Well, that seems appropriate, somehow. I’ve finally come back to writing here and Uncommon Grace (a crafty writing mama with great photos!) mentions that she’s doing NoBloPoMo. (I first heard of it on Grace’s site a year ago, I think.) There’s a challenge: can I find something to say every day for a month? More interesting, I think: if I succeed with November, will the habit stay with me? I blog for a couple of reasons. I have a far-flung collection of family members and friends, and it’s nice to be able to post things about what I’m working on …
It can rain now. The trick or treating is over, Caitlyn has an enormous haul of sugar (yay for our neighborhood and Columbia City businesses – no gum or jaw breakers this year and lots of Reese’s, Milky Ways, and Whoppers!), and we had gorgeous weather despite previous forecasts that had us trying to adjust Caitlyn’s expectations into last year’s costume. But while the clouds did move in this afternoon, the rain held off. And so Caitlyn wore the new costume. It’s a little too big in the top, and the hemline will probably start marching toward her knees next …
Caitlyn: “There’s mail that you get, like a letter in the mailbox. And there’s male like a boy. Isn’t that odd, that it’s the same word?” Me: “Yes, but the words are spelled differently. Mail, like letters, is m-a-i-l and the other one is male, m-a-l-e.” Caitlyn: “We are female, and Papa is male because he’s a boy.” Me: “That’s true. Female is spelled f-e-m-a-l-e.” Caitlyn: “And so there’s fee-mail, mail that you have to pay for.”
I had a record player when I was a kid. It was blue. And it played real records, not the plastic things that the other “record player” we had played; that was really a music box that could play a number of different songs. To go with the record player, we had a small collection of kids records, usually abbreviated versions of Disney movies with a picture book. I suppose it was a kind of read-along experience, kind of like Caitlyn listening to a Skippyjon Jones disc while looking at the book. I think we had one for the Aristocats …
Caitlyn: “Do kangaroos climb trees?” Me: “No, I don’t think so.” Caitlyn: “I’m going to invent a tree-climbing kangaroo, then.” And I’m left wondering where this can-do spirit goes when it’s time to clean her room…
We’ve come to the time of year when I start to think that if I just sat still long enough, I could see the plants growing. I trimmed the lawn out back a couple weeks ago and it’s all fluffy again already. Because it’s an Eco-turf lawn, it’s more than just grass and the little daisies in it are blooming again. If I let it go one more week, I might get clover flowers, but I’ll also not be able to find the cat next time he gets outside. Anyway, I thought I’d test my theory. Not the cat-losing theory …