Last night we all went over to Mom & Dad’s for Ted’s 25th birthday. We gave him the computer game “WellTris.”
Today we played “WellTris.” The flag of Soviet Georgia is a favorite.
He also got a turtle-neck shirt that should be returned shortly.
Nicole went to Sunday school and to her friend Robin Polinksi’s 8th birthday party. She got some little play ink pads and stamps.
Danny and I took a small hammer out back and banged away at a roll of caps or “blow ups” as Danny likes to call them. He also knows these are the bullets to his long lost pistol that he got the morning of Nicole’s birthday and was allegedly stolen by one of her hoodlum friends after her birthday party.
We all scrambled to make St. Patrick’s 5:30 mass. (Hoping to get out 30 minutes sooner than IHM’s 6:00 mass… in time for 60 minutes!) While Kathy and I got dressed, the kids covered their hands with the stamps. Turns out the ink in the play ink pad is permanent, so after grabbing it from the kids, I went to church with ink on my hands just like Danny and Nicole.
We dove into Ted’s Honda Civic and, with only a vague idea of where St. Patricks was, we found it and drove in on the stroke of 5:30. Turns out the 5:30 mass at St. Patrick’s is really at 6:00 pm, so all but Kathy threw away the time in the parking lot with a frisbee. Nicole and Danny kicked through the leaves piled up by the cold, brisk winds of the past two days.
Kathy stayed inside. Too cold sensitive.
The priest had a long, elaborate sermon that tried to combine the parable of the 10 maidens and their torches with the Wizard of Oz. It was lost on all of us, and we didn’t get out of St. Patrick’s parking lot until 7:30. We missed 60 Minutes. Ted says we have a fair number of lates due us.
We did notice that Carol was quite right about not having her wedding at St. Patrick’s. No center aisle. I don’t know that we’ll go back. Not because of the aisle, but the priest and his pianist friend are a strange twosome. Plus, at the beginning of the mass we were told to turn to our neighbor and ask, “What prayers can I say to help you?” Sure enough, this man ahead of me did exactly that.
“I could use some help keeping these kids quiet this mass,” I joked.
“Very good,” said the man (who turned out to have a little girl with him much worse than Danny) and he went on, “And I would like help praying for those with out food or shelter tonight.”
Great.
“Actually, the boys in the Middle East could use our prayers,” I said. Then I realized that there weren’t going to be just males lined up to die in this war, so I hastily added. “The boys and the…” and it all kind of overwhelmed me in a millisecond that the familiar, haunting song “Bring the Boys Back Home” would be awkwardly more frightening this time.
“The boys and the girls need our prayers,” I added quietly.
“Yes,” said the man.
Danny and Nicole were very good for a little girl and a little boy.
I gave Nicole a job that she took to heart. I asked her to go through a “Childcraft” toy catalogue (that she’s been thumbing through for the past few days since getting in the mail) and list her 10 favorite toys with page numbers. I don’t know if this is in order of importance:
1. Personalized Rolling name stamp Unicorn Name stamp
With Red ink. p. 28
2. Ballerina Doll p. 33
3. Walking Annette p. 32
4. Sunrise Horse Set p. 37
5. Magic Math Machines p. 39
6. The Babysitters Club p. 41
7. Treasure Chest of Stickers p. 54
8. Face case p.55
9. Dinocheckers p. 37
10. Minigolf course p.26
Hmmm…. all seems straight forward except number 8. So, turn to page 55. Looks like a purse and a wallet. Description reads:
Face Case. Packed with silly ears, zany eyes, outrageous noses and more (Woops… looked at the wrong picture. The purse and wallet are Minnie Mouse Accessories. Face Case looks like a box of rubber stamps.), this clever stamp set creates the world’s funniest creatures. Includes 46 stamps with wild and wacky features, an ink pad and a plastic storage case. Children will spend hours creating a vast array of characters to star in their own pictures, stories and cartoons. 5-14 yrs. $12.95
And if you have a three-year-old, it should add, much of that vast array will appear on your newly painted walls.
Nicole likes funny things and funny people. She told me about one boy in her class, Juaqeen (say wau KEEN), who can crack her up by just holding a pen up close to her face. She couldn’t explain why that makes her laugh, but Nicole often doubles over laughing at things I can’t always see or hear.
She then admitted that she was not one of the funny people in her class. “I’m not funny,” she said matter-of-factly. I was surprised to hear her say that. So I asked her if she was sure she wasn’t funny.
“No, I’m just not.”
“Why do you think you’re not funny?” I asked her.
“Nobody laughs at my jokes.”
“Tell me a joke,” I said.
“OK, why did the dog cross the road?”
“I don’t know. Why?”
“To get to the other side… That’s the only joke I know, and when I tell it, nobody laughs.”
I didn’t laugh, either. I was pretty sure that it was a chicken that crossed the road for that reason, which wasn’t very funny to start with.
“Do you ever make Miss Linsey laugh?” I asked her.
“No,” Nicole said.
“Do you ever make her smile?”
“Yes,” Nicole nodded with a grin.
I think you’re pretty funny, Nicole.
Danny had a tough time tonight. Couldn’t finish dinner, didn’t get desert, had to go to bed early. He cried and cried. He tried everything he could to get out of bed, even volunteered to eat pineapple. Nothing worked.
I drew a picture of a crying boy on the kids’ Mac. Danny quieted down, watching from his bed. “What’s this?” I asked, pointing to the tear on the little boy’s face.
“Water,” Danny said.
“Where did it come from?”
“That little boy’s eye.”
“Why is the little boy sad?” I asked.
“His father… because his father put him in bed.”
Then I erased the tear, surrounded the frown, and flipped it over. “Why is he happy now?” I asked.
“His father read him a book.”
(Clever boy.)
Then I added his big bird doll who sleeps with him, and drew in closed eyes. “Now what happened?”
“He went to sleep… Can you print that?”
Today is Mom & Dad’s 30th anniversary. We celebrated last night at Carol and Bob’s with Ted, Grant, and Sue in attendance. The night was capped with an impromptu, madcapped noise-making session featuring Mom on her singing crystal glass, Ted on the hand-squirt, Grant on the monkey howel, and myself on the two-thumbed flute. Somewhere in there was the theme from “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”
Danny and Nicole thought it was great. Dad and Sue figured we had gone crazy. In fact, Sue started pulling her hair out and screaming at one point which was a nice addition to the ensemble.
Got to wear jeans to work today as myself and the crew made room for the data processing consolidation into our training-room-turned-closet. Didn’t want to ruin our nice clothes with any laser juice.
Severe cost-cutting plans are underway. Shock will set in shortly among the surviving troops. The “new guy,” Brian Pomrenke has been left standing, unscathed, looking about, wondering how all the flying shrapnel missed him.
Yesterday we all got ready to go to Nancy and Teddy’s farm. Kathy got up early and went to the store to get all the ingredients to make rice crispy bars.
Teddy, barefoot and wet-headed Nancy, Shawn, and Brittany all showed up as we were getting ready to leave to tell us that everyone else had called in as no-shows.
So we didn’t go.
Instead, the four of us made lunch of the rice crispy bars, called up Carol and headed out to the crewing regatta at the Chatahoochee River Park. Carol brought Gibson and Cassie. Cassie did not throw up in Carol’s car. A break through not unlike potty training.
We had to park several hundred yards away from the park because it was so crowded. It was a beautiful day to sit around a watch the kids playing and take in a bit of sculling and skimming.
Vanderbilt’s women’s crew team had mechanical problems and were unable to complete the race. Later, Ted took the news rather hard.
Got the kids’ beds bunked last night in time for a prospective town house buyer who canceled for today and rescheduled for tomorrow. The house sure looks nice.
Nicole got her Brownie sash today. Ready to be filled with merit badges.
Danny had a Halloween afterglow today as he redressed as a Cowboy to go to college with Kathy. When he peeked in to see that none of the other kids were wearing costumes, Kathy asked him if he would like to hang up his cowboy hat and vest, and he nodded that would be best.
Big “restructure” for the IPS division got approval from Bob Woodson. Closing the Milwaukee office and cutting out all field reps. Got to regroup and figure out how to sell this stuff.
Should have work for at least 18 months. In which time, Kathy should finish school, get a fine job, and take the pressure off of me to work so hard.
Halloween. Nicole was a star-princess with a shimmering derby. Danny was a cowboy. The 4 of us joined up with Nancy, Brittainy, and Shawn (as a skeleton) to skower the neighborhoods for tons of candy.
Stopped by Northlake Mall to participate in an industrial version of Halloween. Too many people and too bright. We left quickly.
Mr. Johnson (Eugene) 3 doors down performed his legendary candy dispursement trick, scooping armfuls of candy into the kids’ bags.
Danny came away laughing, “I got 10.” That’s all the fingers Danny has, and it translates into infinity.
Kathy figures they each got
at least $10 of candy. I guess more.
This year’s pumpkin featured an equitorial
jagged cut that split the pumpkin into an upper
and lower half. Made for easy scooping and a nasty, wrap-around grin. (Great price at Cub Foods.)
I went to Westpoint with rep Brian Pomrenke to sell Charter Federal on tracking. Kathy had a killer Art History exam. We’re both exhausted.
(11:52 pm.)
Ted brought over some pirated modules of AfterDark. He came into the house with a wild stare in his eyes saying “I’m here to load some software.” We were leaving, so we gave him free reign.
I think I’ve created a MacMonster.
This is the first entry of our family diary. Date: 10/28/90. I hope everyone will remember to record the things that happen to them every day.
Halloween is coming. The kids were outside playing when several of the older girls started teasing Danny.
“You’re Freddy Kruger!” they said to him. He took it personally enough to come in sniffing to his Dad.
“Dad! The kids are calling me Freddy Pooper!”
I told told him that if they call him names that he should say he can’t hear them. That would drive them crazy. He went out and gave it a try. Came back grinning. “They called me Freddy Pooper again! And I said, ‘I can’t hear you!'”
.
.
.
.
Chaulk up one more for Pooperman…
To Jeb (when you’re a little older)
It is lucky for us that things are not always what they seem,
The world seems so big, and certainly you could never walk around it,
But really it is not as big as our minds
Because we can reach out with our thoughts to the farthest star without even trying
And quicker than a wink my thoughts can leave these beautiful snow mountains of Switzerland and fly across the ocean and go right through the door to where you are
Sitting on the floor with crumpled Christmas paper around you
And the tree brightly spreading happiness
And your Mother and Daddy smiling and smiling
As if they shared some great secret.
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas.
I don’t mean just very nice, but full of wonder:
The suspense when you count “Just four more days till Christmas”
The surprise when you watch all the fancy decorations suddenly light up
The anxious-feeling when you try to guess what you will get and hope so hard that you won’t be forgotten
The slightly scared feeling when you’re tucked in bed
And you look out the window at the pale winter moon
And you strain to hear sleigh bells and reindeer’s hoofs.
I hope you have a beautiful Christmas.
I hope that everything outside and inside will be full of beauty,
And even the gentle gray rain can be beautiful.
And Christmas has its own special music so that it sounds beautiful
And it smells clean and fresh like fir and pine
And your presents are new and exciting
And everybody has an inside glow that makes them beautiful, too.
I hope you have a lovely Christmas,
Not just pretty, but full of love.
I hope your friends send you Christmas cards
Especially if they have to draw and color them themselves
And that your brothers and sisters will like you a lot
And even let you play with their toys,
And that you will save a piece of candy for somebody
Who doesn’t have as many people to love him as you do.
I hope you will have a good Christmas
That you are good to everybody and that everybody is good to you
That nothing happens to hurt your feelings,
That you will get good things you will want to take care of,
That you will like your Christmas dinner
Not only because your food is good, but because the family is together
And finally I hope that all your Christmases will be like this one –
Full of wonder and beauty and love and goodness.
May your wonder never leave you, but may it swell and search
Higher than the sky and deeper than the sea and beyond the far horizon.
May you look for what is beautiful and treasure it when you find it
In the glory of a golden sunset or a crisp night filled with stars –
The melody made by the sound of music or the murmur of a spoken rhyme.
If you look you will see beauty and if you love it you will have it always.
And when you see how happy others feel when they love you
May you too find happiness in loving others,
And may you learn that you enjoy a fine thing twice as much
When you share it with a friend.
May you find your pleasure in good things and in good people,
Expect to find the best in them and you will,
Feel sorry for the person who is bad because inside he is very sad,
And when you do acquire something deep down good may you hunger for something still better.
And so if you go through life – from one Christmas to the next
Searching for truth and beauty and love and goodness –
It may take years, it may take all your life
But someday you will be surprised and very pleased
To find all that you have been seeking
Not in a manger two thousand years away
But, more wonderful, in the manger of your heart!
And then suddenly everything will make sense, and every day will be Christmas.
And what could be a nicer present than a new baby sister? (or even brother)
Seriously, I hope by now congratulations are in order and mine are most heartfelt.
(Uncle) Ed
(1962)
