Kangatopia

Winston has this endearing little habit of saying ‘Thank you’ and ‘You’re Welcome’ whenever only one would be appropriate. She also says ‘I love you too’ when I swoop in for kisses (though I think I’ve mentioned this before.) Her ezcema is still a problem, but she’s become very keen on her nightly bath, throwing an unholy fit when I might dare to suggest that we skip the “bathy” that night. She loves to splash. The toilet paper has been wetted and dried so many times that it has become a little hardened. Winston will snuggle up to me on the couch, and go lay in the bed when she’s sleepy. She will also attempt to stick forks in electrical outlets and will snatch up and eat whatever edible treasure happens to lie in her path on the floor. She loves to drink the bath water out of any toy that seems to hold any quantity of water. Her dirty diapers are legendary. She will not allow me to brush her teeth. She wants to do it herself and each tooth brushing is a negotiation. She has pretty teeth though. She loves soda. And vitamins. She resents being limited on either one. She pulls the covers or a pillow over her head when the light comes in and she’s not ready to wake. She tries to mimic her brother and sister exactly. She refuses to allow me to carry her up or down the stairs at the apartment unless she’s so groggy with sleep that she doesn’t care. She has to be very, very groggy. She will grasp my face on each side with each hand and kiss my mouth, and say ‘mmmmmwhah!’ She will give me a ‘huggy’ when I ask for one. She will also give me a big kiss. She likes garlic. And fruit. And bread. And absolutely anything loaded with sugar. She is my beautiful little Winston.

Tonight Winston ran into my bedroom, shut the door and then stood in the far corner of the room. When I opened the door just a crack to see what she was doing, she squealed and sort of jumped excitedly, then ran to the door and slammed it shut. We repeated this at least 3 times.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 29th, 2005 at 3:44 pm and is filed under Winston Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

I went out to lunch today, which is something I try to do most days, so that I can sit in my car at any point between 12 and 2 and listen to the Glenn Mitchell show on the local PBS affiliate. It was just before noon, I was starving and so I decided I would run to the nearest dollar burger place, get food and sit in my car and listen to Glenn Mitchell on the radio. It doesn’t really matter who the guest is at the time I listen because Glenn Mitchell can make any guest or subject fascinating. He brings out the best in anyone or anything, and even his call in listeners are interesting. So, there I was all settled in and ready to listen when the announcement was made that Glenn Mitchell died unexpectedly in his sleep two nights ago.

I was talking to a friend yesterday about how we would want to be remembered when we die. We both agreed that we would want to be remembered less for our accomplishments, and more for the kind of person we were. We said that if our lives can exemplify what it means to live well and to live strongly and that our values affect positively those that we impact, then we’ve done well in our lives. We talked about how we would want our children to live by whatever wisdom and grace we could pass to them, and that it’s important that we do our best to gain those virtues so we have something to give. I think Glenn Mitchell achieved this in spades. I have no idea what sort of man he was outside of his on air personality, but what he infused into his program was enough to give me and his other listeners a moment of intellectual and emotional virtue - and it is an honor to be included in that part of his legacy.

In memory of Glenn Mitchell.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2005 at 1:27 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

I have this set of books by Linda Goodman, an astrologer, called Love Signs, published in the early 70’s, about the compatability between signs. Throughout the books, she’s quoted bits and pieces from Peter Pan to illustrate her grief over the loss of her daughter, Sally. All I know about Sally is what I just learned from doing a brief search on the internet, and that is that she disappeared in 1973 and was believed to have comitted suicide. Since Linda Goodman died over 10 years ago, there doesn’t seem to be much out there about her life - instead the internet’s collective focus rests on her work (which is perhaps the greatest legacy to any writer.)

The most poignant and memorable aspect of these books were the tributes to Sally, peppered as they were at the beginnings of chapters, in the chapters themselves, etc. When I read these, I was very young and I hadn’t yet had children. I could only imagine the soul shattering pain of losing a child.

Over the last several months, I’ve made a friend who is continually being asked to face the fears and heightened worries of any parent.  His son has been diagnosed with Leukemia, and you can read his story here.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2005 at 10:46 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Well. I am officially off the dating market. I have met and started seriously dating an incredible guy, and the whole dating/relationship/sex thing suddenly seems worth all the trouble.

I’m also cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year - so, you know, not everything is perfect but it’s pretty close.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 21st, 2005 at 9:58 am and is filed under Just Mommy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

So… I’ve been just a little curious about who might be reading this blog, and I was wondering if you would leave me a little message and tell me who you are? I can’t think of any clever ways of drawing you readers out such as a smarmy “national de-lurking day” but… you know… if you want… I’ll answer any one question (or whatever, I’m open to suggestions) if you’ll leave a comment and tell me who you are and why you read this damn thing.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 11th, 2005 at 7:10 pm and is filed under Just Mommy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.