I finally caught the cold that my brother, my mom, and my son have all suffered through. It is manifesting for me in a congested head cold and very stiff, raw, (but not painful) throat. I am luckier than the rest of them – so far. Ralph has sternly admonished me to rest.
Nevertheless, last night I couldn’t sleep easily thinking about my husband’s roadtrip today (he, Nels, and my brother are going to Portland for a couple errands and to drop the Princess off for house-hunting). In true Fisher / Hogaboom style we’d planned on packing food so that A. they wouldn’t have to take the time to find a place, park, and dine; and B. we could save a little money (my brother also loves this last as he is feeling anxious about upcoming expenses). Of course, Billy had to add to the fare: a carrot (I shit you not, that’s all he had). Ralph made up some roasted garbanzo beans last night and was planning on stuffing the last half-loaf of french bread (made fresh Thursday) in the basket and calling it good.
I didn’t want Ralph under-fed and over-caffeinated so this morning before the boys left I’d made them a half dozen oven-fresh pita for the beans (I am rockin’ the pita these days), garam masala tofu, hard-boiled eggs, a few slabs of blueberry and strawberry sour cream coffee cake, adding a few apples and ice water. And the jewel of the lunch: I gave to them our one perfectly-ripe peach I’d picked up from the Olympia Farmers’ Market and kept shrined in its own paper bag, untouched, for days. This thing practically peeled itself and I took a tiny taste this morning – perfect, spicy, melt-in-the-mouth.
After the boys left I cleaned up around the house while Sophie played Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the Playstation. What a child she is! She can play and save video games (far better than I; I have no interest however), clean her room, brush her teeth, mess with my iPod playlist (her current favorite is Dolly Parton’s “Touch Your Woman” – Jules, I know you’re going to appreciate that), and make rather sophisticated suggestions for the day’s plans. As we left for the library she double-checked her book list and donned her apparel for the day – in her words, “Panties, then pants, a shirt, and the frog costume”, this latter being a lovely but well-worn hooded towel / froggy-eyed piece handed down from a stylish PT friend. I have also secured a sushi date with my mother for 12:30 where Sophie can further practice with chopsticks.
What else I’d like to do today: take the girl to the new Harry Potter movie. She’s still little enough she consents to sit in my lap and I can smell her and hold her close. Nels and Sophie smell like their father (yes, that’s a good thing) which amazes me because they are different people. Their intertwined dearnesses are all part of some kind of conspiracy those three have that keeps me in loving bondage to them for most my waking hours.