Friday, November 30, 2007

new baby

congratulations to noel and nancy, who brought their baby girl into the world this afternoon.
mary rose corazon weighing 8 lbs. 1 oz and measuring 20" in length.

way to go guys.

now you have a daughter of your own, in addition to your many God-children.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

any color but pink

ok, anyone who knows me knows that i don't care for pink, especially when it's crammed down my throat as the only appropriate color palette for those with 2 xx chromosomes.

my loathing of pink extends to my eyes; i'd prefer them to stay any other color. (even teal!)

earlier today my right eye started to bother me. a slight nuisance turned into a great aggravation when my sight was obstructed by a little scrap of cloudiness that randomly moved around my field of vision.

i messed with it for awhile, thinking it was just something i could clear by the usual method. (remember being taught to pull your upper eyelid out a little bit to generate some refreshing tears?) i removed a little bit of goop, but it didn't stop the scratchiness.

it was at this time that i needed to replace the developer waste container on the printer. while attempting to plug the hole in the full container, the cover slipped and the tip of my thumb crashed against the (very sharp plastic!) edge of the hole and opened a gash a centimeter wide. it hurt, but not enough to even elicit a real curse from me, let alone enough to cause me to cry and comfortingly wash my eye clean.

standing at the sink, rinsing the blood from my finger and trying in vain to dull the throb (damn the lack of cold water), i attempted to flush my eye. unsuccessful, i finally retreated to a mirror to see what i could see.

the funny thing about trying to diagnose eye obstructions is that you can't see anything when you stick your finger in your own eye.

a co-worker supplied me with some eyewash, but two doses were insufficient to clear the problem. after more poking and prodding, i was able to remove some more stringy goop. the prevalence of that stuff got me worrying about conjunctivitis. i have a dread fear of pink eye, having suffered through half a dozen infections in elementary school.

after some time, i felt that the irritation had subsided enough to allow me to return to my desk and continue working.

so i'm sitting here, with two bandaids on my thumb, one bloodshot eye in which i have yet to restore visual clarity, resisting with an iron will the desire to stick my pudgy fingertip in and scratch that itch.

if i infect the girls with pink eye, i will be in HELL!

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

new adventures in old clothes

my sister is a thrift store junkie. she knows how to get some really great deals. i'm not so certain. i've only ever bought furniture at a thrift store before. but lately i've been thinking about diving in head first for clothing.

the problem is that pooka is hard to shop for. we try things on at the store and then after the first wash, they don't fit. it's difficult even to find things that fit at the store. she has kisu's long torso and short legs. plus, she's got my husky arms. it borders on a nightmare.

so, i figure at the thrift shop, everythings already pre-shrunk (cuz even when new stuff says pre-shrunk or 'minimal' shrinkage, it's bunk.)

tonight was our first foray. we have tickets to see a certain d*sney movie adapted for the stage on friday, and she needed theater clothes. i was very pleased with the dress we found. she loved it, it fit, and it was perfect for the theater--and Christmas! all i have to do is tack on an extra ribbon to cinch it up a little in the back and presto. all for $4.55. beauty.

****

fortunately, she was healthy enough to go to the store with me. she spent the day home with poppa after puking at school.

oddly enough, i had put poppa on call last night for bug. i picked her up from daycare and she had a mild fever. one dose of tylenol took care of it and she was fine today. then school called to tell me that pooka made a mess. oops.

pooka was fine for the rest of the day. might have been chemo-related or it might have been some old strawberries she had for breakfast. either way, it looks like she'll be good for the show on friday. thanks for watching her, dad.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

tiny planet

last saturday we met up with some friends from out of town. erinne and bryan, josh and jodi and their kids, and john and sally, the parents of bryan and josh, who live in town. josh and jodi have a son who is about a week younger than bug, and looks about twice her age. he is HUGE! adorable, and healthy, but ginormous. he's 24 pounds and wearing 18 month clothes.

bug is a little on the small side, so they looked hilarious next to each other, although they seemed to feel a bond. he grabbed her hand and she tried to steal his bink.

we spent a lot of our visit remarking on the boy's size and comparing him to bug.

so sunday at church, i was talking with jan who usually monitors the nursery during service. she was commenting on bug's size and comparing her to her own granddaughter, who is even smaller. then she brought up a boy she knew about the same age who weighs over 20 pounds. well, of course, that brought to my mind jodi's boy. so i started talking about him. when i mentioned jodi's name (to say that her son is already exactly half her height!--she's not too tall), jan stopped me.

"wait, who are you talking about?"

when i gave the last name, she laughed. "no way, how do you know them?"

we were talking about the same kid. (how many 24 pound 7.5 month old boys are out there?)

as we explored our various connections to them we realized that it is a very small world, indeed.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

meals on foot

the road to empty doorways is paved with good intentions.


we set out for meals on wheels thursday morning running behind, as usual. fortunately, the suggested arrival time allowed plenty of room for tardiness. there was a welcome/instructional spiel, and then we had to wait for the meals to arrive anyway.


i was a little nervous about what kind of route we would have and if pooka would be enough help to scout out house numbers for me. turns out we got one of the easiest routes. an apartment building, with all stops in one wing of the 8th floor. easy, peasy, right?


first off, i turned the wrong way out of the center (nevermind that they provided us with turn-by-turn directions. anyone who knows me knows i constantly confuse east and west.) by the time i realized my mistake and turned around, it was time for me to pump. so i pulled into a parking lot and took care of business, keeping my head on a swivel and my eyes peeled for any suspicious people approaching. (did i mention we were downtown in the current most dangerous city in the country?)


milk expressed, we continued on our way to a destination less than a mile from the center. d'oh!


i decided to carry the whole box up to the top instead of trekking back to the truck. we ended up just dragging the box along the corridor from stop to stop. on the way up, a community watch-type person in the lobby checked our list and sent us on our way.


pooka's behavior ranged between neutrally cooperative and downright crabby. i think it was partly nerves and partly steroids (i had forgotten that she would be on them this week.) i completely suprised myself with my relative confidence in tackling this mission.


our first stop: no answer. second stop: the guy cracked the door just wide enough to accept the food. he was cordial but not interested in visiting apparently. third stop: no answer. (at the center we were instructed that the food could not be returned and that if we couldn't deliver to our designated recipients we should find some needy soul to enjoy the meals. by this time, i decided to try one of the doors that were not on our list.) fourth stop: a hearty welcome and a five minute visit with someone who possibly did not 'need' the service we were providing. oh, well. fifth stop: no answer. sixth stop: no answer. seventh stop (another non-scheduled attempt): a somewhat suspicious no, thank you. (What? who turns down free food?) eighth stop: no answer. ninth stop: no answer. tenth stop: well, that door had a notice stuck in the door jamb so i assumed no one was home there, either.


5 scheduled stops. 10 doors in the corridor. 3 meals delivered total. not a raging success.


we headed back down the elevator, with me wondering if i should just randomly knock on any door in building. i decided against it, figuring that other volunteers would be delivering to this building, as well. when we got back to the lobby, i approached the watch-person and explained what had happened. she looked at the list and reeled off: probably still sleeping, sleeping, out of town, moved. oh, gee. someone should have updated the center. i told her that i could not bring the food back and she said that she would take it back up later when the recipients were more likely to be awake.


so, pooka and i headed out. it was not even 45 minutes of actual work. i was kind of bummed. pooka took it much harder. she groused, "well this is the worst day ever!"


"what makes you say that?"


"no one was home."


no matter how i tried or what metaphor i used, i was unable to convince her that the day was not a disaster. we tried, with giving hearts, to bring some joy and nutrition to people who might otherwise not have it today. we still get points for effort.


at least we got a great story to tell out of it. and i was not dissuaded from trying it again at Christmas.

Saturday, November 24, 2007

skid lid

after much frustration and many phone calls, i found an approved facility that could get the process for bug's helmet underway this week. friday morning we went, prepared to get bug's head all goopy with plaster. we were pleasantly surprised with the advances in modern medicine.

edgar thoroughly explained how we would put her down on a scanner bed and a network of 8 cameras would record the shape of her skull. a computer program would then plot pertinent points of her skull that need molding.

she squirmed a bit on the first try but the second was successful. we got printouts of 3 exemplary cross-sections of her skull. edgar showed us where she needed some work and what changes he would try to accomplish through the helmet.

we even got to pick out a pattern for it instead of going institutional white. (although we were tempted to get maize and blue, we went with butterflies--for the bug, of course.)

we pick it up in about 10 days and gradually work her up to wearing it 23 hours per day. the estimate is 4 months, but edgar stressed that this is ultimately dependent on the progress of her skull growth.

all in all, the visit was not traumatic in the least. hopefully we will all adjust to this new scenario as quickly as we have to our other unique situations.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

four-eyed family




pooka got glasses last friday. she is a little embarassed by them, but i think she secretly is also a little bit thrilled to have them. she looks freakin' adorable, naturally.


kisu did a smart thing and paid the extra $25 to get ultimate insurance on them. with a 5 year old, who knows what kind of trauma the glasses might sustain? this way we won't have to pay a penny for repairs/replacement.



now we have to go through the lectures of when to wear, how to don, where to store, who can touch, and most important: don't forget them.

she has mentioned that when she has them off, she feels like they're still on. i remember that adjustment period. sometimes i almost walk out the door without realizing i don't have my glasses on. it's a hazard with a mild prescription.

i checked with her teachers and becca said she's had no trouble with them. pooka was afraid that her friends would try to grab them and break them. i think she's got my worrywart gene.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

mobile terror unit

bug's not really a terror, but she might become so now that she's mobile.

she started crawling last weekend. she's been working on it for a while. up on her knees, rocking like a cartoon character about to zoom off. then, one knee forward, give up. finally, she moved several feet across the floor in a crawl-like manner.

actually, since she's unused to mode of locomotion, she's slower than she is when she rolls. she can roll like a lumberjack in Oregon. she pivots on her belly to target a destination and away she goes.

check this out:



oh, that's dried playdough ground into the rug courtesy of her big sis.

bitter bettys

man, football this weekend sucked.

the lions lost a winnable game. the qb was consistently throwing too high.

the bills played new england. 'nuff said.

michigan lost to osu. the senior class is winless against the buckeyes for their career. bye-bye coach carr.

to make matters worse, monday all the michigan state fans at work were cheering on osu for beating michigan. what cry-babies.

kisu and i root for michigan and michigan state, unless they're playing each other. but under only the rarest circumstances would we ever cheer for ohio state.

Monday, November 19, 2007

you are now leaving the comfort zone

this occasionally revealing (like now) blog notwithstanding, i am a shy person. i much prefer the sterility of digital disclosure to soppy, bawling face-to-face encounters. (and bawling there will be, because i am a person who cannot hold her eye water.)

i am uncomfortable meeting new people.

forced into an unavoidable situation i have two responses: hemorrhagic conviviality wherein i share waaaay too much or awkward monosyllabic withdrawal. either option leads people to conclude that i am surely a freak.

i'm used to that.

however, i plan to blatantly disregarded this empirical evidence of my social gracelessness.

spurred by a latent desire to pad my c.v. be a good Christian and galvanized by oh, the joys, i searched volunteermatch.org to see if there was an opportunity that wouldn't paralyze me and might make use of any old body my humble and limited talents.

lo and behold, i was presented with more than 300 opportunities within 20 miles of my home. it was a bit overwhelming. i paged through and found 3 opportunities i would like to try.

one is recording textbooks for the blind and dyslexic and another is a literacy program. they both deal with an issue that is very close to my heart. i firmly believe reading is the foundation for everything you want to achieve in life. (unless you want to achieve the status of, say, a strung out crack-head, or something similarly enchanting.)

the third is delivering food on Thanksgiving. this is the one that's a real stretch for me. (but i thought it would be an excellent way to spend the morning since kisu is working. double ka-ching.) first off, it's DownTown, an area i am not at all familiar with. but a bigger obstacle than that? i have to initiate. i go to the person's house. i knock on the door. i am expected to visit with them. this is a program geared to benefitting seniors and i've always related well to people older than myself, but still, i really suck at small talk. it's a good thing i'm taking pooka. she's a handy conversation piece.

STRANGERS. eeek!

stay tuned to see if i chicken out how this all works out and how pooka reacts. i feel it's time she learned a bit about charity; how she has benefitted personally and how she needs to give back.

Friday, November 16, 2007

a minor relief

well, bug finally got in to see the neurologist. the good news is she doesn't have cranial synostosis. the bad news is she's getting a helmet.

the neuro was concerned strictly for cosmetic reasons. the ct scan and an eeg show that she's otherwise developing normally.

we got an actual scrip for the helmet. i don't know how long it'll take to get one for her; how customized are they? according to kisu, the doc wants to follow up in 4 months and if all looks good at that point, we're done with the neuro.

too bad this is happening during the photo-happy season of the holidays, but at least it should keep her head warm in the winter.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

closed for the season



i tore down the garden last weekend. we want to have one again next year, but with slightly different contents. i picked every fruit or vegetable i could find so that it wouldn't seed itself over the winter, but i left all the greens laying in the garden area to mulch and fertilize. i also left all the sycamore leaves that fell into the garden. that should make a nice blanket to insulate all that nutrient-rich soil.


i was surprised at just how much i was still able to harvest. i finally pulled the beets. i thought i could do something with them even though they were pretty small, but they were also very dry and cracked (and i'm too lazy) so i didn't.

the carrots never did amount to anything. as i was clearing, i could see some nubbins that were about the size of bug's fingers. mostly the greens pulled off leaving the carrots in the dirt. we'll see what happens with that. aren't the seeds of a carrot in the greens?

i was completely blown away by the number of tomatos still clinging to life on those monstrous plants. i especially wanted to get rid of those so that the garden isn't one giant tomato patch next year. the cherry tomatos from the small planter the year before ended up all along the fence line this year, thanks to hapless seed distribution. some of them just rotted and fell, others were helped along by the local vermin.

i feel very sad about this baby eggplant that will probably never get a chance to fulfill its destiny, namely, filling my tummy. there are two of these right now, but i don't think they will survive. i had another one earlier in the season but it only got to tennis ball size before a critter took a big hunk out of it.

kisu took this wonderful bounty and made pasta sauce from scratch in the crockpot, with some spicy italian sausage. it was heavenly! it melted in our mouths. pooka even ate two pieces of sausage before she realized it was spicy.

witness the garden's last hurrahs:






oh, and what's up with these squatters? i didn't plant these. i wonder if they're edible varieties?



Wednesday, November 14, 2007

damned if you do

last night when we were saying prayers, pooka changed it up.

"now i lay me down to sleep, i pray the Lord your soul to keep..." and she pointed at me when she said it.

oh, man. is my soul so badly troubled that even a 5 year old thinks i need help?

granted, i have been in turmoil lately, and i have been praying very hard for a way to get out of the morass, but i thought i was keeping it hidden from the prying eyes of the young ones.

apparently i was wrong.

her need for glasses notwithstanding, the youngest eyes have the clearest vision.

help me, Lord.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

better late than never

i was looking through my little notebook of musings and came across this. should have posted on monday, obviously, but as the title says....


when duty sounds its ardent call
it pulls the bravest souls;
all those who aren't afraid to fall
pursuing higher goals.
the duty often is disdained
and those who do it spurned,
but see how quickly we profane
the liberties they've earned.
we owe a debt of gratitude
to those who've fought to shield
our privileges and attitude
and tools of honor wield.

Monday, November 12, 2007

kitchen skillz

moosh's mom is a baker. a multiple blue-ribbon winning baker. apparently, it's a skill she acquired overnight.

i am also, if i do say so myself, a pretty good baker. i love the activity, and i love to enjoy the results. (especially grandma's rolat. mmmmmmm.) pooka loves to bake, too. i have to break her heart so often when she requests that we bake simply because we cannot consume all the multitudes of goodies she wants to create.

but now she's in school. maybe we should start sending treats to kindergarten. i checked, none of the kids have allergies. well, some, but i don't usually bake with amoxicillin, or cat hair. (cat in the house means cat. hair. everywhere.)

i happen to know that the people at work enjoy the occasional baked good, as well. (how about 2 dozen donuts in 5 hours amongst 13 people?) i should indulge them more often. it would make my daughter so happy.

now when it comes to real food, i am seriously deficient. that is why we rely on kisu for wonderful savory num-nums. (he can bake, too, but he usually leaves that to me so as not to hog all the kitchen glory.) left to my own devices i will not starve, but i probably won't enjoy the meal, and neither will anyone else. it has to do with seasonings. proper levels and combinations thereof. i'm not a spice girl idiot. pooka loves to cook with kisu, also and is hopefully retaining what she's seeing.





that is why i think i'm perfectly suited to launching my own line of baby food.

heat fruit/vegetable until soft.

pulverize.

serve.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

if wishes were fishes

we'd be in a desert.

still no word from rr's people. pooka hardly ever thinks about it, but i'm getting anxious. i'd like to move along. i know it can take a couple years sometimes before your wish gets fulfilled, but i'm just worried that we'll end up waiting for years only to wind up being told that she won't grant the wish anyway.

our struggle is coming up with a substitute wish. i finally came up with something i thought pooka would go far: meeting/being on set for h*nn*h montana. i brought it up to her and told her to think about it. after a week or so, she decided she wanted to switch. i hope i didn't lean on her too much. i want this to be her decision, but i wanted her to make that decision soon, so i could inform the wish manager.

i called and let them know about the change of heart, but guess what? that's about the most popular wish there is right now. another waiting list and another star who hasn't decided to actually grant wishes.

we have to come up with something that doesn't involve a celebrity. kisu and i are determined, though, that this experience should really be a once-in-a-lifetime event that she otherwise would never get the opportunity to do. a lot of kids ask for a shopping spree or a trip to uncle walt land. we have family in uncle walt land. pooka's practically guaranteed to visit at least once in her life. shopping? she's not big on that. if it were in a toy store, she would love it, but we won't allow it because we have nowhere to put all the junk she would grab. (most of it would probably be laced with lead anyway.)

reading back through my posts, i saw that pooka had suggested an alternate wish at that initial meeting: to sing with la*rie b*rkner. hmm, another celeb-centric wish, but maybe we could work with it. maybe a trip to one of those kid-a-pal**za type concerts WITH backstage passes or something. and make sure the concert is in another state. although this borders on 'might do it anyway', i think it might still be a valid wish.

help us out here. those of you who know pooka, or any exceptional 5 year old girl for that matter, what do you think she'd enjoy? anyone who suggests anything remotely barb*e will be summarily excommunicated.

Friday, November 9, 2007

on second thought

i thought pooka's revelation about santa claus would scotch the plans for this weekend's visit to the mall to stand in line with millions of other gullible families get a picture taken with him.

apparently not.

pooka confided to me last night that she was only "pulling my ankle" and that she really does believe in him. moreover, she wants to stand in line and see him.

[sigh.]

say cheese!

one day i asked pooka if i had told her recently how much i loved her. she got all teen-y on me, and said, "only every day." i think there was an eyeroll there, too but i'm not sure.

i asked, "only once per day?"

she said, "no, about a hundred."

i said, "well, i want to make sure you don't ever forget."

haughtily, she said, "i'm five and a half years old"

here i interrupted with "five and three quarters"

she reiterated, "i'm five and half years old. i have a photographic memory."

"who told you that?"

"i did."

"do you know what that means?"

"it means you remember everything."

"ok, smarty, but a photographic memory only works for things you see, not things you hear."

so i'm going to continue to tell you that i love you ad nauseum.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

the anti-humbug

last night, apropos of nothing, pooka asked me if santa claus was real.

we've had our doubts about her youthful 'illusions', but here it was staring me in the face demanding confirmation. what to do?

aside from allowing the santa claus/easter bunny myths to enter our house at all, it is my custom to never lie to my kids, except when absolutely necessary. (for example, blaming the cat when i've eaten the last goodie.) i'm just not big on deception in general, although i admit i do occasionally neglect to correct misperceptions.

the mythical figures of the two biggest holidays are very difficult to avoid. and they make up such a precious part of childhood. (don't they?) i don't want to ruin pooka's childhood more than it already has been, nor do i want her to ruin another child's in a misguided attempt to share her knowledge.

kisu and i don't really emphasize the fantasy personae of the holidays, but what do you do when all the other channels in your world are spouting about the wonderful gifts brought by big red and floppy ears? or trying to shape behavior by threatening that those two won't bring gifts?

if i come out and break the spell once and for all, she's liable to conclude that all the other adults in her world are either lying to her or delusional.

ironically, pooka's skepticism does not extend to the tooth fairy. but it might be because she loves money enough to believe in anyone or anything who might give her some.

at any rate, last night i managed to avoid rupturing any dreams. i asked her if she thought he was real and she said no. i asked her how that made her feel. she said it made her feel sad because then she wouldn't get toys.

then i got all socratic on her.

"do you think that santa used to be real, but isn't now?"

"no."

"did you used to get toys?"

"yes."

"then don't you think that you'll continue to get toys for christmas?"

"yes."

at this point her materialistic core was satisfied that she would continue to get loot no matter who supplied it and she went back to watching tv.

i suspect that she isn't really interested in whether santa does now or has ever existed. sometimes i think she starts conversations just because she has a certain idea or phrase she wants stated. (she gets that from me; it gets me in trouble sometimes.) she is that clever.

but i'm not satisfied with the outcome of that conversation. i want to get into what the santa figure represents and the true meaning of christmas. right now, she is ALL about the presents. i know she's young, but i would like her to know that there's more to it than that. i think that there's room, even in young brains, for both ideas.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

ring around the parking lot

is there anything more amazing than a rainbow? seeing one always refreshes my spirit. i feel it is a blessing from God.

Genesis 9:12-15 (NIV)

12 And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

yesterday at work, ritts called out, "oo, a rainbow!" you should have seen the people scuttle out of their cubes. i didn't think others were as fascinated by them as i am. but i forgot that i work with 'creatives'.

we gathered in the two offices closest to the parking lot where the bow appeared. as we all gawked at God's glory, i realized that practically the whole circle was visible. the ring went right through the company parking lot and disappeared only in the corner where the shadow of the building obscured the colors. it lasted for several minutes before some glowering clouds slowly erased it from the sky. the colors were so vibrant, it was extremely uplifting. a beautiful way to end a day that contained rain, snow, and wind.


Tuesday, November 6, 2007

toof-fer-one


over the weekend bug cut another tooth. the companion to the one she already had on the bottom.

she now has more teeth than half the population of mississippi.

(pic to come when i get to a real computer instead of this mac which won't cooperate with blogger!)

Monday, November 5, 2007

make your peace

call all your loved ones, used-to-love ones, wish-you-loved ones. restate your devotion, reconcile your differences, confess your passion.

there's not a moment to lose. armageddon's on it's way.

the lions are 6-2. and got that way by absolutely slaughtering the broncos.

surely it's a harbinger of the end of days.


in other scores, michigan beat michigan state. so nothing new there.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

where has all the horror gone?

although i have been reading a lot of complaints recently about the invasion of licensed characters into the halloween gallery, i noticed a lot of homegrown costumes. not very many people bothered to scary-up their homes, though. they are pandering to the young innocents instead of the older thrillseekers. (one house had occupants handing out candy while watching a basketball game from a couch in their garage.)

pooka had a great time either way. bug not so much.

granny inadvertantly left the hat to bug's costume at school, so she substituted a reddish-orange knit hat that covered the kid's entire face and made her look like a rooster instead of a chick. oh, well, close enough.

bug did not want to go out (after school is her cranky time) but we strapped her into a stroller anyway. as long as we were moving she was tolerant. she eventually fell asleep.

pooka enjoyed herself very much, even though the costume was my least favorite licensed character. the weather was much more conducive to trick or treating this year, although it was a bit gusty.

one house in poppa's neighborhood really goes all out. they put up a ragged picket fence covered in graffiti; crypts and grave stones on the lawn; black lights and cobwebs in the garage. last year pooka refused to pass this house, insisting that we cross the street instead. this year she not only stayed on the same side of the street, she even approached the people in the garage (accompanied by me). it was all for naught, however, as they were just apologizing for being out of candy. they offered homemade cupcakes and rice krispie treats instead. i was kind of surprised that they even bothered. aren't those things all taboo in these litigious and perverse times? i was glad when pooka said she didn't want either of those, but i took a cupcake anyway. (i suffered no ill effects, so that's one less lawsuit our court system will see.)

sunday school had distributed unicef boxes for this night. pooka had no idea what that was about and wouldn't have carried it if i hadn't insisted. when i was younger, we had them every year, and people were ready with a bowlful of change next to their bowlful of cavities candy. i guess they don't do that anymore. i had given her some seed coins and encouraged her to jingle the box as she approached the houses to let people know without outright asking for money. only two other houses contributed to pooka's collection.

about halfway through our circuit, pooka started to wind down. i informed her that we had to walk all the way back anyway, so she might as well collect more candy. a few houses later, she insisted that she had to pee. i chose the closest house populated with the most kids and asked to use their facility. again, i was surprised. they asked no questions but let us in and even left us alone in their home.

after her break, pooka was prepared to t-n-t a lot longer. we finished our route and went back to poppa's to meet up with kisu, who had just arrived from work.

we handed out some more candy, and then got to the good part: sorting the stash. she got a disproportionate amount of m&m's and reese cups. she also got a lot of hard candy/lollipops but very few chocolate bars for me to steal. i thought i would be satisfied by rifling the goody bag bug received from school, but it contained (ack) baby food and biter biscuits. what the?? that's no fun!

i guess i'll have to go to the store and buy my own.