19 APR 26
Waking to a tight 38 degrees under Sunday sun...
The shower is already humming... Yali never misses a church morning wash anymore... while Oxbear spins up some “hash brown sea urchins” with his mandoline in the kitchen... the ever-experimenter in the culinary arts...
A couple of hours later Yali is sitting next to me in my silky roses and moccasin fringe in the fellowship hall waiting to walk to Sunday School... he looks sideways at me like I’m contaminating his airspace...
“What... am I making you look uncool?” // “You know what IS gonna make me look cool?”... he grins and slips a hand to the interior pocket of his jean jacket... slips out a shiny stick of foil-wrapped gum...
Another hour later he’s back with Patience... one of the girls was kicking his shins again in Sunday School... flirting looks a little different when you’re twelve I guess...
There isn’t much time at home before Yali’s second-ever fencing tournament but Oxbear still has some more ideas in the kitchen... white stuff and potato everywhere... he grabs the keys and his tablet... navy sweater brushed in white stuff...
“You’ve got flour all over you...” // “It’s cornstarch and potato... DUH!” he laughs loudly as he walks out the door...
Meanwhile Puck has been contemplating a potential trip to IKEA with the family for a late birthday meal...
“No...” **checks the weather which is still very full of sun** “It’s not cloudy...”
In the Rulebook of Puck IKEA must only be visited on gray and preferably rainy days...
So Yali attacks other kids and their helmeted skulls with his saber for a couple of hours in St. Charles County...
...while his sister is home binging “Master Chef Junior” and his brother walks out of his room with an orange Tootsie Pop in his mouth to grab a couriered package from the front door... it’s a helicopter hat with functioning propeller on top... he fits in on his head and returns to online gaming... later briefly emerging to teach Patience how to use a fire extinguisher... which in this house... is a better idea than most...
When Yali arrives late in the afternoon with zero medals but always more learning... he quickly forgets his defeat because youth group with catered Wing Stop is only two hours away and he has projects to work on while he waits...
“IT’S BOB ROSS TIME!” he bellows... marching through the living room with a hammer and whirling power drill...
