my seat at the computer to get some work done, so my immediate impulse was to say no and offer some Fruit Snacks or some other thing she could get herself. (She likes to eat strawberries quartered and with a fork.) I then caught myself, and thought: "You dumb-ass, she's asking for fruit, and you're telling her no?! Idiot!!" I got her the strawberries.

:: Our apartment's patio came with some handy hooks in the overhang so we could hang plants, so I put our nice, big ivy plant out there a couple of weeks ago. (It's been so cool this spring that the plant's leaves are now tinged with red, but that's another story.) This morning, we noticed an odd collection of twigs and leaves and various outdoor flotsam in the pot, beside the ivy plant itself. Sure enough, a robin has chosen our ivy as her nesting location. I'm hoping this doesn't mean that, for the duration of her stay in our ivy, we'll have to endure a pissed-off robin trying to defend her babies every time we want to use our patio. (But at least the plant is hanging at the end of the patio opposite where we put the grill. That could have made for some unintentional hilarity.)