Toilet Tag, Summer and the (L)egocentric House...

Hello, Again.

Yes, it's been awhile, but thankfully there's no schedule to adhere to, so by that standard I'm doing just fine.

What the hell is Toilet Tag? (you ask). Damned if I know, but a couple nights ago Jack invented the game while removing his clothes for a shower (which he is now taking with little resistance after years of baths only. Hooray!). Anyway, the game involves throwing a piece of clothing in the air with your foot after you remove it, then touching the toilet. The person farthest from the toilet--but still able to touch it---wins. Or something like that. Jack gets a big kick out of throwing his socks, underwear and shorts with his feet for some reason. He also suggested I move the toilet, but I had to decline. I guess I'm just a frump.

You've heard the word "egocentric" but in our house that should be changed to "Legocentric". Jack spends a good portion of his day playing Lego PC games based on Indiana Jones, Star Wars or Batman, plus he wants to play with Legos every night before bed. Our collection amounts to a bushel now, in two separate containers. I'm sure there's more in boxes. Anyway, last night I picked up a boxy piece that resembled a set of stairs and asked Jack what it was. "It's a spaceship" he replied, somewhat scornfully. I had a hard time keeping a straight face, but I managed. I tend to build houses and things with wheels. Nothing too fanciful. A couple times I heard Jack playing with things he made and named, like Ja-wee and Hevel and Sooki, which was wonderful. At times like that I want to
share the moment with Andrea. I still have that momentary impulse, then the letdown of the realization that it cannot happen anymore.

We did see a counselor/psychologist a week ago Saturday. She was very nice and knew Jack from school. I don't think I learned much from the hour, but she will keep an eye on Jack and talk with him when he returns to school in a month. It seems we are on the right track. Jack told Harriet and Steph he misses Mommy everyday, but he never told Megan or me that, which was interesting. The objective side of me has to wonder if it was situationally inspired to some degree. He doesn't talk specifics about Mommy things, but he is pretty quick to tell strangers that she died.

We had an unusually busy weekend last week, with two barbecue/swim dates and a park date with kids and parents from a past class. Add in a yard sale and a coffee date for me and an actual play date (a client gave me nice tickets to see Topol in "Fiddler on the Roof") and there wasn't much room for anything else. topol is 73 now, but still going strong. The weekend coming up won't be near as busy. Harriet wanted to try having Jack sleepover at her apartment. She's nervous about having enough things to do with him, but I'm sure they'll get through just fine with a few puzzles and games.

Jack's YMCA camp is working out great. He stays happily from 8:45 to almost 6. I know better than to try and pick him up before then. As we are exiting the building he invariably asks if we can have someone over for a play date. The Y has a great schedule and I couldn't be happier.

Had a nice conversation with Diane Kelly. She is now the Chief of Staff for the Minority Leader in the Idaho Senate. I couldn't be happier with her new career track and predict great things ahead.
She says she is still feeling her way. She had not one whit of training (her predecessor flaked), so I'm sure she is doing as well as anyone could, and probably way better. Democrats are in short supply in Idaho, but I know they added two to the roster recently.

This is the first week in sometime that I don't have all five days booked. I'm not complaining, though. Four is fine and i need to catch up on some things around the house. I could do more if I wanted, actually. I know where there's work to be had for the asking. Maybe next week.

I've met a couple more interesting women through Match.com. They are both a delight: smart, nice, attractive, outgoing, grest sense of humor, etc. I could easily hit the Pause button on Match at this point. One of the women suggested I do just that, lol. I haven't been in a situation like this since, well, maybe never. It's just socializing at this point, though. Just good times and a good night kiss. I trust things will work out with no one getting hurt as long as I am up front and honest with everyone. That's my hope, anyway.

I need to get Jack dressed and off to the Y camp now. Today he needs his official purple shirt and $15 because they are going to some indoor/outdoor amusement park. The shirt allows them to keep track of the group more easily. I'm sure that's a chore.

Best...

Fourth and ......Long....

I'm back.

Back on the blog, back to work and...well, just leave it at that.

Jack and I had a very low key Fourth on Saturday, but he'd been to the beach on Friday, an amusement park two days earlier and camp from 9 to 6 every other day, so I think it was okay that we didn't do much. We did go up Angeles Crest to view some fireworks in the San Gabriel Valley below, but they weren't big enough or loud enough to rouse Jack's interest. I thought it was cool to look out over the valley and see fireworks from 11 or 12 venues, but what do I know? Next year I guess we'll watch the fireworks at one of the staged shows. There's kids there, too, which is always a good thing.

Sunday the fifth was more like a Fourth, with a lunch at Joyce's. Steph and Olivia and Harriet and a couple friends of joyces rounded out the table. The best part was when they all played the game of LIFE afterwards with Jack. Dad had busied himself with fixing a fence for Joyce. I popped my head in a few times and saw Jack's smiling face, which is always a treat.

Jack is on the phone at the moment, his first real phone call from a friend (Mac). They've been talking for almost ten minutes, which is 9 minutes longer than most of his phone conversations. I've heard talk of Legos, Toontown, Jack being reprimanded by a camp counselor for too much knocking into other boys. Sometimes they seem like bowling pins...

I had an interesting conversation this morning about my being on Match. It seems that some people disapprove. More than some. Oh, well. No one has walked in my shoes, nor can they get inside my head, nor know my demons. I often do things in my own way and on my own time frame. This is one of those times. Not only do I live in the here and now, I've already been here. I've had more than enough time in the last six years to imagine the future. I was here a thousand times. From the time I saw the chilling photograph of Andrea's insides and talked to the surgeon I knew that only a miracle drug would save her. I hoped and helped and did everything I could while Andrea was alive, always knowing that it was an uphill battle. She fought a good battle, but the forces against her were stronger, and they wore down her body, but not her spirit. Andrea died, and a part of me died too. But I don't need a year or two to grieve, I've been grieving longer than that already.