March 24th, 2025
Parting deep sleep and morning with explosions of heavy pink space dust, cosmos cracked with diamond stars in dreams...
Patience is already stomping around in some kind of 'tude over breakfast options... she doesn't like them... I finally send her to the Head of School for discussion before Creative Writing class...
Yali is feeling pretty easy that morning though and pulls himself away from Minecraft builds to bring over his notebook and write about sea creatures living in a swimming pool...
Meanwhile Elmer has utilized his AAA membership for Jaya to call in a tow for our minivan still out in St. Charles county while Oxbear arranges an appointment for one more thing gone wrong with its innards...
By this time, Yali and Patience are busy light-sabering each other with pencils and lots of “OW!”s...
I return them to math sheets as Patience distracts the class with another joke... “What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet? … Supplies!”
Yali chuckles at this as he begins liberally rubbing an eraser all over his math sheet, creating shavings which I brush off for him because eraser shavings are a personal pet peeve... “NO!” Yali shouts as they fall off the page... “THOSE ARE MY COUSINS!”
Oxbear then walks out to discuss some logistics with me – Yali takes this distraction as an opportunity to begin hanging by one arm from Puck's pull-up bar in the kitchen – and I pause to note the two young tulip trees planted in the yard of the $700,000 original farmhouse across the street... “Do you think the neighbors keep planting more trees because they want to block out our house?” I somewhat absently ask Oxbear... // Before he can answer, Yali is already answering for him... “It's because we're Malcolm in the Middle, Mom”...
As if cuing himself up, Yali then begins shaking his hips to the tune of the National Anthem which he is bellowing out as an “instrumental” version for accompaniment...
It's somehow already the lunch hour... Patience has put French fries in the air fryer and prepared plates of ketchup and mayo...
...Puck is deep into work-outs in the basement...
... and Yali is arranging “Bob Ross” the skeleton – now down one leg – in a chair at the top of the stairs... Bob Ross soon takes a “flying leap” down the steps via aid of the giant rubberband... maniacal laughter from above...
After Patience's afternoon appointment in South County – I enter our final remaining operational vehicle to an explosion of 50 IKEA pencils all over the dashboard; Puck feigns innocence – both kids return home to continue assembling their ideal clubhouse situation in the busted shed in the back corner of the yard...
Meanwhile Oxbear and Puck leave to meet Elmer at a vintage car dealership to investigate a variety of project cars... after much thought and discussion, Puck seems mostly settled between the 1985 Jaguar in a maroon color or that sandy yellow 1977 Mercedes...
Prepare grilled wraps and a side of red pepper for all the boys' dinner while Patience begins scrubbing out the fridge (she's been inspired recently)... then she tucks down a salad for her own dinner... “Am I being healthy, Mom?”
After the meal, Patience and I scoot over to the Town & Country Target... or better known to us as the Target where we usually see someone we know... after skirting a stubborn goose stupidly planted on the entrance round-a-bout – that wingèd goon was not moving – we were inside for about two minutes before... “Patience!” … it's Miss N [Irish dance teacher] shopping with a friend... asks Patience for her opinion on which set of press-on nails she should get... Patience recommends the pink stars...
Home again where Puck comes out for Joyride candies while confirming his vintage car selection... the 1985 Jaguar... “So you're a year older than the Jag?” he asks me...
And Yali is walking around in self-administered Joker face paint applied about fifteen minutes before bedtime...