Pico DiPaolo

The Sunshine class, Joelle’s new class, is participating in show n tell this year.  Every Friday.  When we were explaining to Joelle what show n tell was, we told her that she would get up in front of her classmates and say, “Hi guys.  This is my doll and I brought her because _______.”  Or, “Hi guys.  This is my leaf and I brought it because _________.”  After a few more repetitions of this, Joelle stopped me and said, “I don’t want to say, ‘hi guys.”  Chris said, “…say, ‘Fellow Classmates.”  Do you think maybe it’s our fault that she isn’t more social?  She’s destined to be a little on the nerdy side, huh?

Later, when we were continuing our role playing for show n tell, I told Joelle that her friends would say, “oooo.  ahhhhh,” when she was done.  I asked Joelle how her first show n tell went and she promptly said, “No one said ooo or ahh.”  Oops, I guess we should remember that she still takes things pretty literally! 

Joelle was rewarded with a rare treat at the seemingly mundane errand of grocery shopping. Like Santa, we told her, HEBuddy can only be at one H.E.B. at a time. First, some background. He’s a large, friendly, grocery bag with arms and a face. There is an assortment of groceries sticking out of the top of his bag. He has a dog named Max. He’s the H.E.B. kid mascot, plastered on all the H.E.B. kid material. Joelle says, “Mommie, his name is H.E.B., not HEBuddy.”

So, she sees him immediately when we walk in the door to the store. She runs up and gives him a huge hug, while other kids skirt by as far away as possible. After getting in the cart, we’re told to hang a left so she can see him again; however, he’s not stationed at the front door any longer…. he’s on the move. I thought he was going to the back to change, but, instead, it became a game to find H.E.B. as he roved around the store. “Mommie, I can still see his milk, he’s over there!” Indeed, we spotted a milk carton and a t-bone sticking up over the next aisle. I think he was getting a little nervous around his “biggest fan.”

When we thought, “ok, he must be gone by now,” we heard, “ATTENTION H.E.B. SHOPPERS – HEBUDDY IS IN THE HOUSE.” Joelle got in her “sic’ ‘em mode” to seek him again. Who would want to shop at Randall’s or Kroger?

** Forgot to mention…. After our chaotic night, Joelle had hair that looked like the infamous Nick Nolte mugshot after her sweaty, toss and turn night. When she woke up a full hour later than usual, I laughed when I saw her hair. I told her to look in the mirror and she laughed, too.

** After Chris took her to Supercuts, she’s been crazy about playing barber shop with us. It’s a rough hair brushing, but it leaves your hair shiny and knot free. Watch out for stray strokes to the eye! She likes to put cute little barettes in daddy’s hair. I like the whale in his hair the best.

** Joelle won’t tell us a thing about her first day at school, but the next morning I was informed how every little girl had had her hair fixed. Then she told me what style she wanted for the day.

** If you don’t have a complex about losing your hair, Joelle will give it to you. She constantly talks about “what if” Daddy is bald and asks him if he’s losing all his hair. This all randomly started when Chris was reading her a Luann comic strip where the title character made a snide comment to her dad about going bald. In explaining the concept of bald, he mentioned that a lot of men lose their hair as they get older.

A storm rolled in around 8:30 last night. For our neighbors, who have lived here 8 years, that now means: “time to crank down the a/c.” I guess that should indicate to us that we should expect some power outages. Had my mom not mentioned a thunder storm warning when I was on the phone with her, I wouldn’t have even known that storms were in the area!

Lights go out at 8:56. A wail of complaint from Joelle’s room coincides with the darkness. Hm, I guess she’s not asleep. Chris and I stare at our laptops, battery operated, with an eerie glow and no internet connection. I go hunt around for a flashlight. Three out of six are operating. Good thing we have that gas lamp and no kerosene! I take the little one to Joelle. She’s now jumping with delight at the turn of events. It’s disco time in Jojo’s room.

Chris and I sigh and decide to go to bed before it gets too hot. Easier said then done. Our house didn’t actually get that hot. The thermostat was at 78 in the morning, where we always keep it, but the ceiling fans contribute more than I realized. Joelle wakes up at 3 am: “I’m all sweaty.” 4 am: “my diaper is loose.” 5 am: ?. Chris: “I’m just getting ready for work.” Yes, the electricity is still out. He has to remove the garage door from its track to get out. It’s 6 when he leaves and the lights will come on in 30 minutes.

The electricity comes on and the electric company calls to make sure. Yes, waking me up again. Twice, actually, once when the electricity is back and the CO dectector beeps and second with their phone call. Only silver lining to be woken up again? They told me the time as a courtesy. At this point, I was in such a fog, I had no idea what time it was AND I woke up enough to get up to crank down the ac.

On the way out of the garage, to Joelle’s first day of school, my antenna gets stuck on the unattached garage door and slams the door down on my car. The antennae is now bent and won’t go down and my car was hit on top by the door. The odds of that happening are so low. I ALWAYS have a madonna or shakira CD on for Joelle and Joelle is in my car 99% of the time. I just happened to have left Joelle at Nana’s the last time I drove!

This morning, the first thing I said to Chris was, “wow, that was just one night with no electricity. We’re definitely evacuating the next time a hurricane blows through. I can’t imagine going more than that without electricty.”

Joelle, as you have read from former posts, has been pestering us to get a pet. I sort of accidentally agreed to a fish when she first started asking for a puppy or kitten. I think I got caught off guard and was frightened by the prospect of a dog or cat! In any case, it was a fact to Joelle that she was getting a fish. She told Ms. Brenda, her new teacher, when she came for the home visit and asked if Joelle had a pet. She said, “No, but I’m getting a fish.”

The kids have to make an album of the things they love for their first day of school. Mostly, she has pictures of herself and Chuck E. Cheese from a Chuck E. Cheese ride (there are 6 of these, to be exact). So, I thought, well, why not. Let’s just get the fish now. So, on the way to the pet store, she decides she’ll name him “Football”. Nana and I must have thought the name was too cool, because she changed it to “sports ball.” Yes, sports ball, the fish. It has to be a first. Chris said, “… more generic, for all seasons.”

The fish is safely stowed in her room with the food safely put away. Joelle wanted to pour all of it in his bowl, so we decided it best to keep it put away until needed. He’s a pretty blue beta for those who like fish. The sales lady scared us away from goldfish because you have to change their water every 3 days. Supposedly. I had a goldfish and I know I didn’t do that. Whatever, sports ball is pretty.

I was actually invited to make a playdate with a little girl’s nanny because the mom informed me, “I work full-time.” I definitely applaud a woman’s choice to do whatever she wants, but why in the world would a mom want to hang with a Nanny? I was informed that the nanny was really fun, but still, no.

Chris asked me last night if I did work if I would have a nanny or utilize daycare. I would definitely choose daycare. I just couldn’t trust one other person to watch and care for my baby. At least at daycare, it feels like they would be safer. Many have cameras where you could watch from work! Although, it would be nice to have a home cooked meal when you came home from work every day…

Today, Joelle and I went to the library and I read to her a Dora wish book where all the little characters made a wish on a star before going to bed.  I turned to her and asked what she wanted to wish for.  First, she replied, “That I don’t have to sleep in my bed at night.”  I chuckled and said, “Dora and all her pals are in their beds, we all sleep in our beds.  Come on, wish for something real.”  So, she said, “Ok, I wish I could read the words.”  I was very impressed by how old she sounded and for her to vocalize such high aspirations for herself.  I told her what a wonderful wish that was and that we could make it happen.  Sigh, and I worry that she’s getting too spoiled.  At least she didn’t come up with a purely materialistic answer, like “Polly Pockets!” 

We did some cooking today together, too.  We had meatball soup for dinner and I decided that Joelle might have fun making the meatballs.  I thought she’d like the gooey, cold feel of the meat.  No, she was afraid it would be too messy.  She did enjoy mixing the food and playing like she was the “cooking boy.”  (You must tune into Noggin to get this last bit about “cooking boy.”  They have a little kid come on and he does his own cooking show for 5 minutes.  Today, it was fruit kebobs and smoothies.  The kid makes some awesome stuff!  How do I sign up for that deal?)  She said, “I want to make yummy food for mommie and daddy every night.”  She paused and followed up with, “…but not me.”  There goes my idea that she might try something she cooked!  When the onions made her cry, she said, “The onions are making my eyes sweet.”  I think she meant, “sweat.” 

A University of Georgia student was arrested for allegedly hitting two people with her Jeep in a McDonald’s parking lot on Saturday. The reason? A cashier opened up a new line and these two people jumped into it before she could. See the entire story (have to register for the one from Athens, GA.)

Yahoo! News

Athens Banner-Herald

I’m not into hitting people with my car, but I do have to say that I really wish more people would go to the “single line” method. The only places off the top of my head that do this are Best Buy and Wendy’s (I’m sure there are others).

Are rope barriers really that expensive?

I used to be able to navigate suburban neighborhoods more easily than downtown Houston. Even more bizarre, I could name each model house in our neighborhood: Payson, Florence, Mesa, etc.

It’s as if I had a chip in my brain that has now been switched off. In driving through Sugarland on Saturday night, I got lost. I almost panicked. Each street seemed to be taking me in an infinite loop. My once keen sense of each unique house is gone. Each house looked like an identical clone to me. I had to backtrack and almost go back to where I started to figure out how to get out! I’m embarrassed to say that this isn’t the first time. I also got lost in Katy about a month ago. A friend was following me out and I had to pull over to confess to her that I was hopelessly lost.

What happened? Is it my mind making a mental statement of how I ultimately ended up feeling about suburban life? Have I just gotten too used to the lovely grid structure and repeating streets of older Houston neighborhoods? I think I’m perhaps getting too attached to my beloved 5 mile radius… I guess we won’t be joining the Amazing Race. That was my talent – always finding my way.

One of the best things about being a parent is getting to curl up to watch one of the traditional romantic classics.  Aside from the frustrating need for Joelle to skip the scary parts (Gus greedily carrying too much corn back to the mouse hole with Lucifer about to pounce), it’s a guilty pleasure to get to watch these old favorites. 

Joelle was electrified watching Cinderella.  She was literally on the edge of her seat watching it.  Chris had to remind her to sit down a few times because she was so jittery.  After the movie was over, Chris said something about her meeting her prince someday.  I piped in, “I met my prince… it’s your daddy.”  Joelle turned to me and asked, “Did you walk over a bridge with him?”  The question is so metaphorically appropriate and beautiful.  However, being almost 4, she was really just impacted by the scene where Cinderella and the prince literally walk over a bridge, but I like the question.  My initial response back to her was, “we’ve walked over many a bridge together.”  Her eyes got big. 

If I may get sappy for a moment, I like to now think of it as just one bridge.  Yes, we have literally accomplished many important milestones together and walked many bridges, but isn’t it romantic to just think of that one important bridge?  The one where you enter the bridge as two and cross the other side as one.  Some may say this is marriage, but I’ve long thought of marriage as just a formal institution of love.  I wish I could pinpoint the exact time when we crossed that bridge and had actually both fallen in love.  Was it the same exact moment?