Sorry, did you say something?

There are days when I seriously question whether there is any point in telling people anything that is not directly related to what they want to know. Between the kids and the husband with a brain injury and work, it gets to the point where I feel like no matter how many times I repeat something ("put your shoes away" "you are responsible for your lunch tomorrow" "I will not be here on Thursday" "please return these videos"), I should always carry a recording device so that I can play back my information and the confirming (and often snippy) "Yeah, right, I got it!" when all my messages fall into a void.

It seriously doesn't matter how often I repeat it. It often does not matter that I put it in writing and post it somewhere visible. The reaction is blank incomprehension when I mention it again, and often, to add insult to injury, this is accompanied by, "Why didn't you say so?"

Welcome/bienvenue

Reading over travel information for Americans traveling into Canada is cute. Synopsis: Canada is fairly clean, safe, and pleasant to visit, but: buy health insurance, don't leave your car unlocked in Montreal, don't bring in guns 'cause they seriously don't like that, and also be really careful driving because if the ice and metric conversion doesn't get you, the moose and lunatic Canadian drivers will.