Monday, September 27 2021
weird dreams, cinnamon rolls, and working outside
Dear Journal,
Good morning, everybody. Happy Monday.
I woke up feeling terrible this morning - tired, sweaty, and exhausted from a bizarre nightmare that seemed to last the entire night. "I dreamt that you planned a party without telling me, and everyone showed up as I was getting out of the shower," I told Marissa. "And I didn't have any clothes, so I just had to hide behind vegetables and plates from the food we set out."
"Wow, your dream was weirder than mine," said Marissa. "I dreamt that we went to the reptile store with Billie Eilish, and she pulled the head off a rabbit."
But I'm pleased to report that since this therapeutic dream sharing conversation that happened as we were herding Rodney out the door, I feel one hundred fifty percent better. It's a wonder how much a shave, shower, and a few hot cups of coffee can turn things around.
Sip. Accidentally hosting a party naked aside, it's good to be here. We had a nice weekend. On Friday, since I was on-call, we just hung around the house. I even got paged into a short outage, but I didn't mind so much. As I sat there at the computer on a Zoom call trying to triage a little blip we had in our system, I kept Glassy's enclosure close by. The little guy embarked on a massive construction project, working feverishly for twenty-four hours straight. Glassy extended his burrow down to the bottom of the plastic enclosure, widening it into an underground sanctum. He shuttled mouthfuls of dirt up and down his chute, dragging his spinnerets behind him as he passed. We once jokingly referred to Glassy's pitiful setup as Glassy's Hidey Hole, but after this weekend's improvements, that nickname pales. The Hidey Hole has been upgraded into a bonified fortress.
We had a quiet Saturday morning. Marissa left for an agility trial before the house woke up, so we boys had no choice but to lounge around the house watching YouTube videos and making French toast. Later in the day, after Marissa returned, the neighbor kid Derrick took his new big trike out for a spin. Rodney put his face to the living room window in admiration as Derrick whipped the bike in tight circles in the middle of the street.
Rodney and Derrick spent some time playing in the front yard while I lazily sipped on the rest of Marissa's pumpkin spice latte. Once they were done geeking over Derrick's trike, the two of them played a few rounds of hide and seek.
Rodney talks a big hide and seek game. "Nobody can find me when we play at school," brags Rodney. Judging by the burrs we routinely pick off his clothes when he gets home, Rodney has risen to hide and seek fame by leaping into bushes. But watching him play hide and seek in our front yard, I have to give credit where credit is due. When he leaps into the bushes, he really commits.
Hide and seek master at work. I bet you can't even see him in this picture, can you?
On Sunday to pair with virtual church, Marissa made another iteration of her cinnamon rolls. After successfully piloting the recipe last weekend when her dad visited, a few small tweaks elevated them to culinary perfection. She and Rodney worked over the counter in the kitchen using a borrowed strand of our dental floss to slice the gooey dough. "This is the best part," said Marissa. "It's so satisfying."
The Sunday morning cinnamon roll crew at work.
Knowing that I comb through all our photos before writing a new entry on Monday, Marissa staged a small photo shoot for the first specimen to get frosting. "Just prepare yourself," laughed Marissa. "I took a lot of photos." Marissa took so many photos of a single cinnamon roll that Google Photos created a montage to commemorate the special milestone. But that's OK, after trying one of these, I'd say these did qualify as a special milestone.
Reminder: this is just an image - don't eat your computer screen.
We settled in to watch an afternoon Bears game. The game did not go well. I'd rather not think about what happened to the Bears in Cleveland yesterday, so I'll tell you what - we'll let the napkin drawing I made for Rodney's lunch say the little that needs to be said.
That poor rookie banana didn't even have a chance.
The rotten Bears game set the tone for quietly, reflectively working in the yard the rest of the afternoon. In preparation of getting some realtor pictures taking of the backyard, we had some odd jobs to do. We picked up walnuts, trimmed hedges, and hid mud stained outdoor toys in the garage. Both Marissa and I got a little emotional. We have lived a lot of memories in this house, and even though we're eager to move and begin the next chapter of our lives, we both felt gripped by reality. In only a few months, we're going to vanish from this house, and all we'll have left are pictures and memories.
That's what I got today. Thanks for stopping by - have a great Monday.