agreed

with this I agree completely

show me a man pushing a stroller or with a baby strapped to his chest and i automatically get very sentimental and want to awwww all over him. Emilio - the one lat am prof I'm not taking a class from this quarter - has two daughters who I see him with all over the place and it just makes him all the more perfect. he was at the Big H last year and the one time I was able to point him out to friends was a beautiful sunny day when he was out with one of them on his shoulders. giant cuban man with a brightly colored shirt and tie on and a tiny little girl perched way up high. perfection.

in other news, spent last night with B & Z again. no musical beds this time, though Z did have me lay next to her til she was asleep. much cuteness, lots of puzzles and stories, and fun bath time with no soap in the eyes or slipping (not that either of these happened last time, but I'm always worried it will). they're remarkably good at sharing for a 3 & 5 year old and even ask to be excused from the table. minimal fighting over who got to put the last puzzle piece in and shut the door to the closet, but nothing that wasn't resolved with a decision to make both joint efforts.

it does make my life so much happier when I have small children I can play with on occasion. there's no way I can think about guatemalan tourism or mexican film in the 30s when I'm running after two singing small ones and it makes me relax and forget in a way nothing else does, not even gym-ing. I miss H a good deal, but she and her mom are finally settled back in Germany and I hear from them every few weeks. I think it might be time for another postcard to be sent that way sometime soon.

best/most ridiculous story of the weekend: RP went out Saturday night, as previously mentioned, with a group of new friends to go Halloween clubbing downtown. She was dressed up as a fire fighter, complete with helmet and axe (she's small enough to fit in a child's costume, amazingly) and was having a great time, when some huge drunk guy started crashing into their dance circle every few minutes. His girlfriend couldn't keep him under control, despite repeated requests from RP et al, so RP decided to comically bump back into him with a little butt shake dance. Apparently drunk guy didn't find this funny, turned around, picked her up and dropped her on the ground. Quite literally - one arm around her face, the other around her back, up in the air down on the ground. Immediate response from the new friends who shoved him off of her until the bouncer could come over and kick him out. She's fine, mostly thanks to the firefighter helmet. A bit bruised on her back, but no concussion. Walgreens apparently carries some sturdy Halloween costumes.

Home away from home

Got caught in the rain on my way to babysitting and so arrived with sopping feet in flip flops and pants soaked to the knee. But the rain was invigorating and I only wished I was running home instead, so that I might just put away the umbrella and skip.

It was wonderful to be in a home tonight. Our apartment is feeling more lived in these days - couches, as do curtains and mess - but it's still a box divided into four rooms with mostly blank walls. This was a home - backyard, full cabinets, kids collages in the windows and all. And two darling girls to run about in it. B and Z. 5 and 3. blonde and slightly british. stories and puzzles, bath time and bed time. bed time that takes too many alligators being thrown, too many changes of beds, too many feet in faces, but also the sharing of the perfect dream. a flying beach. that's what B wants to dream about.

Happy thoughts:
B's use of the word keen - "I'm not so keen on the top bunk."
A fridge with three types of milk
Intersection sized puddles