If you’ll remember correctly, my Mom gave NikkiZ some Spiderman sippy-cups when we visited her last. NikkiZ had never before heard of Spiderman, but she says it now. It’s something like “Shi-Mun” or something like that. It’s one of those words that sounds nothing like the original.

She often points out Spiderman items at the store. I was actually hoping she’d be spiderman for Halloween, but she doesn’t like him that much. And the costume didn’t look like her cup. It was more realistic and less animated. She likes the cartoon Spiderman much better.

We received a Target mail-out yesterday that talked about party planning and how they have everything you would need for any type of party. One page was all pictures of Spiderman things. Cups, plates, napkins…everything you would need for a Spiderman-themed party. NikkiZ was playing at her recently-passed-down-from-her-aunt kitchen and I called her over to my kitchen to see the ad. I held it down and said, “NikkiZ, Look!”

She covered her mouth and said, “OH MY GOSH!” Then she turned to her brother on the computer and said, “Brudda! Yook! Shi Mun!”

And it is now, officially, the cutest thing she’s ever done.

I don’t know where it started, but there have been notices of flickr-photo theft everywhere this week. I heard a bit on the news about it and I’ve seen it online. It’s not flickr’s fault, it could happen on any photo service where you set your photos public, but since flickr is so big now - they are the most frequently spoken about. Most recently it seems the social network ORKUT has seen a rampant set of fake accounts set up using children’s pictures. It’s weird, but it’s there. Here are several examples that you can see if you have an ORKUT account.

I first saw it reported here at the account of someone I don’t know. But closer to home it happened to one of my friends and she talks about it here. Reading these testimonies make me crumble on the inside. I know there are freaks out there that could see pictures of my kids. As a matter of fact, I check the account of anyone who favorites or comments because freaks can use flickr as easily as non-freaks. I’ve blocked almost 100 users from my flickr pictures so they can’t favorite them. I guess I hoped that was good enough.

But now people are stealing photos of our kids and using them across the globe. Some say it’s “harmless” - but I say that is MY decision to make. If you truly think it’s harmless, ask me first. No, they don’t “legally” have the right to them, but it’s starting to look like it’s so widespread there’s just no stopping them.

I’m not going to go so far as to never show you all pictures of my kids again. I’m not popular enough to make that decision. I have a small and tight-knit community that reads my blog. I get moderate but not insane traffic. You are all repeat visitors who know me and my kids. I feel like we are family here. But - flickr has a much wider audience and I don’t know who’s over there. I don’t know their names. They are not my family.

So, I did something today that has had me in tears. Seriously. I am crying over this. I changed every photo of my kids on flickr to “Friends and Family.” There are so many of them (3,038 to be exact) that it is taking over 30 minutes. Once it’s done, you’ll notice their lovely faces won’t show up in my banner or on my sidebar. You will only see them if I include them in a post. And you will only be able to see them at flickr if I have you marked as a “friend”. I may change a few photos here and there, but for now? Almost 4,000 photos have been marked private. Hidden even from my real friends and my family so that I can keep morons from stealing them.

I just hate this. I just feel like it’s the only option right now.

So, will you do me a favor? If you have a flickr account will you leave your profile URL here so I can make sure you are marked as a “friend” on flickr? I’m kinda lazy about doing that and I need to be better about it. For those of you in my family who are reading this, I created a login for you all a long time ago. Email me if you need it so you can see the pictures of your grandkids/niece/nephew whenever you choose. Like I said, I’ll still post pictures here, but I’d love to let those of you who use flickr regularly see when I add new ones easily. And I’d like to be able to see your photos as well. If you don’t want to leave your flickr ID or URL here, email them to me. Thanks.

Stupid assholes. Ruin the fun for everyone.

I’m not going to be militant about this. No need to alert me if you see a periodic photo of my kids pop up as public. I’ll probably switch a few back as I see them. Those that wouldn’t be obvious choices for the previously mentioned type of profile thefts. This was just the easiest way to do a blanket sweep to make sure that they were all set as private.

Now you’ll be stuck only seeing pictures of my dogs in the banner. Luckily - they’re totally cute too.

On Friday night (after my head injury) I suddenly realized I couldn’t find my car keys. (My Dad: Sigh.) I usually throw them in the BIG key bowl when I get home, but they weren’t there. So, I checked the little key bowl. No keys. I thought it was weird but figured I’d find them in the morning.

I was about to go to the store Saturday morning when I remembered I still hadn’t found my keys. I looked in both key bowls again and just gave up and grabbed the spare set. As the day went on, I told everyone to keep an eye out for my missing keys. I saw MrZ and LilZ both go to each key bowl to look themselves, to no avail. (Can you tell where this is going?)

Sunday I started getting frantic. I knew I’d need my keys to get into the office Monday morning. I told LilZ he had to help me find them. I believe I even took away phone privileges until he did. (Man. I’m an awesome Mom.) He went back to the key bowl again, just like I did, because we both know how sometimes they’ll be in the first (or second, third, and fourth) place you looked. Nothing. We dumped out toy boxes and pulled up couch cushions. It was insane.

On Monday morning I emailed work to tell them I’d be in after 8am so I could be guaranteed someone had unlocked the door. I sat and worked from home for a few hours that morning getting more and more frustrated that I wasn’t going to be able to get to the office early like I usually do. I got up and once again dug through the key bowl.

There they were. Under some change and a chapstick. My keys. In the one place we had each searched about five times.

The Universe hates me.

My charitable lunch caused me some not-so-charitable stomach issues yesterday. I don’t think it’s the fault of the restaurant, but more the fault of me who assumed that if my stomach is fine with one Ranch Dressing it should be fine with them all. Evidently that is not true. I have weird issues with some creamy sauces/dressings and I try to keep a mental list of what will make me sick and what won’t. Evidently Ranch is not a guaranteed inclusion on the “Go!” list and I should be more careful in assuming that.

As with any ailment, I decided I needed a soak in the tub to make me feel better. This is my go-to treatment for any and all aches/pains/diseases. Uterine cramps? Hot Bath. Headache? Hot Bath. Shin splints? Hot Bath. Ebola Virus? Hot Bath.

I’ve always felt sorry for people (like my husband) who just don’t appreciate the value of a good soak in the tub. We just have a regular bathtub, but I dream about one day having one of those fancy garden tubs. One big enough to sleep in, with jets and places for candles, and possibly a masseuse. Garden tubs come with those, right? A masseuse that just sits on the side and rubs your head while you soak? They don’t? Well - mine will.

I’ve even been known to get up in the middle of the night with symptoms of a sickness (congestion, coughing, leprosy) and soak in the tub while the rest of the world sleeps. I might even, on occasion, fake an illness just to get time alone with my hot bath and the latest Entertainment Weekly. I might do that. Then again, I might not. It depends on whether or not MrZ is reading this.

Baths, Diet Coke, and Pens. Three things I could not live without.

Those and my family, of course. I forgot about them.

Are you a mom? Do you blog? Do you like free food? Do you live in or near Atlanta? Do you think spending an evening with me preparing food would be fun? Or: Watching me screw up food? That could be equally fun and probably more likely. Well - have I got an event for you!

On Wednesday, October 17th, I will be participating in a Moms-who-Blog gathering at a Super Suppers near Atlanta, GA. I am really looking forward to this and I hope several of you will be interested in joining me. I mean - free food! What more could you ask for? Hearing me ask stupid questions like, “Is this a chicken breast?” can only add to the excitement. Especially if I accidentally say, “Is this a chicken boobie?” like I do to get a laugh out of my family.

I would really love to meet any of you in the Atlanta area because this could motivate us to have our own little mini-gatherings in the future. I never quite feel like the southeast is represented enough at the big blog events - so here is a gathering we can have all to ourselves! Where no one will make fun of my accent!

So - if you’re interested - leave a comment or send me an email (misszoot@gmail.com) with your name, email address, and blog URL. If you come, I promise to bring you a present. I’m not going to tell you what it is, but I promise it will make you smile. And I also promise to hug you because I’m a chronic (and sometimes very aggressive) hugger. If you do not want to be squooshed by my hugging arms, please include that in the email/comment as well.