11:21 a.m. - 2005-10-03
But what can I do with all these olives?
I did not have to come into work this weekend! YAY! Except, for most of Saturday, I kept waiting for the phone to ring. Finally, we left the house, took Andy to the town's fire dept. open house, got some sushi and groceries, and came home and had lunch. Andy went to a friend's to play, then we went to church and treated ourselves to the early bird special at a restaurant in the next town. Came home and collapsed. Sunday we got to sleep in - until 8 a.m.! That is unheard of in our house. Andy and I read the funnies, made breakfast, and began the errands.
Friday night, Andy was looking forward to playing "Man Hunt" a combination of tag and hide and go seek in the dark - with the neighborhood kids. He talked about it all through dinner, waiting for the call to summon him. When the call came, I barely had hung up the phone, and he was out of the house. But about a half-hour later, he came back sobbing because one of the older boys told him that nobody liked him. It broke my heart, and I tried to comfort him by telling him that sometimes, people are just mean, but that he must know in his heart of hearts, that what the boy said wasn't true. He felt a little better, but I was up all night trying to fix things, and knowing that there wasn't much I could do. On the one hand, one of the older boys (son of my best friend) had promised that he and Andy would be a team together, but when the boy was confronted by his friends, he did not keep his promise. After a few days of distance from this, I see that it is not inherent cruelty in these kids, but that they ALL want to be friends with the older kids. At first I felt it was my fault because Andy has to go to an after school program and doesn'tbhang out with the kids during the week; then I thought it might be because Andy is so much like his father, and can be, at times, righteous. And he is so much like me because all he asks for is fairness, and there isn't always alot of that. But he was over it by Saturday, and the kids played man hunt again Saturday night, so for now, I can let this hurt settle in me.
Last month, Andy saw a copy of the painting "Broadway Boogy Woogy" by Piet Mondrian. Very geometric, primary colors, and something like lego pieces laid out on a white table. He adored it. So when we were at MOMA in NY, I found a poster of it for him to hang in his room. It is an odd size, so rather than paying hundreds of dollars to have it framed, I had it mounted on foam core. He was ecstatic. His father hung it up for him and he just beamed. Spouse is happy, because spouse is into modern art. I am happy because they are happy.
Yesterday afternoon, spouse took Andy and his friend bike riding. (Andy SO NEEDS A BIGGER BIKE!) I got into a cooking frenzy, working with marginal fruits and vegetables. I made a roasted tomato sauce for Tuesday's pasta; I made chicken stock for Thursday's soup and got all the veggies ready; I made a peach and plum cobbler for dessert last night; and I made salads for lunch today. Now the veggie and fruit drawers are clean (though not much else in my house is as orderly...) and we ate well last night - grilled blue fish with gremolatta, asparagas with a mustard vinaigrette, baked potatoes and broccoli with cheese and garlic. Tonight I don't have to cook because Andy's after school program has an open house and we get pizza for dinner!
Today's roadside oddities: purple plastic leis. Seven of them over a five mile stretch.
a hui hou marama
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