For Kathy

Puck

Oh dear. We've lost Puck. True and I came home to a visibly upset Daddy tonight and he told us he found Puck curled up under the deck stairs as though asleep as she had been so often. True cried, "I don't want her to be dead!" and immediately burst into tears. She was heartbroken and so was her poor dad. True can't understand how very old that kitty was. She was somewhere between 15 and 18 years old, and had lived outside for most of that. She was KINDA inside-y before Cosmo took over our joint. It was so funny that about a year after we lost him, she just reappeared out of nowhere. Then she got really scarce again when Trueby got to the grabby stage of toddlerhood. This last winter has been so very cold she's become an honest to goodness inside cat. We couldn't get her out! True fell in love like crazy. We were constantly reminding her, "Be nice to the cat!" All of her attention was so lovey and Puck was just not used to being coddled! I'm so glad she had it cush for her last few months. I'm glad True and daddy can know they made her so loved and comfortable at the end. She was a good friend to both of them and they will miss her terribly.

The pictures here are all from True's camera. Puck was hands down her favorite photo subject.

what else can I say?

Where ya been?

Yeah yeah yeah. It's been a while. I've been busy! Or tired. Or just not typing. Whatever. I take issue with those of you who complain they have worried I've dropped from the face of the earth because I haven't blogged for a while. Seriously, you know I will maintain the pull of gravity until at least after the inauguration. You're excited, too. Admit it! It's gonna be great! I was talking to a friend today though, you know who you are, and wondering aloud about who will be president in eight years? Is this an anomaly, or will people forever be excited by the political system? Will the expectation now be to have a young, in-touch, idealist in power? Will we we now want our president to double as rock star? Or will we be content to go back to the rich, old, white guys who've done it the same way, almost without exception, since we started it off? And if not, who is out there to take up the mantle? I know Obama wasn't even a blip eight years ago, but who's gonna scream onto the scene next?

Speaking of screaming...we had a lovely playdate today. It has been gloriously sunny and cantankerously cold the last few days. A friend is in the doldrums a bit so we met at Subway for lunch then went to dose up on some vitamin D. Trueby loves this chick, they quarrel like sisters and giggle like monkeys.

Then, we tried to run in Trader Joe's after but couldn't get anywhere near it! For crying out loud, I don't need to park right by the door, but the same zip code would be nice. So as we circled around, we saw daddy drive by and whizzed out behind him and True called his cell and gave really, no REALLY cryptic clues til he figured out we were behind him. So anyway, it's about 4:27 and on the way home from the grocery store I get this "bum bum bum" feeling, which, in the past, I have learned to pay attention to when I notice it. So as we go past the turnoff, I swing a crazy hook to make the corner and we drive past the gymnastics place, where, we don't have gymnastics because of the holiday. Just to reinforce what I already know. And yeah, there was class. True is ecstatic, I'm thinking in my head "Holy Christ. I will NEVER make it home and back in time." But she doesn't have clothes, I have milk in the car...we're going for it!! And we made it! So this second one is when she sees I'm taking pictures again. Poor kid. That there's a complex.

All right...go to bed and dream of a better tomorrow. Literally! Happy Inauguration everybody!

A Problem

So I have what could be called a mild addiction. Or it may be strong addiction. I guess it depends on your point of view. Here's my problem. You know Judd Apatow, right? Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express. Funny funny stuff. So he had a series a while ago about a dorm full of college freshman called Undeclared. Also, super funny stuff. Got it from Blockbuster and loved it. So when I found out that my favorite of the freshman, crapola that's a creepy sentence, the unrealistically good-looking one with an English accent, I know, shocker, was in a new series that had aired this fall, I looked it up online, totally out of curiosity. Enter the problem. I am completely addicted to this show! Which wouldn't be a problem, except that it's called Sons of Anarchy and is about a gun-running biker club of thugs and is hyper violent. I swear, half the time I can't even watch it! Look away!! And, to top it all off, my guy is faking an American accent. Dammit! This is a lose/lose situation if I've ever seen one.

Here's a win/win though. This is the coolest thing ever. It's like a trivia game, and for every correct answer, they donate 20 grains of rice to hunger relief charity. You can play as much as you want! I almost ended hunger the other day myself on the vocab part, but couldn't get past level 43. How did you do?

What the hell!

So on all the news showing my joint under 98 feet of water...there's this one guy standing in front of his house, with his lakefront property, which was not lake front yesterday and in fact the lake is more in his house than in front of his house, in an area that until just recently was totally snowed in, and he tells the news guy, "Yeah, we moved out here from Wisconsin to get away from the harsh winters." And, I swear to shit, the news guy says, "How's that working out for you?" Nice!
On the positive, True is enjoying her second day off from school, my first. We had school yesterday, but they started sending kids home early in hard hit areas. Here's the weird part of my day...you remember the psycho parent who hates me? She wanted to sit next to her daughter during our test yesterday so the kid wouldn't be "intimidated." What the hell ever lady. We talked a while after, and this morning, I got cc'd on an email to my Asst. Superintendent and my principal. It is 2 pages of how great a teacher I am, calls me awesome three times, and it ends with, "I wish I had gone in earlier to observe." Now, most people would go, "Oh thank goodness that is resolved." But I gotta tell ya, this makes me so nervous I am actually going to check for a car bomb before I drive today! Tune in next time when she tries to get me fired again.
Before that sounds like I am being treated unfairly...let's see if maybe I am due for a karmic slapping around. Last night, my poor girl rolled over in bed and told me she was going to start crying because of her dream. In a half-asleep mumble, she told me of dreaming about a little boy who ran away from home on an icicle (though I think an ice floe was what she was thinking of) and his family missed him so much. I said maybe he was just going to have an adventure and would come back soon and she says, "No, he was running away to the sea." in the most tragic voice you have ever heard. And quietly started crying, AS SHE FELL BACK ASLEEP! Barring real tragedy, it was the saddest thing to have transpired ever. Later in the night, she made this one whimper noise, like she may have been crying in her dream. I didn't sleep much, as is usual, but instead of getting up and entertaining myself, I just squeezed her all night. What can this spritelike, joyful, rambunctious, bright girl be so sad about? I am hoping against hope it's just her very deep concern for others. She's always been hyper-sensitive to everyone being happy and it hits her pretty hard when they aren't. But I don't want her dwelling on unhappiness. I want the sunshine and rainbows and unicorns thing in her head all the time! I want her darkness to be filled with mystery and wonder, not dread and threat. The reason this weighs so heavily on my mind, outside of the obvious, is that you should be able to hear her right now. She is playing with the Petshop toy she got for Christmas, and all the little animals have cutesy names and they are all playing together and she's quite honestly cracking herself up as she plays. She has incorporated the real cat into her bobble-head cat's family, much to the real cat's disapproval. It is a scene from a misty-eyed childhood nostalgia memory in there. So why are her dreams so dark? Which leads naturally to the question, What have I done wrong? Hence, the psycho parent retribution. Nice. Hey, speaking of higher powers, I'm reading a book right now, by Terry Pratchett, of funny fantasy fame...great gods, this amazing author, who's very identity is wrapped up in his spinning tales from his imagination, has been diagnosed with early onset dementia. That falls in the category of real tragedy I mentioned earlier. Imagine watching that come at you. Jesus! Anyway, it's called Nation, and it has a whole slant on religion that I've really been struggling with. The whole Red Pill/Green Pill thing, would you rather know the truth, even though you will be miserable, or be happy with a cozy lie that there is a benign god cupping you in his hand? It reminded me of one of my favorite books, "Life of Pi." If you haven't read it, stop whatever else you are doing and go read it now. Then, tell me at the end if you think A or B was true. I'm dying to know what you all think. If you've read it already, please talk to me about it!

just missed beijing

Yesterday was our first day of gymnastics! I picked up the Trueby-do from daycare and told her we had a surprise. When I told her what it was, she goes, "No! I don't wanna go to gy-nastics!" What? Why? "You'll leave me there and I won't know anybody!" Dude, no I won't. I'll stay with you and watch. "Every time?" Yes babe. Don't worry. "Well, I'll watch other people, but I don't know if I'll join in." Poor sweet. So we get there and get her changed and it's totally loud and crazy with all these millions of kids who all know what they are doing, backspringing and rope climbing and vaulting stuff. True goes, "I don't know how to do those things!" I explained they all had been practicing a lot, she was brand new, etc. So this lady comes over, "Ready?" and leads the girl over to her group, no ifs ands or buts. True stepped two steps onto the springy floor and never looked back. She was enthralled! I was so proud of her, all the other girls, about 4, had been at the fall session and knew what they were doing, but she kept right at it, never gave up trying, even when she had to haul herself onto a high beam at chest level four times in a row. She couldn't get up, but fought it and fought it each time. It was magnificent! When I picked her up today she said, "Why can't I go to gy-nastics today?" I'm really thrilled with my girl! She is NOT good with change, but what a trooper!