December 21

Puck was still having fun saying, “Happy birfday, dear Mama!” by the next day. And before they left for the house, he ran through the living room calling out (at OLeif’s suggestion), “Wet’s hurry ‘fore da germs come!”

If there was one thing that wasn’t much fun, it was shopping… even more so during the holidays. And yet, it was that time once again to pick up all necessary groceries for the festivities. This year, once again, as usual, there would be six celebrations for Collette’s little family. And she was to prepare two family recipe potato casseroles for the Snicketts-Combs gathering. And an Aunt Petunia chocolate and pound cake trifle for the Snicketts-Black party on Saturday afternoon. Word on the street was that there would be swing dancing afterward at the Casa Loma Ballroom. Dancing with OLeif, any kind of dancing at all, made Collette a little nervous. With one swing, he might pull her arm out of socket. He had, after all, stepped on her feet several times when they did the polka that one time. But that was nine years ago, after all…

And so that gray morning in late December, Mom, Collette, and Francis hit six stops in their journey around the city while Puck spent some happy hours at the house with his aunts. Four long hours later, everything was completed. The knight-in-armor replica had been returned to the Englishs, Francis had picked up his refurbished bicycle, groceries had been gathered, and Rose’s textbooks had been shipped to Amazon at the UPS store.

When they returned, Collette began to fry a pan of cheese for Francis while Linnea brought Snuggles into the kitchen.
“Now come on, cat,” she said. “It’s time to give you a bath.”
As soon as she turned on the water, Snuggles clawed himself around her neck. He stuck himself on tighter than a koala.
“Come on, Snuggles!” she encouraged him. “It won’t be bad, I promise.”
She sat him down in the water. He flailed. His tail whipped water around the room. In fact, water was flying everywhere. All over the floor and the walls. Collette made herself a shield between the cat and the pan of cheese. And Linnea was soaked and plastered with cat hair. Finally, Mom came to the rescue, Snuggles was bathed, and wrapped up like a baby in a bath towel.

After Puck had napped on Rose’s bed, he woke up in his chipper mood, and began to play with his matchbox cars on the bookshelf. He began one of his usual conversations:
“I will kiss you. I will kiss you. I will kiss you. I will kiss you. I will kiss you.
“I will fly!”
[Plane sounds.]
“Fly down. You ok? You ok? You ok?
“I just bump my head. I just bump my head.
“Oh, the ball is safe.
“There. You all better now?…
“This is his garage…
“You came out of you garaaaaaage? You came out of you garage? You came out of you garage? You came out of you garage?
“These are my garage.
“Ball, you want to come down here.
“I gotta get my ball.”

Later, he prowled around Carrie’s room as she worked on her laptop. She allowed him to ‘work’ on the telescope with one of Francis’ wrenches. He carefully adjusted knobs and slipped gadgets inside and out. Eventually, he took one of the pieces and attached it to the end of Joe’s old bicycle pump. He dragged it around the house behind him, telling everyone that it was his camera.
“I’m taking smiyools (smiles)!” he said happily.
He held it up.
“Say cheese!”

On the ride home, he carefully picked his music selections. He knew which ones he wanted to hear, and which ones he didn’t.
“I like dis one.”
Next track: he listened for a few seconds.
“I can’t hear dis one.”
Next track:
“I can’t hear dis one.”
Next track:
“I like dis.”

And on and so on…