MY DAD GOT LAID OFF

Something bad happened today. Daddy O told OSFO and Zeb when he got home. "I got laid off from my job," he said.

"Not again," Zeb shouted. He put his arms on DO's shoulders and tried to comfort him. They're just about the same height right now.

OSFO wasn't sure what laid off means. It sounded like he was fired but her mom said it wasn't the same. "It's not because they don't like him it's because they don't have enough money to pay him."

Whatever.

Zeb looked nervous. Probably because he goes to private school and that costs a lot of money. Maybe he's worried that he won't be able to go there anymore. If he continues to get lousy grades he won't be able to go there anyway.

OSFO wishes Zeb did better in school. She doesn't understand why he doesn't try. He's super smart and seems to know everything about everything.

SM didn't seem that upset by the news. It didn't surprise OSFO that she started blogging about it right away.

OSFO wondered if it would be embarassing to DO that she was blogging about him. They even asked her to take a picture of DO with her new digital camera. That was kind of scary because she knew that her dad would try to teach her how to take a good portrait and it's a lot harder than holding the camera and saying cheese.

They went out into the hallway landing. "That's where the light is great," DO told OSFO. And he made her snap and snap and snap until they had more than 50 shots.

Then they went inside and looked at them on the computer. DO was really fussy about which one he liked best.

Next to the picture SM wrote something like "Would You Hire this Man?"

For such a bad day, everyone seemed pretty happy. At least everyone was working together.
"Maybe someone who reads the blog will know about a job in computers for DO."

That seemed kind of weird to OSFO. But she hoped that something good would come of it. DO not having a job would mean that he'd be around a lot more, which was a good but also a bad thing.

He'd probably yell a lot because he has a hard time working when there are kids around. SM put up a wall in the living room so that DO has a little bit of privacy for his office. He spends most of his time back there.

DO and SM will probably have stupid arguments because DO always makes a mess when he's around a lot.

DO and Zeb would get into arguments because DO picks on Zeb all the time -- to do his homework, to clean up, to take a shower, to come to dinner, to come home.

It should be an interesting time.