Highlights of the Day

In today's news:

1: Madeleine got an owl pencil for being a great "Mystery Audience Member" at yesterday's school assembly.  At each assembly, the teacher secretly picks a few children to observe, and if they're sitting quietly and being attentive, they get a little prize.  Hence the pencil.  Wait.  Did I say pencil?  I mean "wand of hope and friendship."

MADELEINE: Mommy! (Holding out her pencil) This is my wand of hope and friendship!
ME: It is?
MADELEINE: Yes!  And: (stroking the pencil with one hand) That means "hope."  (Jutting the unsharpened top of the pencil into her palm.)  That ALSO means "hope."  And: (stroking the pencil again) That means "friendship."
ME: Oh.  "Friendship" looks just like "hope" to me.
MADELEINE: I know.  It's ALMOST the same, except at the end, I (waving her hand in a big loop) draw a CIRCLE.  That makes it "friendship."





2: Our car broke down while I was at another town elementary school picking Julia and two friends up from Honors Chorus.  I had arrived ten minutes before dismissal, so I turned the car off and sat by the curb outside the front doors.  When the students began emerging from the building, I went to start the ignition, and: nothing.  Julia was subsequently a nervous wreck basket case.  Among her concerns were:

-The car was going to catch on fire
-We would never get the car working and we'd have to stay in the elementary school parking lot forever
-The car would start on its own and begin rolling backwards down the non-existent slope of the parking lot
-The car would blow up when we got a jump start
-The car would emit poison that would kill us all while we sat in it with it not running
-Opening the car doors, getting out, turning on the overhead dome light, or otherwise doing ANYTHING besides sitting perfectly still would result in the death and destruction of us, one and all.


I called the parents of the two girls I was supposed to bring home, and one, who lives right around the corner from us, swung by our house to get Ethan and Madeleine and bring them along to meet us.  Together, the three adults were able to jump start our car and get it running well enough to get us back home.  Ethan drove home, keeping the car in as low a gear as possible.  Julia was nervous wreck basket case yet again due to the sound the engine made while in the D2 gear.

JULIA: WHAT'S THAT NOISE?!?!?!?
ETHAN: It's fine, honey.  The car's in a low gear.
JULIA: IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S GOING TO EXPLODE!
ETHAN: It's not.
JULIA: HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!?!?!?!?


3: Madeleine gave one of her best friends an official new nickname.  She has been calling her friend Louisa "Loozy" for quite some time now, but she decided to make it known to Louisa's mom (who happens to be the mom of Louisa's older sister, who was in my dead car, which means this mom is the one who came to the rescue to give me a jump start.)  Apparently, on the ride over to rescue us, Madeleine not only compulsively declared "Sparklies!" and "Reflecting Sparklies!" every time she caught sight of Christmas lights, but she divulged her new nickname for her friend.

MADELEINE: Do you know that I gave Louisa a nickname?  I call her "Loozy!"  And do you wanna know how it's spelled?  It's spelled "L-O-U-S-Y."

That's, like, the most flattering nickname I've ever heard.  Sounds like a diminutive for "Loser" but spelled like "Lousy."  Points all around!


4: The girls and I got started on our holiday cookies.  I baked several dozen sugar cookies while the girls were at school, and we managed to frost them all in between the car break-down and swim team practice.  Julia was being a slow poke about eating her dinner and begging us not to start without her, so I loaded up a plate with unfrosted cookies to save for her.  She then decided to pursue the disgusting habit of eating her spinach salad, drenched in raspberry vinaigrette, with her hands, licking the dressing off her fingers in between bites.  I wouldn't let her touch a single cookie until she had washed her hands with soap, but once she'd done that, we were ready to roll!  We make a good team and finished in record time!  Here's a peek at the finished product:

An owl pencil, a car break-down, a panic attack, a new nickname, and some holiday decorating.  What a day!