All Before 12:46 p.m.

I remember we have a play date today. At our house. I pack the bags to go back to the library. They are overdue.

I do not shower. I did that yesterday.

We need to go grocery shopping.

I pack the bags to go to the library and the reusable grocery bags because I am a green mom.

We load up the car with the library books and the diaper bag and the reusable grocery bags.

I talk to the Jehovah's Witnesses about places I have never been in Michigan.

On our way to the library, we get detoured.

Do I have the library books?

I pull over. I forgot the library books. Gah.

We go back home. Wave to the Jehovah's Witnesses.

I go back inside, leaving Baby Girl in car in the driveway, hoping the Witnesses do not judge me.

The library books are nowhere in sight.

Probably because they are already in the car, where I packed them the first time.

We go grocery shopping.

Baby Girl tries to do dismount out of cart 135,308,304,358,723.03 times.

Get business call from National Beer Wholesalers Association. Long story.

We drive past library.

We get home. It is sprinkling.

Carry 3 heavy bags of groceries and 20 lb. 8 month-old in rain into house.

Unpack groceries.

Walk into bathroom, wonder if am mom that wears make-up to playdates in own home.

Decide am not.

Start making beautiful sandwiches.

Walk back into bathroom to spot clean floor with Kleenex.

See Baby Girl crawl for first time.

Decide am mom that wears mascara to playdates in own home.

Feel like crying a little for no reason at all.

Have enjoyable playdate. Eat sandwiches. Am glad put on mascara.

Take back books to library. All end up on desk of wrong branch.

Will pay late fees later. Much later.

***

My friend Elisa got back from Korea and gave me at least six of the warmest hugs ever. She also sent me these photos she took (is photog student) which were like hugs in my inbox.

This photo captures perfectly the glow of my daughter.

This photo captures perfectly the humor Elisa brings to my life.

This photo captures perfectly the feeling I have when holding Baby Girl at any any time of day or sleepless zombie hour of night.

Socially Appropriate

Over the course of the last two weeks, Baby Girl has been waving like a regular Ronald McDonald. She waves hello, good-bye, and waves to that cute baby in the mirror that's always happy to wave back. Aside from the times that she waves at us while we change her diaper, it's probably the first social cue that she's really picked up on, and it's making me incredibly glowingly gushingly gratified. If you have lived with someone with a developmental delay, you also know how cool it is to see that person master a social cue. My brother has autism, as I have mentioned before, and the smallest of socially appropriate motions are cause for frequent fits of laughter and triumph. "Mikie did not begin the conversation asking Mrs. May which day her garbage was collected!" AWESOME! "We had company over and Mikie did not chastise nor verbally berate them after they arrived four minutes late." RAD!!! "I was so proud of Mikie today. He wore a sweater on top of a T-shirt and neither one matched and I made a comment and he told me to get a life." PAR.TEE.ON!!!

***

Waving through the openings of the step stool. A socially appropriate game for the 7 month-olds among us. Hours of laughter for the 28 year-olds, as well.

Precautions and the Irony Thereof

Loverpants was denied a life insurance policy recently, which came as a total shocker. My triathlete hubby got the big nay from the life insurers! The? Turns out his liver enzymes were about ten times what they should have been. The nurses quizzed him. Drink alcohol? Neg. Smoke? Neg. Neg. Herbals? Naw.

Then his wife, keen little ginger that she is, said, You know you do drink a lot of green tea.

Turns out the fella was overbrewing it like something fierce, effectively overdosing on green tea herbals. Liver just couldn't take it!

What should we call this story?

How Lovey Loverpants Almost Gave Himself Liver Failure by Way of Green Tea.

How Lovey Loverpants almost Killed Himself, as Discovered in Applying for a Life Insurance Policy.

The Day Lovey Loverpants Went on Detox from Green Tea, which in Itself is an Agent of Detox.

I suppose I'm just happy we figured it out and that my loverman and all of his organs remain intact.

***

Nana Red visited this past weekend with the express purpose of watching Baby Girl while her parents attended their first wedding sans baby. It was delightful to have Nana stay with us and go to craft shows with us (on the right day) and have a picnic and clean our skanky sink full of dishes. Baby Girl was good as gold. ::Raises the Roof::