On Track for Another Allowance

We've had another week of decent behavior, so it looks like Danielle is on track to be paid her allowance again this week.

This week, I'm trying something different. I'm going to pay her $7 in dollar coins, rather than in paper money, because I'm hoping that perhaps the weight of the coins in her pocket will give her a physical sensation of having money vs. no having it.

Danielle has been blowing her allowance just as soon as she gets it, and I'd like to discourage her from the habit. It's not that I mind her spending her money, since it is hers. I'd just like her to develop some better habits so she's not always out of money and complaining she's broke.

When I got some cash for Danielle's allowance, I got a roll of $1 coins. The new golden dollars look kind of cool, and in a pile they remind me of a pile of real gold. It made me feel rich to see them. The Susan B. Anthony dollars, though, look just like quarters. I'll have to make sure I point out the difference to Danielle, so she isn't accidentally shortchanged.

Several Nice Surprises

Today was the day of nice surprises:

I got an e-mail from our CPA who told me that I could stop worrying about our end-of-the year money situation. It turns out the Adoption Tax Credit has really saved our butts. We'll be getting money back from the federal government (for the first time ever!) this year. We still owe a modest amount to the state, but I've saved more than enough to cover it.

This is a huge relief, because I wasn't sure that I'd saved enough to cover our federal and state taxes.

Since the money I'd set aside doesn't have to be paid to the government, FosterEema and I had a long talk. After carefully considering our options, we decided to use the money to pay off our remaining car loan. We were already making extra payments, and were on schedule to pay it off early, but having it paid off now is even better. Not only will we save some money in interest, from now on we'll be able to add those payments to our savings account.

My client who needed the revised payment schedule agreed to a compromise payment plan that works for all of us. He'll pay us a few more weekly payments, so we can pay off the computers we purchased for his job, and then he'll give us a lump sum at the end. Since the project will be complete shortly after the first of the year, it actually works out for the better. Deferring the income means that we'll pay taxes on it next year, instead of this year.

My other client, the one who offered me a bonus, told me he sent something for my birthday via overnight mail. I don't know for sure what is coming, but I've got my fingers crossed. I'm hoping that it might be the bonus check I'd given up on earning. Although I've been working like crazy, the project isn't complete because of delays largely caused by my client. I figured that done meant done, so I had resigned myself to working hard but not getting anything extra for my effort.

It looks like I'm wrong, and there will be something nice in the mail for me tomorrow.

That's not the end of the nice surprises. My MIL sent me $100 for my birthday.

At any rate, it looks like our financial picture will be much better than anticipated for the holidays. We'll be able to afford modest gifts for everyone, and we should have a nice holiday.

Of course Danielle may still be disappointed. I'm not planning on buying her everything on her crazy wish list, even though I might be able to afford it. I don't think she's mature enough for her own computer.

The School Has a Problem

When we picked Danielle up from school yesterday, we had a chat about the fact that the resource teacher wants to move up Danielle's tri-annual testing date. Danielle barely remembered (so she claimed) the battery of tests she'd taken when she was admitted into the charter school, and didn't seem too worried about it.

I put it to her rather bluntly. "You've created a bit of a problem for the school," I told Danielle.

"Oh?"

"If you are going to have a problem, though, it's a good one to have. All those tests that you took three years ago predicted that you would do lousy in school. But, here you are, doing really well, so it's very obvious the results of those tests were wrong. The school needs to re-test you."

"Oh."

"For what it's worth, I didn't expect you to do very well on those earlier tests. I mean, really, how could you do well considering you were 11 years old and you hadn't been in school in all that time?"

"I see your point."

Danielle doesn't seem to be particularly stressed out by the fact that she might be tested, and we aren't making it into a big deal.

But I did strongly encourage the resource teacher to push for testing. I don't think that Danielle is retarded, either, and it would be nice to have that question answered once and for all.

Retarded? or No?

This afternoon we got a call from Danielle's resource teacher. She's concerned about our upcoming IEP meeting because Danielle qualified for special education services based on being mildly mentally retarded.

"I don't believe that's she's mentally retarded," the resource specialist told us, "and I can't in good conscience set her up with an IEP for that diagnosis."

She wants to move Danielle's comprehensive testing, which is scheduled for next year, to this year, so that she can get a more recent evaluation.

"I don't understand why she has this diagnosis in the first place," the teacher exclaimed.

We briefed her on Danielle's history, explaining the results of her past evaluations done by a psychologist, the school, and the regional center for the developmentally disabled. All suggested that Danielle has an IQ below 70, but her academic performance to date has suggested she's much brighter.

If the resource teacher is successful in moving up Danielle's evaluations, she'll have to sit through another long battery of tests. Perhaps this time we'll get results that approach something meaningful.

Report Card

Danielle got her report card today:

• English/Language Arts
  • Literature - A
  • Composition - B
  • Spelling - B
    
  
  
• Math - B
• Science - A
• History/Social Studies - A
• PE - A
• Art - A

Overall, Ms. Teacher is very pleased with her progress, and says that Danielle is very close to grade level. So much for the Mistress of Unfair Remarks and her claim Danielle would never catch up in school.

I am glad that I never promised to pay Danielle for grades. If I had, I'd be out about $45, if I paid as my parents did.

Of course they were much more affluent, in terms of real dollars, than I am now.

Money, Money, Money, Money

As you may no doubt notice from the title of this post, our financial situation is at the forefront of my mind. I recently started taking a six week money management class in the hopes that I might learn some ways to optimize our finances and do a better job of managing our money.

I've been in the class for two weeks, and I can't say that I've learned anything particularly new or novel. Sure, I've learned a couple of small details about how credit scoring works, and affirmed that much of what I'm already doing is right on track, but I haven't learned anything that's given me any really big financial wins.

We are by no means destitute, but we are definitely feeling the pinch of the recession. Our business' net income is down 29% from the same time last year. Although FosterEema went back to school for a certification which has landed her a steady part-time gig, she's still not earning as much as she was before her contract ended in March.

We've trimmed our expenses in a variety of ways. We've cut back on entertainment, eating out, and much of the annual birthday and holiday gifts. Despite all these cuts and attempts to be frugal, we still find ourselves living in a bizarre form of middle class poverty. Even with the drop in income, we still make what most would consider a decent wage, but find ourselves at the end of the month with an empty checking account.

It's just darned expensive to live anymore.

There will be some relief at the end of this year, once we figure in our Adoption Tax Credit, but I don't see it as a magic solution. We'll use some of the money to pay off our remaining auto loan, and the rest will sock away in our rainy day fund. The real solution is that we need to find ways to further cut expenses and increase income.

Happy Chickenversary

Today is the anniversary of the day we brought our cockatoo Chicken home for the very first time. I can still remember driving home, with her travel cage sitting on the front seat of my truck and her big cage in the back. She paced back and forth in her little cage nervously, not entirely sure of the new people who had taken her from everything she had known for the first 4.5 years of her life.

We've had Chicken for a total of 7 years, which makes her about 11.5 years old. If she were a dog or a cat, we'd probably be noticing some grey hairs and some slowing down. We'd be contemplating the fact that she was starting to get old. As a small cockatoo, she's still relatively young. If we are lucky, she may still be around when we are getting old.

Parrots are difficult and demanding pets, but they do have one advantage -- they are companions for a lifetime.

No Takers

In case anybody was waiting with baited breath for the results of Sunday's drawing, poor Miss Chicken never got to pick a winner.

You see, not a single person seemed to want the crucifix.

That's all right. I don't want it either. :)

Teaching the Value of a Dollar

In response to If You Don't Want the Answer, Don't Ask the Question, Vanessa wrote:

A real concept of how much things cost doesn't seem to sink in for most kids until they start working and trying to manage their own finances. My youngest sibling is almost 19, was a straight-A student and winner of multiple awards in high school, and yet could not comprehend the fact that our mom and my stepdad couldn't afford to send her to any college she wanted. When they finally made her understand that they just didn't have the money - they had saved some, but not enough to pay for four years out of state - she had a fit and accused them of wasting too much money on toys for her when she was little. So aggravating as it is, it's also a very common problem and not limited to Danielle.

There was a bit on the Cosby Show once where one of the kids (the son) told his dad that he was going to move out and get his own place. Dad sat him down, gave him a handful of money, and then started taking away bills one at a time, saying "this is for your food ... this is for your entertainment ... and this is for taxes," until the son ended up with nothing. It's so true!

I fully realize that Danielle's lack of comprehension of money concepts is not a unique problem. She's had ongoing problems with money management, and completely emptied her bank account last Spring. Unfortunately, the lack of money doesn't seem to really bother her. Sure, she'll complain about it, but the consequences of being broke don't really have an effect on her behavior. Her ongoing dreadfulness has prevented her from earning allowance since the beginning of June. In all this time, I think she's been paid only twice. She got all of her pay this Sunday, and was paid once in October. The only other time she was due to get her money, she blew it by throwing a tantrum.

This morning, as we were getting ready to take her to school, I reminded her that she needed to pack a lunch.

"That's all right," she announced, "I have money."

I tried to explain that if she spent her allowance on crap food at school, she wouldn't have the money to spend on other things, but my reminder fell on deaf ears. She'd rather buy crap at the 99 cent store (which is starting to make her fat) than pack a healthier lunch from home and save her money for something she really wants.

I am hoping that one of these times she'll make the connection. If she doesn't do it while the stakes are low, we'll end up fielding frantic phone calls when she's an adult. I don't relish having to tell her no when her rent is due but she doesn't have the money to pay.

But, sometimes, a cruel lesson from the school of hard knocks is much more memorable.

If You Don't Want the Answer, Don't Ask the Question

With Danielle's most recent unrealistic gift list, I think I've learned a valuable lesson:

If you don't want the answer, don't ask the question.

Although I think Danielle would be quite happy if she received everything that she didn't get on her birthday list and everything she requested on her holiday list, I don't think that she has enough context to really understand the cost, and more importantly, the value of such expensive gifts.

I don't think Danielle has any idea how much hand held video games and laptop computers cost. I think she's still operating under the erroneous assumption that we have unlimited amounts of money, and can buy whatever we want.

I find it hard to believe that she actually thinks that, given how many discussions we've had about money, the lack of it, and delayed client payment schedules, but it's pretty clear she's not connecting the financial dots. If my parents had been griping about money for the past several months, there's no way I would have ever dared ask for anything as pricey as a laptop computer.

Danielle just doesn't get it.

So the lesson I've learned here is that I shouldn't ask Danielle what she would like to receive on gift-giving occasions. I should just decide what I'm going to give her and be done with it, but of course that's much harder than asking. It's always nice to surprise someone, but I'm a lousy shopper and rarely do I manage to pick gifts that excite people.

Some people have a knack for shopping. I don't. Worse, I absolutely hate doing it, especially during the holiday season. I'd rather go in for a dental exam than spend hours walking around in a mall, trying to pick out gifts for my friends and family.

So now I'm off to think about what I should get for Danielle. Number one on the list, I think, will be board games that teach money management skills. We already have Monopoly and Life. Does anybody have any other suggestions?

More Thoughts on a Computer

In response to More of She's Kidding, Right? mrslilypond asked:

This begs the question... why make it internet accessible? Get her one of those mini netbooks, a couple cheap games and that's it.

Honestly, I think Danielle would be pretty unsatisfied with that arrangement, as it would be like giving her a cell phone that couldn't be used to make telephone calls.

One of the main reasons Danielle cited for having her own computer was that she wanted to be able to access her school's computer-based education system from home. Accessing the system would require a connection to the Internet, which of course opens the door to a whole raft of things we don't want Danielle doing.

Now I don't believe, for one second, that Danielle really cares if she can access the school's computer-based training system from home. She's clever enough to try and use school as justification for a lot of things she wants. In reality, I think she just wants to play on social networking sites, and watch YouTube videos unsupervised.

I really don't think that kids (especially ones who are immature and have little or no impulse control) should be surfing the Internet without a parent present. By the time FosterEema and I are done with our work day, we are pretty much done wanting to sit in front of a computer. Neither one of us has any interest in providing the level of supervision Danielle really needs, so I think this is best a door we don't open for the time being.

And really, the cost alone is a deterrent. If we bought her a computer, it would cost more than we'd planned to spend on all our holiday gifts this year. We've decided not to go into debt for the holidays this year, so we need to keep our spending under control.

On Parole

Since we've had spell of decent behavior, we decided to let Danielle off restriction early. After her last major blow-up, she was supposed to be on restriction for four weeks. Last night, since she'd served 75% of her sentence and had demonstrated good behavior, we told her we were going to let her off restriction, but that she was "on parole."

If nothing else, it was a good vocabulary lesson. Danielle had no idea was parole was, and seemed intrigued by the idea.

She's on parole for two weeks, which means if she blows it this week, she'll have to serve the remaining week of her restriction, plus whatever consequences she earns from any new bad behavior.

I'm not sure this was a good idea, because this morning immediately launched into a lot of arguing, complaining and griping about chores. She was mad last night because we wouldn't agree to a sleepover (well, gee, it was our anniversary) and became even more annoyed this morning when we told her she could have a friend over after her chores were done and FosterEema had finished her homework* for the week.

Interestingly enough, I think Danielle actually behaves better when she's on restriction.

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* Danielle tends to become extremely noisy when she has friends over, so we decided that peace and quiet so that FosterEema could complete her schoolwork ranked higher on the priority list than Danielle having a good time.

More of She's Kidding, Right?

When Danielle's birthday was approaching, we asked her for a birthday gift list. She gave us a list that was absolutely, completely, unrealistic. Her gift list was so long and so expensive that I thought she had to be kidding.

Now that Chanukah is only a few weeks away, we once again asked for her gift list. After she finished giving me her shopping list, I found myself once again thinking, she's kidding, right?

Nope, she's not kidding.

Although she dropped her request for the ugly boots and the television set in her room, she still wants the expensive hand-held video game. What's really at the top of her list, though, is probably the most expensive thing she's ever requested.

She wants a brand-new laptop.

Can you hear me screaming, no, no and hell no?

Given that we had recent problems with Danielle playing on social networking sites when she was supposed to be doing her homework at home and at school, I'm not particularly inclined to give her a tool to make it even easier. Besides that, I'm not sure I'm really in the mood to fork out that much money on Danielle right now.

Although her behavior is much better, we still are in the middle of a cash flow crunch. We were pretty stingy for Danielle's birthday, giving her $40 to with which to buy new clothes, and throwing a shared birthday party for her, FosterEema, and Chatty Cathy's mother. We spent even less on FosterEema's birthday, spending only about $20-25 on her gift.

My birthday is coming up in a week, and I've asked FosterEema not to spend anything at all.

So I'm not really keen on the idea of forking out close to $1,000 for a new laptop that will be compatible with the stuff we bought for our business, plus whatever extras (software, laptop bag, etc.) that she might need.

Even a compatible desktop machine would be pretty pricey, running about $600 without a monitor.

We could go cheaper if we got some off-brand Windows-compatible machine, but then we would have the dual problems of incompatibility with our current machines, and the completely porous nature of Windows. It's not very secure, there are few built-in parental controls, and it's vulnerable to all sorts of security exploits and hacks. Knowing Danielle she'd download a virus the first minute she had the machine.

Even if she didn't download a virus or malware, there's no doubt she'd resume her habit of going to sites that we've specifically asked her not to visit, where she'd lie about her age and meet people of questionable safety.

She doesn't need to be playing on a computer at home, unsupervised.

I'm really starting to hate this time of year and the blatant consumerism that runs rampant.

Happy Anniversary (of Sorts)

Exactly 11 years ago today, I made a four-hour drive from my home to meet a gal I'd met on an Internet chat room. We'd been talking online and on the phone for about a month, and I finally couldn't stand the fact that I was starting to have feelings for someone I'd never met in person.

I lived in a semi-rural area, while my lady friend lived right in the middle of a big city. I packed up my luggage and my dog, not exactly knowing what was ahead of me.

My lady friend wasn't expecting me as I'd fibbed and said that I was sending a courier to drop off a package. When she opened the door, she was shocked beyond speechless to find me standing on her doorstep wearing a suit and tie, bearing a vase of white roses, some imported Swiss chocolate, some sweet-smelling shampoo, and a card that contained a poem I'd written.

She was so surprised that she didn't even properly greet me. She just said, "hold on a minute, let me get my purse." Then she slammed the door in my face, coming back a few minutes later to grab the loot out of my arms.

Despite the inauspicious start, we went out to breakfast, spent the day together, and I found a hotel and stayed overnight. We had breakfast the next morning, and my lady friend cried great big splashing tears when it was time for me to make the drive home.

She thought she I would never see me again.

She was wrong.

For five months, I made a weekly four-hour trek to see her. Finally, after visiting me in my hometown, she decided to quit her job, move out of her apartment, and move in with me.

My lady friend, in case you haven't already guessed, was FosterEema.

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

The December holidays are coming, and I'm busy trying to figure out how to pay for the expected gift-giving that occurs during this time of year.

Just Danielle's birthday, money is probably going to be tight.

A great deal of our financial problems can be directly blamed on the recession. One of our clients, the one for whom we had to buy new computers, has asked us to restructure his payment schedule.

Normally, we collect payments on our larger projects in phases. We ask for an up-front deposit, a progress payment in the middle of the job, and the final amount when the project is complete. Since our client admitted to cash flow problems, we agreed to weekly payments throughout the life of the project. Now our client is requesting we suspend the weekly payments, and agree to a lump sum at the end.

Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem, since he's paid us the amount equal to what we would have required as an up-front payment. The problem is we made financial commitments based on the payment plan we'd contracted, and not having the periodic payments coming in is going to leave us short.

Now I have to figure out a way to make it all work. I contacted our CPA on Friday to see if it would be possible to skip our final quarterly tax payment (due in January) since we'll be eligible for the Adoption Tax Credit this year, and I'm waiting to hear back. If that's the case, then I'll be able to cover our shortfall with the money I've set aside for estimated taxes, and we should be okay.

If not, then we have a bigger problem on our hands.

What I've realized in all of this is that I really hate owing money, even if it's for the business or for a really good reason. It's just too stressful to have debt on the books when things go wrong. I hate the sinking feeling I get in my gut when a client tells me he can't pay me as planned, especially when know I have obligations that will have to be met, regardless of his ability to pay.

We are very fortunate in that we aren't carrying any personal credit card debt. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we are debt free. We owe a considerable amount on our mortgage, and one of our automobiles is not yet paid off. Between the car and an interest-free educational loan a relative made to FosterEema earlier this year, we owe about $8,100. On the business side, we owe money on two interest-free credit cards for our two laptops and planned to have them both paid off before any interest charges accrued.

Relative to most Amercians, we are doing pretty well in that all our debt is considered "good" debt*. Even so, it's an uncomfortable feeling knowing that this money that has to be paid back at some point. When times are flush and income is steady, debt isn't quite so worrisome. When clients don't pay as agreed, and we aren't working at full capacity, debt is like a heavy stone, holding us back.

What we've learned from this experience is that clients are willing to rob (or at least postpone paying) Peter in order to pay Paul, and that can leave us in the lurch. As a result, we've made the decision not to buy new equipment for a job unless a) we have the money in hand, or b) the client will pay us enough up-front to cover it.

From now on, it's cash and carry for our business.

But, until I hear back from our CPA, I won't know what our holiday season will be like.

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* "Good" debt being either debts secured assets worth more than the amount owed, capital expenditures needed for a business, or educational debt which can be justified because it will increase our future earnings.

Stinky Citibank

I don't normally blog about financial topics, but like most families, FosterEema and I are struggling along, trying to make ends meet. It's been a tough year for everyone, and it seems it's getting tougher as credit card companies scramble to raise interest rates before the new credit card law kicks into effect.

Yesterday, I got a letter from the jerks at Citibank Mastercard. In it, they told me they will raise my interest rate by about a third right in time for the December holidays. Were that not bad enough, in the same letter they tried to placate my wrath by offering me an even more lousy deal -- they'll drop the rate by about a third for 12 months if agree to a balance transfer of $3,000 or more.

Right.

Oh, and let's not forget that Citibank also charges a 3% balance transfer fee. Great idea -- increase your debt load in exchange for a temporarily lower interest rate.

Scammers.

I'm just glad our credit cards are paid off.

I'm sure it affects many Citibank customers in a negative way. I know I'm not the only one who got a letter like this, because the folks at Consumerist reported someone getting an even worse deal.

Citibank, if you are listening, you are a bunch of rip-off artists. The next time I need to carry a balance, I'll remember your hi-jinks and reward my credit union instead. With them, I have a fixed-rate Visa that's locked in at 8.25%. That's less than half your crappy rate.

Cutting a Break vs Being a Doormat

In response to All Quiet on the Western Front, Miz Kizzle wrote:

Sometimes it seems like Danielle can't catch a break. She's being nice to you. Isn't that what you wanted? Will she continue to be sweet forever. Of course not; None of us are sweet all the time. But it's a step in the right direction.

I think there is a big difference between cutting someone a break, and letting them walk all over you. We've had enough episodes of violence that I'm not really in a place where I am willing to open myself up to more physical, verbal and emotional attacks. Although a lot of what we see here is just your garden variety teenage snottiness, some of Danielle's more serious behaviors are not.

We are long past the point of where I can trust Danielle.

I've blogged before about how Danielle's good moments are meaningless in terms of reflecting permanent change. We've had plenty of lulls between the storms, and each time we've hoped that we've finally reached a turning point in Danielle's behavior. Each and every time, we've been disappointed.

We've been dealing with increasingly violent behavior since before the adoption, but here are some of the highlights since the beginning of June:

• A Violent Horror Show (6/2/2009) - Danielle punched me hard enough to leave a bruise.
• Not Exactly the Best Father's Day Weekend (6/22/2009) - Danielle threatened to hit FosterEema.
• Our First Visit From the Police (7/12/2009) - We summoned police because of Danielle's violent behavior.
• More Than Our Bodies Were Bruised This Night (8/20/2009) - Another episode of violence, and another call to police.
• Another Blow Up is Pending (9/1/2009) - We locked ourselves in our office as a result of Danielle's behavior.
• Sick of Blowups (9/2/2009) - Danielle made threats of "paybacks."
  
• Another Tantrum Upon Returning (10/10/2009) - Danielle decided to throw things around in her room because we dared ask her to shower.
  
• Even Halfway Good Things Come to an End (10/20/2009) - Danielle tried to stomp FosterEema's foot and then went after one of our pet birds.
  
• Yeah This is Old (11/3/2009) - Danielle had to be restrained twice in one day.

These were just the highlights I could find during a quick search of my blog. I know there are plenty more, and this list doesn't include the badmouthing, temper tantrums, and refusals to do chores.

But in between all of these really bad episodes, there were lulls, just like the one we are experiencing now.

So I can honestly say that I'm glad that Danielle is behaving nicely for the time being, but it doesn't change anything, really. She's going to have to demonstrate good behavior for quite some time before I'll be able to believe that we are seeing a lasting change. Danielle managed to give us almost two full months of non-violent (though still unpleasant) behavior between our August call to the police and her explosion in October.

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior, and we've had months of violence. It's going to take a very long time before Danielle's currently great behavior has been around long enough to build a track record.

Surprisingly Pleasant Board Games

I don't often like to play board games, especially with Danielle. She can be a horribly bad sport, and in the past she's gotten mad and sent game pieces flying when someone else did something she didn't like.

The game Trouble has been a huge sore spot with Danielle in the past, since she's prone to get angry when she's sent back to the start. I'm ruthless when I play, and I go out of my way to send other players back, especially if I think it's to my advantage.

Last night, FosterEema had to work late, and I found myself with nothing much to do. I was done with my work, but I didn't want to watch TV, since Danielle is still on restriction and FosterEema had moved her work out into the living room.

I decided to take my chances playing a board game with Danielle. We played two games of Trouble, and I absolutely killed her both games. Every time I sent her back to the start, she'd growl in frustration, yet at the same time she'd laugh. She wanted to go for a third game, but I figured another trouncing wasn't what we needed, so we switched to Yahtzee. She had several very lucky rolls, and beat me quite handily.

We had a surprisingly nice evening, and Danielle politely asked if I would take her to school in the morning.

"Sure," I said cautiously, "as long as you are nice to me."

Danielle made a face and rolled her eyes at me. Then, she laughed.

The End of the Pencil Punishment

Do you remember, about five months ago when Danielle stole one of my pencils in an attempt to punish me?

Well guess what? It finally turned up last night.

I found in on the shelf in the living room, where I had dusted a week or two before. I am certain it was not there when I cleaned.

I know this is the pencil she stole is because it's decorated with a lovely painting of the solar system. Although I have a bag of its twins it in the office, this was the only one I'd ever bothered to sharpen.

"My space pencil!" I exclaimed when I found it, surprised. I'd pretty much forgotten about it, and figured I'd never see that particular pencil again.

Danielle admitted she'd taken it. She had never used it, and it was still sharp.

I asked her, quite pointedly, if she thought I really cared. She hemmed and hawed, hoping that somehow she'd managed to get under my skin.

"I have a big bag of those in the office," I told her rather flatly, "if I'd wanted another one so badly, I would have pulled another one out of the bag."

"Oh," she replied. She sounded a little disappointed.

I'm glad to get the pencil back, simply because it's very cool-looking, but the amount of stress Danielle managed to give me over this particular theft was zero.

I guess it sure delighted her, however, because she hung onto it for so long.

Whatever.