The Snowball

Monday, July 30, 2007

Perhaps the biggest news of the weekend involved two engagements: Mercy Pretzel and Amanda Snicketts, Dad’s little stepsister.

Mercy, after talking about it for the last seven years… That was as long as she had been Collette’s friend. She had likely been talking about it before that time. The girl who had (at one time) wanted to be married on a Thursday and leave the ceremony in an ambulance. Somehow Collette thought that it would not likely be happening after all.

And Amanda’s wedding would not take place until September of 2008 – the fifth wedding in the family.

It had begun again – the next cluster.

Also in the news was Puck’s grumpiness. The little fellow was teething and drooling buckets. By the time Monday evening had arrived, Collette finally pulled out his rubber teething ring. Although he still wasn’t coordinated enough to directly place it inside his mouth, he grubbily positioned it close enough to his face where he could work his gums around it from time to time. He chewed greedily, giving his mom funny faces.

But first – Saturday evening had been spent at the Silverspoon’s. Theodore and OLeif talked about the church for several hours while Curly went off to barbecue and “Donald Duck” with Joe, Wallace, and Rose back at the house. And Izzy went swimming with a neighbor friend.

Sunday afternoon was also at the Silverspoon’s after Collette spent a frustrating morning in the youth building trying to get a bottle put together for Puck’s lunch. (OLeif had unknowingly left his other bottle in the car, which had spoiled in the sun during the morning.)

Once that was resolved, there was roast and broth, sliced French bread, Monterey Jack cheese, guacamole chips, salsa, and salad at the Silverpoon’s. This was followed with “The Empire Strikes Back” and vanilla ice cream with strawberries, while Denae and Collette took turns distracting Puck from his ailing gums.

Meanwhile, Curly was recovering from having his wisdom teeth pulled. He had a very attractive set of ice packs strapped around his head and under his chin.

“This is my babe magnet,” he said.

And Theodore and OLeif had another three-hour discussion about the church.

Once the evening had arrived, everyone split up again. Curly would leave later for the movies with Joe and Wallace. Izzy was off to spend the evening with Francis. And OLeif, Collette, and Puck went back to church to meet the youth and a group of church folks for singing and prayer in the youth building.

Once again, OLeif and Collette took their turns holding Puck to help distract him from the discomfort.

Finally, among other things, the day had ended. Some days just needed to be shut down early, and that was one of them. The little fellow seemed to be in better spirits by the time he went down to bed, and still slept through the night.

Monday morning, OLeif got up at 5:00am for the second day in a row. Collette was proud of him for the attempt. He even gave his first shot back at the bike to work since his second knee injury.

The rest of the day was spent over at the house for Collette and Puck. After Puck wailed on the way over, Collette started singing their song and Puck calmed himself before they pulled in the driveway.

Once inside, after a little fussing, Collette gave him his wow, set him in his bouncy seat, and immediately after she tucked his blanket under his chin, he conked.

For most of the rest of the day he forgot his little troubles and gave out many smiles to everyone.

Collette and Carrie continued their archiving of Australia in the attempt to have it printed by the end of the week.

One o’clock saw Collette at lunch with Ivy for two and a half hours at Ruby Tuesdays. It was good to catch up on life again over a plate of mini burgers.

Upon returning, Francis was building a little fire in the driveway, feeding it with clippings from the bushes in the landscaping.

“I’m burning everything,” he told her.

And Collette believed him. Anything detached and green was soon shoveled into the burning pile.

Inside, the kitchen was a disaster zone. Carrie had on her full white apron and was drizzling honey on two dark cakes of hot carrot bread. And Rose was still out on her boating excursion with the Tecumsehs. Puck was just about to receive his bottle from his Aunt Carrie.

“Chug, chug.” She told him.

Puck tried to smile at her around his bottle and clasped his piggies together.