Story With No Words

The End

Monkeys and rabbits loop the loop.

Paco is interesting. In the time it takes me to mop a floor, he's erected a greenhouse, cemented a new mailbox into the hole, made landscaping beds in front of our garage, AND thrown some ribs into the smoker! And this isn't an unusual day! When I witness this I always subconsciously sing, "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan..." I figured this all out basically a few days into the marriage, dealt with it, and have moved on. He can and DOES work circles around me, BUT I make him laugh. Fair? Works for me. But huddle up! Here's a secret...he consumes animal crackers by the gross! Truly he does. He buys them in these industrial strength-sized containers and nibbles on them during the day while he works in our office. Before he tele-commuted he fed his habit through a vending machine. I can imagine some poor vending operator schmuck in Omaha wondering what in the heck happened to his cracker sales! But anyway, isn't it charming? Little lions and bears and camels...and he's as skinny as the giraffes he chugs down.

Kit one purl two

This is Kit. She was a wonderful Christmas gift from my son's family. I have been waiting for Kit for--oh---7 or 8 years. She is shown here wearing a beret and sweater I immediately knit her. During the Christmas holiday I happened to be in New York and visited the American Girl Doll store there on Fifth Avenue. Talk about a feeding frenzy!!!!!!!! Thousands and thousands of little dolls being pushed and shoved along with their owners and their families! Thousands...maybe more. An economic crisis in America?? I think not--at least not there. That, my friends, is a million dollar industry and now I am a part of it. I'm so proud.

Mother's Day

All I Really Need to Know About Mothering I Learned From My Mother

1. Don't brag about your kids.

2. A pot of soup on the stove cooking when people come home at night will do much to calm nerves.

3. Get all the education you can!!!

4. Don't slump!

5. Don't sleep in! There's work to be done!

6. Give practical gifts!

7. Help who and where you can.

8. Wipe the shower down after you're finished.

9. If one style looks good on you, make sure you have a whole closet of the same thing!

10. Avoid Mother's Day at all costs. Overly sentimental.

(editorial note: As I typed that last word, I overheard Mugsy at my side upchucking--he's been nibbling at grass all day. I looked around for a mother, sadly realized I was she, and now I shuffle off to do what mothers do...even when your "kid" is a dog. Happy Mother's Day to all!)

The Retainer From the Black Lagoon

You knew that if you remained steadfast in checking this blog that eventually I would post a picture of the cytoplasm-floating-trough-guzzling retainer. Here you go! If this teeth-moving apparatus could talk...Yes, if it could talk, it would tell you that just yesterday it was sneezed out of Mr. W's mouth and run over by a bicycle wheel! Yet it still comes up smiling...

Carpe Diem!

I inducted my reading class students into the Dead Poet's Society today. We found a windowless storeroom, draped the door window and cracks with black paper, pushed a box into the floor crack, and stuffed someone's hoodie into a side crack. Voile! A semi cave setting perfect for poetry reading! Then I tossed some Winto-green LifeSavers into the center of the circle (remember in the movie the boys all throw the contents of their pockets into the middle for snacks?). In MY day, these LifeSavers sparked in the dark when you chomped on them. So what have they done with LifeSavers?????? No sparks. Any suggestions? We read The Raven, some Emily Dickinson, Gather Ye Rosebuds, Invictus and some other stuff. Very artsy fartsy and oh so 7th grade!

Old but good news

Graduations. They're ALL good. I was sitting in the Marriott Center the other day and remembered sitting there for this graduation. I was ever the proud mother.