January 15th, 2025
Box of Costco croissants opened for breakfast... it will be gone within twenty-four hours... “Why is there an eyelash in the butter?”... Yali shrugs... no one ever knows...
Math class is more cheerful that morning... Yali rubs at his chin where he zipped it in his winter coat the other day... “Mom, Egg looks like a watchdog... she's just sitting there so proudly”... the dog enjoys napping near the kids while they work...
Creative writing is a little masked by Yali and Patience discussing their enthusiasm for bouncy houses...
Then it's after ten o'clock and Patience and I are in the car driving to the old school... while I sort and staple papers for first grade and discuss art and music with the art teacher, Patience spends her hour in the Spanish classroom, back again in the new year, helping the tots craft shiny gold cardboard crowns for “Three Kings Day”... “You are a lifesaver!” Sra. P calls after Patience as we leave... “Couldn't have done it without you!”
Home... Puck is just leaving to buy himself a new pair of ski gloves for the afternoon...
Queso fries in the air fryer for my lunch... nostalgia...
Yali explains to me his new interest in becoming an astronaut...
Find a small explosion of either blood or red paint on a paper towel on the bathroom sink... either is entirely plausible...
Patience and I pull the 40-something chicken thighs out of Oxbear's Greek yogurt and spices marinade from the fridge, de-coat, and bring down to the smoker on the patio... fingers red and tingling from the cold yogurt... Johnny Cash's “Ring of Fire” in my head as we load up the grill...
Back upstairs while Yali and Patience tumble around in the same amount of snow that packed the ground ten days ago... clean the kitchen, reschedule an appointment, submit jury duty excusal documents, confirm ski rentals and waivers with Puck...
Oxbear and Yali leave for an appointment in South County...
Puck leaves to pick up J and two other friends for Hidden Valley... back to those black diamonds...
Patience and I have a violin lesson, listen to recordings of the Swedish and Mongolian languages, pull the chicken from the smoker, and putter over to the studio for another class... there's dried yogurt on my garnet sweater...
As the kids are tucked into their bunks... tons of giggling, listening to the continued audio version of “Henry and Beezus” from Oxbear's iPad