playing ninja

Okay, I had never heard of this before, but no surprises there.

They play a game called ninja, where they go from one place in the house, quietly as possible, without touching the floor.

So what are they touching?

All the furniture and railings.

Is furniture meant to be walked upon?

That would be no.

Is this good for the railings?

Again, that would be no.

But the tales came out little by little--they walked along the ledge in the stairway and slid down the banister and onto the freezer.

So I asked them how they'd like it if I came to their houses someday and did this? I asked Tim how his wife would like this?

He said, "Oh no, she would not." 

I asked James, "I'll get up to 160 pounds and be a ninja at your house?"

He laughed, "Go ahead. She'll like it.  I'm going to marry a girl who likes playing ninja."

Somehow I really doubt that.

Today's real estate appointments included a little pug who barked a lot and was absolutely hilarious, a huge, elegant greyhound named Ludwig, and a wild, funny seven year old who sat in my lap during the long, conversational part of the meeting, after the rowdy tour.

I wonder if I can get from here to the bathtub without touching the floor?

xo.  love, Val

goofy today

 I saw this outside and it  made me laugh.   That big urn planter was found in the dumpster at the cabin last summer.    People do this--they throw items in our dumpster when we're not there.  

Anyway, there were two.  The other one is still at the lake.  I imagined repainting it and planting flowers in it, something tall.   Maybe we'd need a frame for a geranium tower or something.   Hmm, what would look right?

 Well, then I saw this today.     I like it.  It works.

What was I thinking, flowers?   Foolish.

All right, and this morning Lydia and I were both in this little bathroom getting ready to take her to band, and Tim came elbowing his way past us.   He had to get behind the door, so we were both smashed up against the sink.   Lyddie said, "What are you doing?"

Tim:  "I need my goggles."  (Yes, the goggles and snorkel were on the ledge of the bathtub.   Imagine snorkeling in there.)

We both looked at each other and laughed.

What on earth for?  

We said,  "You know we're going to band, right?"

 "Yeah, I know.  I just want to be ready just in case of anything."

I'm with you on that, Buddy.    love you guys so much,  MOM

of course

My phone rang tonight at ten before midnight.    I was just home from working and Jay wanted me to listen to a funny call on the business answering machine.  While we were messing around with that, my cell phone rang.

I glanced at the caller--of course it was John.  Nobody else ever calls me in the middle of the night.

When I answered, soon he told me he didn't remember why he'd called.  He was still at work and it was something but now the thought was gone. My quick and chipper answering of the phone caught him off guard and blanked out his memory.  (Kind of like that pen in Men in Black)

I handed the phone to his father, who was happy to talk to him, but no, that didn't jog his memory either.

So I told him: "If you remember why you called me, don't call back, just send me a text and I'll deal with it tomorrow. I'm going to take a bath and go to bed."

 His reply: "Yeah Mother, I love you too."

That made me laugh even more.

(But who calls their mother FROM WORK at midnight and then can't remember why?)

Okay, goodnight.   Sleep tight.  Love, MOM

feeling may

 Yesterday this guy came by himself for a couple hours.    He cried when his mom left.

His cousin p.j. came over to pat him and climbed up too.  After a minute she asked, "Where did his mommy go?

I said to a class.   She told the baby, "My mommy went to work."    Yes, she did.

 Later there was lunch on the patio.

And here's today--I washed all the winter grime and mess off the patio, and it felt great.   Even we got the broom involved where a winter's worth of dryer lint was caked on the corner of the back steps and on the siding.

 After that we did some sewing.    Julia found a Barbie bunk bed video yesterday on YouTube that could be made from an empty photo box.  Well, we had one of those, so she got to work decorating it and then she picked out fabric scraps to sew pillows and mattresses and blankets.

Time to get some work done.    love you kids, Mom, aka Grandma

monday morning

 We had a good weekend, including a sleepover.

Maria went to prom with her friends.  Heidi did her hair.

 He did not go to prom and did his own hair.

 People came for supper on Saturday night.

 He rode his bike down the stairs off the deck at his house.  It was only two stairs, but it looked like ten.  He's almost healed up now.

 The prom girls:

Anyway, lots of rest and yesterday some sun.   We're ready, Monday.    love you all, Mom

snowy friday in may

Yeah, it snowed, and we forged on and ignored the whole thing.   Lydia had band and we invited outselves over to my parents' for lunch.

They seemed happy to have us.

These are the kids eating milkshakes, handmade by my father.

 There he is in the background, wielding a mean blender.

 Julia's hair was never brushed before we left.  That's okay. There is something  sweet about fuzzy, slept-on braids.

The milkshakes were delicious, and my poor mother, who snagged her toe on a rug a couple days ago and fell face first into a metal door frame?    She's healing up, some vibrant bruises and so forth.

But when we left she was laughing and said her headache was even gone.  "Ice cream and squirrels:  the cure for everything."

That made me laugh.    Yeah.  That little girl cheered when the car pulled up in the driveway.  Life must get confusing when so many people are named Grandma and Bumpa.

Oh, this is good though.  Tonight at supper she asked where Bumpa was.  He was over at the stove--we pointed him out.  Then her dad said, "Open your eyes and look."

So she did a mock exaggerated wide eyes toward her grandpa and then at her dad.

A smart aleck without even speaking, she is.

And today is over almost, and what a great day it was.   love, Val

as if

Okay the snazzy toenails sure made me happy today.   I can see now the little girl is grown up enough to cooperate with a process like this--very nice.

And then, a few minutes later, this child was in the room:

She was looking all around and then carefully looked in the VCR player.

???

I doubt that has ever been used.    "What movie are you looking for?"

"Scooby Doo."

That's when I started laughing until I about fell over.   "Believe me, THAT is not in there.  And neither is the Pokemon Movie."

As if.

Oh, gosh.   Now I'm laughing all over again.

Time to get thinking about making supper, and then there's the concert tonight.

Happy May.   love, Val