Survival of the least annoying

First, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is due out July 16th, so that's good news.

Today my wife and I went through the girls' room and culled some of the accumulated clutter in preparation for Christmas. We try to do this every so often in order to prevent death by assorted odds and ends. It's pretty amazing how much stuff two little girls can horde away. Well, amazing or terrifying, your call... This morning was trial by garbage bag. Based on highly tuned parent gut reaction we scoured their room and the life of each stuffed animal, each piece of dress up clothing hung in the balance. It was quite satsisfying. Unfortunately, we really only managed to bring the level of kipple (thanks PK Dick for such a wonderful word) back to normal. We really should have strived for less than normal in anticipation of Christmas, but we'll re-calibrate once the presents are opened and we know where we stand. Oddest thing found this morning - a receipt. I don't recall what it was for. And I certainly have no idea why McKenna thought it was necessary to hold on to it.

A couple more days to go this week and then it's a nice four day weekend. Actually, I'm just trying to make it through tomorrow and then the rest of the week will be pretty easy. At least tomorrow night is game night. That will help kick things off right. We have recently acquired Munchkin Bites and Hoity Toity. Expect reviews in the not too distant future. The Munchkin series is well loved around here. Between the letter 'r' and I we have managed to gather all the variations. They're quite fun and each new installment tends to tweak things just enough to emphasize a certain aspect of gameplay. That and the cards are hilarious. Munchkin Bites tackles the horror genre, so I suspect I'm in for a treat.