What made you smile today?

Talking to some Microsoft employees

A friend called me at work today to tell me she's pregnant! Yippeee! Thrilled for her.

A colleague's super adorable bright eyed 4 year old was in the office today. After I mis-identified a squirrel on the her Dora the Explorer cards (thought it was a skunk ), she teased me mercilessly... and then told me Dora was a vampower. Not sure I heard her correct; I repeated a vampower? She rolled her eyes and dangled two of her little fingers above her mouth to serve as long canine teeth. So I said you mean vampire? Again she rolled her eyes like I was an idiot, and told me the squirrel is a vampower too.

That's great occom. I had a second grader ask me today if I knew what the scariest, double X rated horror movie was that was three hours long. The answer: Dora the Explorer, the Movie. I agreed that this would be horrific.

This scene was recounted today by the classroom teacher. Upon finishing a math worksheet, one student went to the desk. The teacher checked his work and gave him a check. As he left for his seat, he stopped to tell another student that Mrs F had not noticed that one of his answers was done wrong. While the teacher heard this, she decided to let it go as she had other kids to check. Then he crossed the room and told another fellow-student the same thing. Again, she overheard him. So she called him over and told him to redo the one he'd done wrong. He stopped again to confer with a student, saying she told me to change the one I'd done wrong. The second kid said, "How did she know?!?" The first kid said, with wonder in his voice, "I don't know!"

They just have no idea!

My best friend has a seven year old who is very autistic. She's now quite a few months into the professional therapy from the State. Her progress is frequently hilarious! For instance, they recently taught her the word "then". Now if you've ever known an autistic kid, you know they want what they want, when they want it. This one loves to go swimming. So she regularly volunteers, "lets go swimming!". It makes very little difference what you respond, if it isn't precisely, "no Cassie, we're not going swimming now", she'll respond to whatever with, "Okay, then swimming!

They have also taught her some manners which are equally hysterical when she argues with her daddy: "Okay now Cassie, it's time for bed"... "No thank you!... Juice?"... "No Cassie, its bedtime now"... "NO THANK YOU!" I'm pretty sure she's now completely unaware that you can use the word "no" without adding "thank you".

There is nothing sweeter than pure innocence.

There's a Gypsy singing outside. He's standing downstairs, by the 24/7, him and his friend and a girl, and some cheap booze. I walked by him from the store, he turned toward me and we clasped our hands while I passed by. He's singing a plaintive song.

There was a beautiful rainstorm yesterday.

I found a new place to sit, not quite one of those courtyard cafes, not alternative/hipster at all. Just an unremarkable little cafe, except if you walk through their backroom (seriously, it's basically just their backroom with a couch and a chair and a no smoking sign on the low table), you come outside to this wondrous little terrace in what used to be a courtyard, except on one side the building's long gone and there's now a playground instead. Long benches, wooden tables, comfy wooden chairs and more rickety ones, to the left that playground, recently renovated (with EU funds, I think the sign said) and always busy; and they'd taken down one of the side panels so you looked into a pretty, wild garden with yellow flowers on another side, in what used to be the rest of the courtyard I guess.

They got wifi, and tea and toastie's are cheap, much cheaper than where I've been going lately - and over your head they've got this transparent corrugated sheet. Which is bad cause you're not sitting in the sun, but good when it starts raining and you can just keep sitting there, one eye on the parents hurrying home with their little 'uns and the trees and grass becoming wet and one hand around your cuppa tea. The rain makes a racket on the sheet above, and I remembered camping, and the sound of the rain on the canvas, and sitting inside the tent kind of bored and kind of dreamy and kind of just drifting off in my little child's head, watching the rain and listening to the drum of the drops and the colours turn all green and little puddles form and maybe someone will need to dig some trenches around the tree but it wont be me cause I'm just a kid, and later perhaps I will roll into my sleeping bag with a book but for now I'm just looking, looking outside.

Ah, it is is great to read your vignette, Nimh. And, by my count, a 109 word sentence. William Faulkner would nod towards you with respect.

When I have trouble sleeping I think of being out on the porch at a place
up in the 'Gunks, sitting and watching the rain. Totally relaxes me.

Ha! 109 words, eh...

A funny Dave Barry article about getting a colon exam.

I read that same article.
Hilarious (but a little too close to accurate).

Impressive! and smile-worthy

a cell phone in my ear

My, what big ears you have!

(Thanks Dag!)

It was a pretty good day today - half a day at work, then the annual company harbour cruise. As usual, a good time was had by all. Then the Empress and I went over by the boardwalk, lay down on the grass under a tree and chatted and napped. More good times.

On our way to the streetcar we went into the Garnier tent and had our hair "styled", had facial treatments, and got a whack of samples. Nice as well.

When I got off the bus at the end of the street I saw that Micky and the babies were visiting Nick and Eva. I threw my knapsack on the porch at home and RAN down the street for hugs, kisses and three hours of games with the kids. More hugs and kisses from sleepy little kids before they went home.

I'll be smiling for days from all of those sweet, stinky baby hugs.

I just heard a sound that I hadn't heard for 35 years. To be precise, I hadn't heard it since I spent a year of my childhood in California. Anyway, the sound seemed to come from some kind of cheap, very high-pitched electrical organ, and it was playing La Cucaraca. For a few seconds, I kept thinking "you know that sound, you know that sound, you know that sound, it's some kind of big deal, think think think ..." and then it suddenly came to me:

The ice cream van was coming!

(Hugest and most sentimental smile so far in America.)

The ice cream truck plays La Cucaracha? Fun song, but cucarachas and food make a bad combination. I think the one in my neighborhood plays Pop Goes the Weasel.