05 FEB 26
Brushing on a little eye liner before eight o'clock that morning... hear Yali from down the hall trying to wake his sister for the hospital with the Aztec death whistle...
Twenty minutes later he's thrown a black sports jacket over Puck's old NASA t-shirt... black sunnies and his hair slicked straight back from his forehead... but he decides that it's all a little much for the panel of doctors he's visiting that morning and discards the jacket and shades prior to departure...
An hour later he's sitting on the doctor's bench swinging his sneakers back and forth as Dr. C sweeps in for the first visit of the morning... “I like your mismatched socks” he notes.. then adds... “and the NASA tee... I feel like that really made a resurgence about seven eight years ago... all companies should endeavor to make that kind of come-back”...
Then it's Patience's turn... he compliments her French braid while inspecting the way her teeth close together... that underbite is going to still need jaw surgery in about six years... he then takes voice-to-text notes on his phone for both kids adding commentary on Yali's NASA tee and Patience's braiding skills... “which I am also good at” he adds... making the kids smile...
Then it's Audiology... hearing aids recommended for both... “N-O-O-O-O!” the kids squawk at me later after we've left the building...
Dental with Dr. K... “Collette... Yali says he plans to pull out his last baby tooth with the old slamming the door method... if he does... I definitely want to see video of that”... you got it...
By this time we're in the intermittent waiting room where Patience is in some kind of slap happy meltdown trying to sing “Take Me Home, Country Roads” but she can't remember all the lyrics...
And finally ENT for ear cleanings... Patience's favorite bit of the day because she can watch all the action on the big screen... more follow-up in the summer...
Two and a half total hours later we're sliding back down the road through the blackened snow and slush of melting winter as Yali slips into a snooze in the McDonald's drive-thru listening to Ralph Vaughan Williams...
We're into mid-afternoon and there's an envelope in Puck's handwriting in the mailbox... we're all just leaving for Great Harvest Bread Co. so the family gets a read-aloud including Puck's opening line of... “This is the first Sunday of boot camp and I'm using some of my free time to write this letter so you'd better appreciate it”... which gives us a laugh...
After grabbing a couple loaves of goodness from the bakery in the guise of farmhouse white and cinnamon swirl just as the Catholic school across the street is buzzing with freshly released students...
...Patience runs into the post office with Oxbear to carefully choose a sheet of stamps for mailing letters to Puck... she selects a theme she thinks he'll appreciate best... SpongeBob SquarePants...