The leavings of my fragile little mind

Some generic updates:

 

LuLu is in need of some speech therapy but we're having trouble co-coordinating the effort. We've now been told it'll have to wait until the next school year. Uh-uh. We'll find a way. Meanwhile, she's very proud to tell me that not only does she know who the first President was, but that she made a heck of a mask of ol' George in school. She followed with this exchange:

 

"Wat his wife's name Dad?"

 

"Martha"

 

"Oh yeah, I forgot. I didn't do her [mask] too good. But his was da best in da class."

 

Today, she's off on a Daisy field-trip to see Stars on Ice with Lisa.

 

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Two bits of news about Smiley: his psych evaluation has been set for next Wednesday (to judge his learning capacity and whatnot) and he's been accepted into the K3 program of a great local Montessori school for the '08-'09 school year. Now all we have to do is get him to speak and use the toilet and we're good to go. ;)

 

He had to go to work with me today when my scheduled day off was disrupted by a problem with the fire alarm system. He was very good there, and ditto on an extremely long trip to have my car's exhaust emissions tested to meet state requirements.

 

I'm not bit**ing, because I know a lot of people have bigger problems and I'm thankful I don't shovel coal for a living, but I hate never having a true, full day off. Even on the best of days I'll get a call or two (or an email) from work.

 

No big deal, but after a few years its begun to seem as if it's this nasty rip right down the middle of your day. Even if it only takes a minute, the aftertaste seems to linger all day.

 

Very fatiguing, even if it's all in my head.

 

But again, it ain't like I'm shoveling coal or cleaning up elephant dung, so big wup.

 

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Oh, it took YaYa all of about a week to lose her glasses. I found them left on a windowsill after a long search, but I kept them from her to let her stew for a few more days. As if she was worried at all.

 

This week YaYa has had a busy weekend. Friday was the circus and pizza with her Godfather, then an overnight with Lu at my Mom's, followed today with a visit to a friends house (the 2nd friend in three days), and today she's going to a birthday party ata swimming pool.

 

She came home exhausted.

 

"You're tired baby?" I said.

 

"Yeah," she said. "I am. But that's ok. My friends needed to see me. I'm very popular."

 

* * *

I was pleased to hear YaYa was pretty good for her Godfather the night of the circus. There was still a little bit of the mock-shy stuff, but I'm told she was more social. Aside from both their words on it, I know she told him about a story writing contest she wants to enter, so some communication took place.

 

Her Godfather is a Mason (may the good Lord forgive his endangered soul! - I kid, I kid!) so he was able to put them in the 3rd row of the (Tripoli Shrine) Circus.

 

Aside from the pizza and the circus itself, he also bought her an elephant ride, a program, cotton candy, and a $10 lightsaber.

 

'twould be a dark day before my wallet let loose $10 for such a trinket, so she was truly in luck.

 

 

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I finished Stephen King's The Mist in the last week, which of course was originally a novella included in Skeleton Crew. A fine effort if you pardon his hippy necessity to blame all evil, supernatural or not, on the US Government. Like King mentioned in the introduction, the ending is very . . well, read it. It's not very satisfying, that's for sure.

 

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Someone PLEASE remind me on Tuesday to go rent Beowulf. I can't believe I missed it in the theater.

 

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As there is no other place to put it, I wish to state here and now that there are precious few authors walking this earth that can convey grand amounts of power, grace, beauty, and ease into a sentence like Clive Barker.

 

That is all.

 

Tags: Tripoli Shrine Circus, Clive Barker, Stephen King, The Mist, Skeleton Crew