Snow Days

So Red�s been sick again � that damned cough and another ear infection (this makes three, if you�re counting) � so I spent Wednesday at home. And it snowed! While I despise winter, snow is its only saving grace. Especially when I�m safe at home with no plans to travel in it. I held Red up to the window so she could see Baby�s First Snowfall and she laughed. And laughed! Boy, she thought it was the coolest thing ever. Red�s got a good laugh, kind of a ha-HA-HA, and we both stood at the window and giggled at the white stuff floating down from the white sky, landing on the silver barn roof, the brown horses� backs, the grey gravel driveway, the mole tunnels, and the brand new wooden fence. Joy. And there ain�t a lot of that around these days so this entry is more Note to Self: Remember this Moment of Happiness then most entries.

But Red is all better now apart from a bit of congestion. She�s passed her pestilence to the rest of us and poor Dusty coughs and coughs all day and night like we�re running a tubercular ward out here.

Today, Dusty and I went to the mall to get her hair cut. She�s been talking about wanting short hair for some time now because all her girlfriends have short hair and, after making sure that they were still girls afterwards and hadn't been magically transformed into boys, we ventured out to the chi-chi salon at JCPenney. Dusty�s such the stoic. She sat in her booster swivel chair still as a statue and watched large and poorly dressed women get their hair washed and straightened while I held her hand. It was the quietest she�s been � apart from sleep � in a long time and, by the end, I could tell that her rambling inner monologue was building up inside her, ready to come out. She was slumping this way and that in her chair. As soon as we left, she with her sassy new pageboy do, the chatter began again.

�What if there were giants?�
�I don�t know. I guess they�d step on all the houses.�
�Really?�
�Well, yes, if there were giants. But there aren�t.�
�Really?�
�Really.�
�But what if there were?�
�Then I guess they�d crush all the buildings.�
�For real?�
�No. Giants are pretend.�
�But what if they were real?�
Jesus. �I don�t know. What do you think?�
�You don�t know anything.�
�That�s right. I don�t know anything.�
�Would giants step on our house?�
�Yes.�
�Really?�
�No.�
�What if they did?�
�Then we�d have nowhere to live.�
�Really?�
Godhelpmejesus��

Critics Corner

My husband and I recently did the impossible: saw a movie. At the theatre! Thanks to my brave sister (�So, how do you entertain two of them?� Hehehe, how indeed!), we ventured out to see Life Aquatic with my hero, Bill Murray. And it ruled. Especially with all the Bowie tunes, sung by Seu Jorge, a Portugese singer, on a guitar. There are few things lovelier than to here �Life on Mars� on a guitar. Sung in Portugese. Very few.

And, I�ve just finished book #2 for the year: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Also quite excellent for all its 782 pages. Kind of a Harry Potter for grownups. Though I don�t usually like fantasy, this was a good story. And long. I really like long except the month�s almost over and I only have two books to show for it. I just started Al Franken�s Lying Liars. So that ought to go much quicker.

Ah, the freezing rain is really coming down now. I better go batten the hatches and shut this baby up. She seems to think that I exist soley to entertain her and tote her ass around. Which I guess is true. Later.

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