Snapshot

I have memories that are like snapshots I never want to lose. Mae pinches her neck when she is tired. Sam is the first to dance during music time at the library. Mae makes a humming sound as she goes about her business. After I reply to several of Sam's "Hey Mama," with "Yeah babe?" he'll say, "I love you mama."

Sam Dewey, Self Portrait

What a goof.

"Oh! Don't take the camera!" Taken before the reprimand, this is his practice pose.

All of these (and more) were taken while I was distracted by a 5 minute phone call.

Timing Is Everything

Deweybarn is on the market again. We had a showing this morning with a couple who would be a great match for the barn. We are selling without a realtor so we did the showing ourselves. After touring inside Dave took them out to the loft while I stayed in with the kids. I stepped out for a minute to fill the bird feeders and heard a crash. I looked in the window to see the water cooler and a full five-gallon jug broken on the floor. Five gallons of water flowing through the kitchen past the breakfast bar and down through the floor into the basement. I ran down and yanked a towel out of the dryer but realized it was useless. They were coming down the stairs as I closed the door behind me. "I need to explain what is behind this door before you go in." Despite the water cooler incident, the showing went pretty well.

Last weekend our friend Ben took some great barn photos that are posted on his website. www.sonicbloom.org/deweybarn The pictures are untouched and show our baskets of laundry waiting to be put away, junk in the barn and Sam playing in a yard strewn with toys. Real life is pretty wonderful.

Kid Rock!!!!

Will be performing in my town! When I stop weeping with excitement there will be more to follow.

Not A Fan Of Mornings

Thankfully, I'm not woken until 7:40am. I entice Sam to snuggle and watch Playhouse Disney while I slowly gain conciseness.

We are all downstairs by 8am. Mae gets a fresh diaper and I start taking dogs out. This requires more than one trip due to big dogs with personality conflicts.

Back inside, I start my tea and feed the two-leggeds. Sam eats three Eggos (I know I vowed never to serve frozen waffles and to all those who smiled and nodded: you were right). Mae eats one waffle sparsely topped with maple syrup. She manages to squeeze out enough syrup to rub into her hair which she likes to use as a napkin.

I take what I intend to be a moment to catch up with e-mail. Sam insists I give him undivided attention as he tells me knock-knock jokes, Mae crawls all over me, and Meike nudges her snout under my arm.

I fill the bird feeders. Then I feed dogs and mediate their breakfast routine. After they eat I take Meike out. About a hundred yards from our door I see two big black dogs alert on us from our neighbor's driveway. I've seen these rouges on the loose before. They may be perfectly playful, but when confronted with Meike's aggression the situation could turn ugly. I run for the door. It's like running in a pool of water because Meike resists as she watches the big, black strangers. We make it inside, my heartbeat doesn't return to normal for at least 20 minutes.

I'm now calm. Sam is sucked into a new game on pbskids.org and Mae is watching a new Little Einsteins movie on Playhouse Disney. Time for a quick shower, then I hear something hit the window. I look up in time to see something black drop, then another black shadow dive for the ground. Outside my window I see a bird checking on it's partner who is laying on the ground, feet in the air. Oh man! I rush down in my bathrobe, the little guy is still breathing so I scoop him up and place him on the highest beam in the llama shelter, hoping for a full recovery. When I check a few hours later he is gone and I don't see evidence of feline interference. Awesome.

I experience all this living in my first two hours of the day. Chaotic, but much more interesting than a 9-5 job.

"This Is Mad Mommy"

He told me Mad Mommy needs to go to jail. When I asked what Mad Mommy was holding in her hands he said, "Those are your scraggly fingers." It was hard for him to stay mad at me when I wanted a picture of him with Mad Mommy.

Typical, Then Strange

Bringing Sam to school this afternoon I saw an old dog in the road. He didn't seem to have street smarts because he kept wandering in front of cars. You won't find much for traffic on the dirt roads of Westford, but there were a handful of cars not sure what to do about the old guy standing in the road. He wore a collar without tags. I called to him, "Hey Buddy, want to go for a ride?" He jumped right in and started cleaning up food crumbs in the van. After dumping Sam at school I set out to find his owners. Thankfully it took only two stops. His name is Harv and he's half blind. We've scooped up at least four wandering dogs in the years I've lived here. Luckily we've either found the owners or they've found us.

On our way home from Harv's house I saw an average grey squirrel who was missing the bush from his tail! He had a little rat-like tail with no fur. I'm certain it was a squirrel, not a chipmunk. Now what would cause that? At first I wondered if it had been burned off or something, but the rest of him looked alright. Perhaps he has a skin condition or something. If he were someones pet I wonder if he'd be wearing one of those little collars that keep animals from chewing on themselves. Strange.