Willard

So, I took the girls to see Ratatouille last Friday. Wait, let me start at the beginning.

Friday was, in the Manise house, the day of the year known as Black Friday. It is the last weekday of Bruce's month-long vacation.

We all know I love spending time with Juliette and Evie, but they love structure--which is not something I excel at unless I am being paid to do so.

So, Bruce comes home for a month in the summer and every day is a party. I can run errands, the girls have constant attention and someone who lets them chew gum and watch television when I am not around.

Black Monday, yesterday, is the saddest weekday of the year. The gum-reservoir has dried up and there will be no television until Jennifer has a conference call.

Anyways, so last Friday, realizing it was Bruce's last weekday home, I offered to take the girls to the movies. He does chores around the house during his month off, and it is remarkably easier to do this without "help."

Off to a darkened theater we went. I thought the girls would love the movie -- with the gastronomic themes and intelligent banter. This was no "feel the IQ points falling away" Happy Feet. Both girls love to cook. There were no killer whales - what better fun to have?

EXCEPT Evie is petrified of all things furry in the known world. I figured a cooking rat would be ok, because rats are small.

A fatal mistake.

Yes in real life rats are small. On a big screen in the fifth row, a rat is as tall as a building.

The screaming commenced.

And went on.

And on.

We called her father from the theater. He came and got her.

Juliette and I went back in to watch the rest, then Juliette wanted to know how much longer she had to stay.

So, Bruce ended up having some "help" with his last day of repair projects after all.

This is what mommy looks like before caffeine

Random Thoughts on the Metro

There was consulting work to do, so I took the Metro to work today - first time in a couple of years since I typically drive and singularly support the parks and recreation division of the DC government with my traffic tickets. On this topic it is so easy to digress, back to random thoughts.

Does anyone wearing Brown University t-shirts ever wash their hair? Is it some sort of lower-level Ivy League requirement to not bathe for four years?

Homeless people outside of my train station I miss -- the guy who used to take a cab to his corner and once refused a banana because he didn't have teeth. -- the trumpeter who only knew about five songs and played them every day all day long. The random crazy population in the area is more diverse than ever. Is this a good thing? Are crazies more or less likely to get along with other crazies???

Tourists still stand on the left. What will it take to get these people to stand on the right?

IPods isolate.

Are there more children of commuters on the Metro, or do I just notice them more now that I have children?

Enough random thoughts. We return to cute pictures of girls soon!

Hi Everyone!

We are back from a visit to Grandma's house! Where she gave us these spiffy HK shirts!!

What should we do now?? Let's go find something to ransack, O.K.???

Quiet, I'm still posing.