stuff I love

I love when little kids wander around looking for a stuffed animal that's gone missing and they call out to them with full intention that they will call back. M loses Moosie occasionally and she will wander the house, panic barely contained - "Moosie? Moosie! Mooossssiieeee.... MOOSIE!" As though he's just hiding around a corner snickering at how he's pulled a fast one on her. I love that.

I love cream of wheat - spread thinly on a plate (not a bowl) topped with browned butter (not just melted margarine...though it took K awhile to understand that), sugar and a light sprinkling of cinnamon. It is a yummy, hit the spot, make me feel like I'm home kind of meal any time in the day. I love that I just had some.

I love that my cat Tai sleeps under the blankets. At any given time, you may pass a bed and see a lump in the middle of it. It is Tai - who is quite happy in there reminiscing about his youth when he would hide under the couch in the springs. He's much too fat to fit in there now and this is the closest he can get to it.

I love that my cat Eudora, too old to go outside much and hunt (though, to her credit she is more than capable of still capturing some poor critter and torturing them until they commit suicide) - will hunt polly pocket dolls or any little girl toy that has a head full of fake hair. Every night before bed, I clear the floor of them so as to avoid a painful encounter in the middle of the night. And every morning, before I'm ready to get up - I hear the death cry from Eudora. That 'kikikiki' sound they make when they've killed something and they're proudly showing it off. When I wake and start my morning - there are the dollies. Dead and littering my bedroom floor again.

I love that my girls aren't afraid of bugs and worms and will happily dig into the great outdoors. Once, while planting the garden, I listened to them chattering away as they dug in the dirt searching for worms. E could identify each one as this type or that type and M would dutifully put them into jars of dirt. I listened a little more closely and realized what M was really saying..."This one is Crystal. (in a high voice usually reserved for dollies) Hi - I'm Crystal. Are you my boyfriend? Let's go on a date. (regular voice) Ok, now they are going to go on their date. They are going to go for supper. (high voice) Yes - I'd love to go for supper."
I love that you can put the girl in the garden but you can't take the girl out of the girl. That poor worm named Crystal was probably mocked terribly by her worm friends when I made them let them go.