Revisiting Randomland

1. I took the girls today to our hospital's Teddy Bear Care Fair -- it's designed to familiarize children with the hospital and what goes on there so they'll be less afraid if they ever need treatment. They each brought a stuffed animal (a dog, elephant and bunny, respectively) and went through the various stations: Intake / triage; to the lab to have their animals' "blood" drawn; respiratory and physical therapy; surgery -- where Uno's dog had the hole in his tail stitched up! -- and x-ray, where all the animals had their pictures made. Here, for instance, is [a very bad scan of] Dos's elephant, Elli:



Everything looks great except for the lack of bones and the calcified heart. Otherwise, though, a-okay!

They all enjoyed themselves. I think Uno felt a little too old for the pretense (checking the animals with a stethoscope, etc), but she was tired of waiting for me to fix her dog (which she asked me to do months ago; I'm not sure where my sewing kit is) and the nurse just stitched it up lickity split. Dos seemed to think it was all just fun. Tres took it very seriously, which was super cute.


2. I've given up soda. Sort of. I've stopped buying it for the house, anyway -- I'll still order it at a restaurant, or if, say, I came over to your house and you offered me a [case of] Diet Dr. Pepper I would graciously accept, because that's only basic good manners, right? Yes. But I don't have any more cans here, and haven't for most of the week. It's been a rough week. The funny thing is, I seem not to miss the caffeine so much as I miss the coldness or the crack and fizz of opening a new can first thing in the morning or the having something in my hand to sip on all day long. Drinking soda apparently kept my bored eating in check; now I may have to take up gum chewing. Hmmm.

I would really, really love a Dr. Pepper right now. Waaaah.


3. Did I mention that the older girls are playing soccer this fall? Dos is on a grey team; Uno is on an orange team. I never wanted to be a soccer mom, but I think the experience is good for them. I will post action shots if I can ever get any. So far I've been too distracted on the sidelines keeping Tres out of trouble / Cuatro safe in her stroller (usually the same thing -- poor Cuatro) to take any decent pictures.


4. All of us are sick with a cold. It's very annoying.


5. I am in love with the song "Mr. Blue" by Catherine Feeney. Too often I feel like I could be its subject. I try to be vigilant, to make sure I'm not inching toward melancholy that might affect (infect?) my girls -- but then I wonder if the vigilance is just as bad because it keeps me self-absorbed and focused on the thing I want to avoid. It's a conundrum.

*Sigh.* I'll figure it out. And in the meantime, you should love Catherine Feeney too.



~RCH~