In the wee hours yesterday morning I woke up with a horrible migraine that lasted most of the day. In the haze of the migraine and trying to sleep I was jolted awake by gun shots in the backyard. I saw my husband outside on the porch with his gun and called out to ask what the heck he was doing.

"There was a cute little fox trying to get into the coop. I just shot a couple of warning shots to scare him away."

Yes, he used the word 'cute' while standing there with his gun and talking about protecting the family poultry. He was quite pleased with himself and I thought once again that life is never boring at our house.

Another case in point is the new no-eating-chocolate rule instituted by L. She came home from Thursday night's Pirates game disappointed that they didn't win.

"I'm going to give those Bear guys bad luck. I am NOT eating chocolate anymore. That will help the Pirates win!"

I'm not sure the hockey players would take much stock in her plan, but my spirited 8-year-old is convinced. She even policed the house yesterday making sure no one else in the family ate the confection either. Winning this round of the hockey play-offs is serious business for L. And I don't think the team would necessarily turn down any extra help with the Hershey Bears.

And since I'm already talking hockey, I have to ask what is with the Civic Center always playing Neil Diamond's, "Sweet Caroline" at the games (and often more than once)? I understand the classic and modern rock music choices because the crowd is there for a hard, mean game of hockey where fighting is fervently cheered. And even the Village People's, "YMCA" is a typical party song, but Diamond's song brings to mind my mother's generation of easy listening music. The song is OK but it just doesn't say 'hockey game' to me. Clearly I am missing something.

L. and G. had an interesting way of interpreting Diamond's song at the last game. I think it's clear that they agree with me on this one.