MISC -- 6.20.2004

I got a phone call from work the other morning. I was talking to Kath about the normal stuff when all of a sudden I heard, “PJ! Why don’t you have any clothes on?”

Then distantly, I hear PJ saying, “Because I am a dog”

Then Kathleen said “I have to go.” and hung up the phone on me. While this raised many questions with me, I figured I was better off not knowing what was happening out in Leesburg. You get used to these kinds of things happening.

I was putting Anna to bed, the other night, and she has a cross that is normally on top her dresser. It is a wooden biblical cross on a small stand, plain and unmarked. The cross was on her nightstand, and I went to put it back to where it belonged.
“No!” Anna exclamed. “That’s Jesus!” She looked worried. Anna thought I was going to throw it out, which would be anathema. Anna keeps everything, “I just want to keep it for memory” she says which is kind of cute until she’s keeping old ice cream bar wrappers for memory and they are attracting flies.

“Its okay honey, I am just going to put it on the dresser.”

“I pray to Jesus.” she says. “:Actually I pray to that and it goes up.” She points to the cross and then follows the top up with her finger, up to heaven. The cross has, in her mind, become some sort of Christian antenna. Everything has an explanation, in Anna’s world.

Sam, by contrast, has little reason in his world. Things just happen to him, and he expects us to keep him safe from harm no matter what he does. He came up behind me as I was shutting the pantry door. He at the same time put one small hand in the crack between the door and the hinge, and with the other started to push the door closed. I stepped out of the way and gave the door a swing. His fingers were stuck, pinched in the door. He started howling. The poor little guy. He’s all curly hair and curious energy these days, but the world is so unforgiving and he understands so little about things like if you fall two feet it hurts a lot more than one foot.

Life is moving along at an unhurried pace this summer. I just don’t want to make any trips anywhere. Travel is so difficult with the little munchkins. Anna’s last day at school was Wednesday. Kathleen keeps saying how now she understands why her mother hated the summer so much.

PHOTOS FROM THE FRIDGE! 6-9-2004

Kathleen recently went through *all* of our digital photos and selected about 60 or so to go get prints. I trotted down to the local Save-Less and got some prints made. Anyway, this montage is the latest assortment of photos currently reiding upon our new monstrous fridge. Sorry to those of you with modems-- hope this doesn't take too long. :^)

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND - 6.4.2004

We did not go anywhere this memorial day weekend. Instead I worked on the playroom I am building in the basement. This is an ongoing project, and one that has given me a great deal of frustration. The driving factor behind the need for this playroom is our children, our lovable, clutter generating, messy, noisy children. We just want to give them the boot and send them downstairs. This also would free up the living and dining rooms, which now is knee deep in clutter.

Anna is a pack rat. She can have an old sticky wrapper for a frozen yogurt stick she just ate, and she will insist on keeping it 'just for the memory.' Its kind of a cute thing, at least until the wrapper begins to get a good stink to it. Multiply this times a hundred, no a thousand. This is our living room, now a playroom.

So I've got the framing up. My brother came down and helped me do that. Then Ed came over and helped me do the electrical. Paul helped me do the first day's worth of drywall. Its a work in progress. Patience is the key here. I just hope it looks okay when its done.

My Mom dropped in on us the following Thursday for the weekend. It was a surprise; we did not tell the kiddies that she was showing up. Kathleen just showed up at the airport, and, after some time spent circling, slowed down to pick up Nina. The kids were like, "Oh, hi, Nina." Like there was nothing more natural.

Friday morning I got a call from Kathleen saying that there was a snake on the porch. It was seven thirty in the morning and I was on the bus heading downtown. I said, "What exactly, is it that you propose I do?"

"Well, what should I do about the snake?"

"Ignore it, its harmless."

"But its CREEPY."

"How big is it?"

"A couple of inches."

"Try throwing something at it."

This is why I love being the dad. I may not make all of the decisions around here, but I get to solve all of the problems. Actually my mom, steeling herself, mangaed to scoop the snake up into a tupperware container. Then the whole brood trucked down to the Loudoun County Animal Control office. They confirmed that it was a milk snake, and was harmless and not at all some kind of s king mombo cobra pit viper.

PJ cleaned his room yesterday. His idea of cleaning his room is to take every single object not nailed down and put it in his bed. Exclduing the bed, the rest of the room was very clean.

And of course, the Cicadas. The Cicadas, which come around every 17 years in biblical hordes, are *everywhere*. Anna and PJ are delighted to have a ready supply of bugs to play with. It great fun!