29 JAN 26
Yali is in the kitchen wearing a black neck tie blowtorching his breakfast... there's still a welt on his nose from where he whacked it into a 3D-printed Stormtrooper helmet the other day... a few minutes later he's walking around with a sandwich that doesn't look very normal...
“Yali... what's in that sandwich?”
“Chocolate syrup and marshmallows!” **grins**
About ten minutes later I coax him out of the mostly-insincere chokehold on his sister to join one of his best buddies at Lava Island...
So this leaves Patience and myself with other work done back up north like grabbing milk and butter and chocolate chip cookie cakes...
...and then a play therapy appointment back down in South County with metallic stickers and metallic tattoo markers...
...with just enough time to drop Patience off at home before grabbing Yali from over five hours of non-stop jungle-gym exploring volcano slide sliding jumping into pits of foam cubes trampoline bouncing with occasional pauses to consume chicken strips dipped in Ranch... and they would have kept going too...
Meanwhile we split for Irish dance and fencing and a few hours later we're back home for the night...
As I settle onto the couch with my stack of books and notebooks and documents for hopefully a quiet evening...
Scritch... scritch scritch scritch... something's under the couch... lean over the edge with the flashlight on my phone... a pair of terrified black eyes in a small hairball stares back at me...
“Ugh...”
A few minutes later Yali crashes through the door with his tournament fencing equipment... “It was BRUTAL!”... and he's clearly loving it... practically shouting out a demonstration of all the cords and plugs attached to his vest in preparation for future public clashes of strength and speed...
After the kids are tucked into layers of blankets for the night with more books... I transfer to the nearby slipper chair as Oxbear prepares to lift the couch... “It's not going to run to get you...” Oxbear chuckles // “I think it will”...
Oxbear lifts the couch... a little gray ball zips at full-speed right over to the slipper chair and right underneath it... “What'd I tell you?... Okay, if we can just get the cat to help...”
Suddenly my phone starts barking at me and it's Puck... “Puck!”... after he reads the tight expected script of a recruit... he tacks on the end... “I have thirty seconds to talk... I love you guys”... and we squash in as much as we can... where I somehow feel the need to say... “I'm trying to catch a mouse... but keep talking keep talking!”... he's doing well and starting the real training... more to follow later...
And the mouse is mostly forgotten... hey at least the squirrel's gone now... probably... maybe...