February 6th, 2025
Out into the world for the day... Yali helps Patience haul her backpack to the car... “What do you have in here – tungsten weights?” he laughs...
On the drive they chat together in the back seat... Patience is telling Yali about what she and her friends call each other at the studio... “We call M : Mad Dog...” (M is about as tiny as a doll) “What do they call you?” I ask... // “Boat” // “Why?” // “Nicknames!” // “Usually nicknames have a meaning though...” // “I don't know... that's just what we call each other... What should your nickname be, Mom?... How about Lars?” // “That's a Swedish man's name...” // **giggles** // Yali then interrupts with a “Mom! There's a free tire on the highway!” // “Not stopping...” // “Tartar sauce!” … This nonsense eventually subsides as we approach the hospital...
It's a quadruple set of stops that cold gray morning for the crew...
- Annual cleft palate clinic : 9 appointments between both kids in about two hours (the efficiency!) : Speech, Audiology, ENT, Dental, and Plastics... concluding with a graduation for Patience from the Speech department (Yali already graduated awhile ago), the usual expected hearing loss results, ear cleaning and recommended mineral drops, free toothbrushes, and a reminder that Patience will likely need jaw surgery in about seven years...
- Pick up Patience's jumbo Irish dance wig in Kirkwood...
- Thornhill Library
- And... Chick-fil-A for the whole fam...
At home following chicken and fries... all the boys test out Patience's new crazy-big wig... Patience takes one look at the volcano of black curls spilling off her oldest brother's scalp and announces... “I am NOT wearing that.”
Vat19 warehouse in the afternoon... the kids enjoy surveying each aisle all to ourselves... some saved spending cash... including V-Day gifts from Patience to friends...
The rest of the day sees Puck at a six-hour shift in Produce... Oxbear at a capital campaign vision event for the old school at MAC... and Yali hanging out with me on the studio lot for ninety minutes while Patience dances on the other side of the glass... all on a cold night with colder nights coming...