Kangatopia

My darling little Monkey has lost her four front teeth, top and bottom, over a period of about a week. First her bottom right, then her bottom left, followed by her top left on Thanksgiving (thanks again, Auntie Lisa!) and finally her top right came out yesterday. We tell her she looks like a hockey player, and by God after her brother threw a toy at her and it left a red mark on the bridge of her nose, she looks like even the toughest NHL scrappers couldn’t get her down on the ice.

The move is still pending. The weekend was rainy and cold, and we accomplished no more than taking photos of the problems in the house - such as rusty drains, a kitchen cabinet door that needs to be placed back on its hinges, and torn linoleum in the laundry room which will be covered by the washer and dryer anyway. There’s more, but an exhaustive list is a boring thing to write about. I hope to spend the night of December 1 in the house. Since we have a brand new advent calendar and a holiday tradition to maintain, I feel a little more urgency to make this happen.

Thanksgiving was beautiful. My generous sister took care of my children the two nights before and the night of the holiday. This left me time to work and not worry that they were spending their holiday time playing endless video games, and it also gave me and Shep the chance to go on a real date - consisting of dinner at a restaurant that takes reservations and watching the Stars take a hard won win over the Anaheim Ducks on the Modano tribute night. My brother and sister made Thanksgiving dinner. No one got upset. No one yelled. All my family was together. My brother was a little stressed, but we were all happy and functional and all those years of tense family holidays seemed a part of our distant, and emotionally immature, collective past.

It was more special for me because Shep was there. I have to tell you: I am completely and totally in love with him. I didn’t know or realize that I was capable of loving someone so much, and every day it grows even more.