Another Interlude
The Project Revealed: cardgals.tumblr.com
More distant thunder and lightning this morning, steady rain as we woke up early.
Puck stared at me during breakfast. I don’t recall the context of the moment, but what he said next came as a surprise.
“Eat somethin’, skinny person!” A little grin, as if he just got away with something.
I’ll take that as a compliment.
Crackers has become a complete cuddly critter since Puck went to school, almost to the level that I can’t get work done easily. I can’t sit down without her trotting over purring like a locomotive for some attention. But if she’s not eating my plants, she’s now tagging Puck’s black Halloween bat cling-forms off the glass door just to cause trouble.
Puck’s eyes lit up when he saw me in the hallway at school, marching off to the gym.
“MOM! DO YOU HAVE FIVE DIMES FOR ME TO SPEND AT THE BOOK FAIR?!” He called over his shoulder.
More like thirteen dollars. It was his dough anyway, saved from allowances, contributions from Grandma Combs, the piggy bank, and a generous two dollars from his mother. I flatter myself. This grand total of $13.61 allowed Puck the other two Minecraft books required to complete his set.
As I signed for the purchase, Puck asked, “Mom? Do I have twenty dollars?”
“You don’t now,” I replied, and took the receipt.
Silence all the way home. Puck knee-deep in Minecraft studies.
While Puck watched his Thursday night Disney – an obscure title about a downed plane turned Noah’s Ark in the South Pacific; French leading woman, Anthony-Bourdain-like leading male – Carrie-Bri texted me after dinner at the Big House.
“Dad refused to eat his salad. I said, ‘I feel sorry for the nursing home workers who’ll have to force you to eat your tapioca.’ He said, ‘They won’t be able to catch me. I’ll run away. I’m the Gingerbread Man.’”
And he wonders why all his kids are so stubborn.
Pumpkin muffins were in the oven for dessert, Trader Joe’s style. Rain-soaked evenings.
While El Oso joined his buddies downtown for their usual Thursday night conversation, I found myself without baseball. So by default, it was Korean dramas on my plate.