Odds and Ends

No word on Car Talk yet. Click and Clack, where are you? I’m holding my breath and crossing my fingers, but alas I am still at the mercy of Charlie. Day number five is tomorrow. The Passat is still undiagnosed. Two times we have brought it home “fixed”, so this third trip to drop it off, we insisted that it not be given back until it really was fixed. Charlie called and asked for another day this afternoon. Whatever you need, Chuck.

I realized that I haven’t mentioned anything about my mother lately. She is holding her own. Her health has increasingly improved since her pulmonary embolism in January. Her cancer marker numbers have significantly decreased which means the chemo is working. She is gaining strength in her legs and has been walking more – even a bit without her walker. She had a follow-up MRI and it shows that the Radiosurgery she had in December was also successful. The size of her brain tumor has shrunk in half. The doctors say it is at a manageable size. Fatigue is still a daily fact, but her attitude is amazing. Her “Bridge buddies”, as she calls them, are still in Florida when many of the snowbirds have already left for the season. This helps keep her busy. She says that she and Dad will head back to Minnesota “…when we feel like it!”

Harrison is still adapting to his new school. He has asked to go back to his old school a few times, but seems to truly enjoy the individual attention and compassion he is receiving at his new school. His teacher this morning had many words of praise for him. She thinks his behavior is typical of a four year old boy. He is mischievousness, but think it escalates when he is bored - usually during transition periods or late in the day. For example, he’ll do something silly like throwing puzzle pieces behind the bookcases. It’s not aggressive, or mean, but like many of his behaviors – it’s enough to make a person aggravated or annoyed. (Ella might have another descriptor for it!) Bottom line: his teacher thinks he’s smart and will mature with guidance. Can’t ask for more than that.

This morning I had a funny interaction with Ella. I hesitate to tell this story, but Beth quickly reminded me that if she was able to write about her TMI story, I could certainly write this down. So here goes. As I was getting dressed for work, Ella noticed my bra laying on the chair. She picked it up and asked me to put it on so that she could see how it worked. I finished pulling on my skirt and then took off my pajama top to put it on. I hesitated a bit because I’m not used to exposing myself to my kids, but flew caution to the wind and went with it. Ella quickly pointed to my breasts and said, “What are those?” “This is my chest, hon," I answered. “No,” she responded, “what are those red things?” Oh brother – this was more than I was ready for. Oh well, I just went for it. “Those are my nipples,” I calmly said. “OOOOoooooHHH,” she screamed with disgust. My motherly instincts were gone and I just punted. “Well, you have some, too.” “No I don’t!,” she answered. “Yes, you do…see?” I said as I grabbed the bottom of the front of her shirt and lifted it so she could see in the mirror on the back of my bedroom door. That was about all she could handle. She screamed. Loudly. And ran right out of the room. It was a priceless moment.