Still Crazy

...between work and kidstuff.

Last night I picked up the littlies at daycare and we got home just as night was falling. Everyone got a juice (OK, I got a beer) and the two little settled in to watch some Scooby-Doo and the one big got to work boiling pasta noodles and spuds. Just then the phone rang: it was Mojo, working late and worried about the dark and the cold and the long bike ride home...could we pick her up?

I turned off the stove and went out to the front room and announced that we had to get back in the car and go help the Mommy.

Those of you with kids know how dicey a moment this is; there's a world of possible whining, refusals, tantrums and delays in sudden changes of plans when you have five-and-a-half and two-and-a-half.

But the little folks sprang to action like heroes. Shoes and coats went back on and we drove downtown singing the WonderPets song ("We're on our way/to help the little Mommy and to save the day!"). And after we rescued the Mommy we all went to dinner at Widmer Gasthaus, where the little peeps were adorable and so good that they were instantly punished by many savage hugs and kisses.

Anyway, I'm still slammed, so here's a quick update: playing Bingo at Astor School on "Bingo for Books" night -My little sister sent us this conex-sized box of citrus fruit for Christmas and I hadn't the slightest idea what to do with it - we just don't eat THAT many oranges and there's no real constituency for grapefruit at all around here. So for $2.99 the old-fashioned juicer was the best deal I've made in a long time. And the fresh-squeezed OJ and grapefruit juice were puckeringly tart and sweet...No real message here - just two kidlets snuggling in their "nests" on the couch.Little Miss HAD to get a Hello Kitty sticker book, and as a result I was branded with the Mark of the Beast.