Oh yeah, I am not guilty.

When I exit a clothing store where the greeter/loss prevention specialist cordially bids me goodbye suddenly I nervously look away, find myself slurping my own spit in nervous manner. Whoa, maybe I do need to be checked on-perhaps by someone with a slighly different expertise. Then again, maybe I am a thief and I don't even know it. Kleptomaniac. Images of Dana Carvey in Lost In Paradise. I am pretty sure in my odd nervous state I wouldn't pass a lie detector test. And I am innocent! What would I do if I were guilty? Hey, maybe I've a future...I just might be the coolest, calmest, most innocent criminal to grace this side of the Willamette. And today we had a pre-employment drug test. My warped senses rear their nasty heads again. Maybe I've breathed stale skunk-like air that had something else in it just walking down the street, maybe I ate a poppyseed muffin. You just never know. How sensitive are these things. They wouldn't let me flush the toilet after filling the specimen cup, he checked the bathroom after I left, wouldn't allow me to wash my hands unless in his presence. Senor Phlebotomist even checked around the sink piping to make sure I hadn't switched specimens. Real nice guy, very thorough, friendly manner, just doing his job but nothing like the third degree to make you think even you'd missed something.

We signed the kids up for school on day two today, we got there midmorning so the secretary suggested we just wait until tomorrow for attendance. We walked around the school and all felt great about the place. Moses' nerves were calmed an awful lot after seeing his enticing, colorful classroom with cubbies, baskets, books and toys. Paper apples the size of dinner plates and a welcome sign adorned his classroom door. Carolina will be in a 2/3 split. Day three will be for real.

Just kidding about the first day of school.

I am a woman fairly hip around the edges with this obnoxious unraveling thread from a wool cotton blend sweater that seems to dangle and catch things in its path like a tumbleweed. Things like dry babywipes attached to misplaced spoons, a lone flax seed planted on my shoulder yearning to be back with his friends in the half eaten bag of Dave's Killer Bread and a sweet four year old's plump hand, sticky with Oregon strawberry freezer jam. Things like a tidy, well-placed office, a silverware separator free of crumbs and the ability to manage 6 loads of matching, folded laundry usually escape me. Thus, I can be a challenge for a type B personality. But at the end of the day in front of me I see (within view) 42 boxes ready to be filled with the contents of our abode for a move approximately two weeks away, the Sprint bill strewn upon the floor (that will show the man what I think about that Corporate Big Brother) a mirror with little hand prints, cards taped to the walls with Portuguese words, a barbie doll and an empty baby bottle. The things I feel ahead are a new adventure upon us-one that we are unsure and partly worried about how it will materialize. Stepping one foot into the unknown clinging, to faith that God will see us though, grateful to have apartment management skills that have allowed us security and friendships, confident the Lord gives us what we need not always what we want. The gentle muffle of The Subterranean Howling, "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" trying to get it mixed ASAP to enter a local contest in hopes of landing a spot to be the opening act for "The Killers" Portland show. Thinking of many type A activities that might help balance today's strong leaning towards B for tomorrow-turning in kindergarten shot records, signing a job offer, organizing some orders for the business, maybe sorting and packing some of these 42 boxes. But today was for memories-the day we missed the first day of school.

Squeakie's blog

Carolina started a blog today. Her blog can be found among my blogs. It is http://squeakieswebsite.blogspot.com/
She named her blog "Sunshine Canyon" and the url is in honor of her own given nickname "Squeakie"-the sound her favorite animal, a mouse makes. She wrote this beautiful entry. Keep an eye on her, she'll go places.

Babysitter

A sweet girl in our ward babysat the kids yesterday while we went to a second interview on the property of the place we are seeking to get a team management position. Having gotten accustomed to a sitter that just keeps the kids alive while we are away my expectations are pretty low. You really can't expect too much when we pay what we do. But we were surprised-She was so cute, thanking me for letting her babysit and asking about so many details. Worried about what they could eat, checked to see if they were supposed to put away their toys after playing with them etc. So we left, when we came home she had even washed the dishes they had used. Wow. When we entered the door she was down on the floor interacting with them. She had read stories, played. This morning Moses told me A played the piano for them and "She's really good! It was kind of twinkling. She changed it...And then the other side....I don't really know how. She changed it. I think Daddy should go to piano lessons. " I said, "Daddy can teach you how." "Do only girls do it?" I said, "Oh no, boys can definitely do it." "I'm gonna ask him now if he can teach me today." Way to seize the day, Moses.

Moments of the day

Adrianna said "You betcha" today although I don't recall the context it was unexpected. Carolina and I escalated a power struggle before bed like no other. Water, violence, mayhem. No holds barred. Pretty. Pretty shameful. I received a rejection letter from a literary submission I did earlier this year but no regrets, at least I submitted. I forgot to write a thank you note for the interview yesterday, I still plan to do it tonight but it would have reached them earlier if I had it in the mail today. We went swimming. After 15 minutes Rainbow had had enough so I got out and dried her and rewrapped her in a towel and reentered the water standing up trying my best to keep her dry so the other kids could stay in the water longer. Carolina made a new best friend (although she can't remember her name) and she told me the game was boys vs. girls. Found some tennis shoes for Moses at the thrift store. Spent some time going through cupboards and corners trying to think minimalist. So much stuff!! Rainbow pulled herself up to a stool and used it as a walker for the first time. She's taking a bottle and loves it.

Adrianna swims!

Swimming tonight was fun. We saw teenagers from our ward-they allowed Carolina to ruck it up and played with her to the point that she asked me if any one of them could babysit her sometime. They made her feel like the most hilarious thing since grilled cheese (ok, not the best parallel...) And Adrianna...she made an exciting break through learning to swim. For the past few days she has jumped from the stairs to my arms at a safe distance "swimming." She often wants me to come closer in and I try to push her comfort zone as much as possible. Well she got brave and put her face in and swam to me. Typical to a beginner she didn't have much of any movement propelling her forward. Her body was crooked and she wasn't orchestrating arms and legs together but she had some float to her "stroke" keeping her near the top and was kicking and made it to me. It was so exciting to see her do that. She felt just on top of the world with this great accomplishment. It gave her the confidence to do a perfect back float for about 5 seconds, too. She wanted to try everything she could think of to prove she could swim and was suddenly able to do more than she thought she could. It was the most beautiful swim I had ever seen. Recently I read a book on teaching your baby to swim by Virginia Hunt Newman who taught the first baby, Mary Frances Crosby to pass the beginner American Red Cross test. It was very helpful. Before I had been approaching teaching the kids from the view I had been trained to do which is often an older kid. Instead I learned some redirection to teach a child or a baby enough "swimming" skills to save their life if needed. In other words, doggie paddle and any kind ofr propulsion forward is good enough. This backbone feels like a more natural way to teach, more effective skills can be built upon later. Seeing Adrianna's peak in confidence confirms to me that this is the way to go. She is more willing to try other things now that she has seen some results. You should have seen that ear to ear smile and glow in that little girl's face. I am going to go hug her.

Registering Moses for kindergarten

Rainbow started out buckled in the red wagon with sad, leaning wheels. Her smiles compensated for its lack. Down the sidewalk we trotted. Adrianna brought toys including Jerry and her elephant. Moses had plastic zebra and elephant. The toys had a mean mom, I overheard. She was really bratty. We stopped at the library to get the last summer reading program stamped. They scored awesome T-shirts for their reading and listening labors which they left behind at the kids school as our next stop was registering Moses for kindergarten. Easy come, easy go... Moses offically a kindergartener and Sunny a second grader. Mrs Baker said to say hi to her (lucky Sunny was invited to go to the zoo with Kierie today). Rainbow mopped up the freshly polished linoleum at the school while I filled out paperwork all the while making friends with the custodian (is that the politically correct term, how is that so much better than 'janitor.'), the principal, a lady with a cast and the neatest scooter walker I had ever seen. Moses and Anna met a guinea pig and played at a desk in the hall. Adrianna was reprimanded by the southern principal for running in the halls. I brought the wrong shot record so its not really official. Moses made Rainbow laugh harder than he ever has before. She "hougs"him tight. What a guy. He'll make a fine kindergartener.