dragnet
A couple more, just for you. Just so you won't forget what I look like, and so you'll remember what Jacob looks like with a big hunk of candy (from Buddy) in his mouth, and so you get the full impact of the enthusiasm--look at his tongue in that one.
XOXO,
M
Le grande tour
It feels like we did everything in the world today. We woke up this morning and made waffles, then we baked two apple pies. One for John Neighbarger--to thank him for moving that couch for us--and one for Joanna, who was going to come over for dinner tonight. Then we got ready for the day. I haven't let Jacob watch a movie for a week and a half in anticipation. So he was primed.
When we finally got to Kathryn's Vintage Bridal, after an hour in the car and lots of tap dancing for Jacob, the shop was still closed. I've spoken to her on the phone a few times. She's a drama queen, just what you'd expect of someone who owns a vintage bridal shop. As I told you, the town was abuzz with football fanatics, so we wanted to avoid the popular spots. So we wandered down the road to Skully's, which is a nightclub and diner. Even here there were people in OSU gear drinking beer already. We ordered some crappy food, had to beg for our silverware, and spent half the time trying to keep Jacob from eating ice he'd already dropped on the table and squirting another half gallon of ketchup onto his plate.
When we wandered back down the road, Kathryn's was open, and the diva was in, with her feet propped up on an elaborate cushion and with her hair pulled back in a dramatic sweep. She was on Broadway, if not in this life, in some other. I started to take pictures of the shop, to give you a sense of the experience, when her assistant, John (who practically runs the place), came dashing over. "Please, NO PHOTOGRAPHS of the dresses." I thought he was going to say the light damaged them or something--I almost got beaten in Egypt once when I unintentionally flashed when I was in a tomb. That's the level of intensity this remark had. I said, "Okay" and quietly put down the camera. John said, "the chains are always sending people in here to photograph our dresses."
I'm like, Yeah, buddy, I'm in here with my four-year-old and my 80-yr-old mother, and we're a pack of spies. But, hey, whatever. So this is the only shot I got.
It was SO a vintage shop. The smell, the clutter, the chaos. And we only made it worse (in terms of chaos and clutter at least) with Jacob's movies and the computer, and my mom's ginormous purse. At one point, when we were getting close to leaving, Jacob (who had tired of his movie), got under my mom's feet, and she tumbled backwards into a fabric-covered screen and it went crashing to the floor, revealing more junk. Mom was okay, but everyone was pretty shook up by it, and Jacob was terribly apologetic.
Of course, I can't tell you about the dress I liked the best. :) But they've got one on "courtesy hold" for me, so I can think about it overnight. I do believe, however, that I've seen the dress you'll marry me in.
Then, we went to Easton to get ice cream and got on the road to home.
I called Joanna, and we met up with her at her place, took my mom's car seat and trundled off to the pumpkin patch--which is a side-show experience. Here are some pics to give you the flavor. First, the weirdest pumpkins ever. I never knew there was such variety.
Rotary Park
Hi, Babe.
I was writing here, because I didn't know if you would call tonight, and I wanted to keep my promise. We had a grand day today. After a great afternoon with Lakesia, I spent the rest of the sunlight hours with Jacob in the park. Here are a few shots from our adventures. Just look at those blue skies. The bub was so excited to play with the things that your mom and dad sent him, so he dug in the dirt and buried the frog, then would act like he'd just gotten the present for the first time when he dug it up again.
There's the frog--or its leg at least. He told everyone in the park that it was real, and kept whispering to me, "Mommy, tell them it's a real frog, okay?" He would lay in on a rock in the grass and call a kid over, "Hey! Look what I found!"
He's still doing the whispery prayers about you coming home. Don't feel regretful about this, James. It's just a sign of his love. How extraordinary that you've earned that kind of affection, when even his biological father, who has known him his whole life, hasn't.
His behavior continues to improve, which I think is both a product of Welsh Hills and things settling down in his life.
This is what the trees look like: bit of red and yellow against the blue.
This is what Jacob looks like when he's opening presents and when he's at the park. We were dashing around, playing on everything. Where Jacob went, the frog went--usually first. Frog down slide. Jacob down slide. Frog on spinning thing. Jacob on spinning thing. Here he is turning the crank on the big gears. Frog in hand.
Guess what I'm doing here? Counting. As always when you're far, far away.
