Somebody Has Stolen My Son. And who are The Mormons?

I don't know who this new creature is. He turned off his Elmo movie, took my hand, and led me to his bed for nap time. Half an hour early. I hear him playing with his toys and happily shrieking in glee. I tremble.

I just received emails from some of my old friends in our last city! I can't believe how good it is to hear from them! They're buying houses and having children and basically growing up. What a pleasure!

I'm still very homesick, even though I'm trying to focus on the good things around this city. There are flowers out right now, for example, and some of them are quite striking. It is very easy to find a good meal, and even a child friendly one. But this place. Argh. It is a soul killer. I am hoping that when we move into The House we'll have our own little corner of the world that is beautiful and lovely and always welcoming.

That is the plan, anyway.

Niko bit his teacher today. She had to tell me about it, but since it didn't break the skin, she didn't have to write a report. I told her I was sorry, and I was. His sharp little shark teeth can really cause some damage! But on the other hand I thought, "Hey, if he's been going to school for this long, and this is your first bite?! Lucky you!" Secretly I congratulated him in my head. Not for biting, of course, but for doing so well that biting was an anomaly.

He also likes to stick his head in the dryer and yell, "Yaaaaar!" Which is an anomaly, too, I suppose.

My writing friend Dawn and I are writing a script together for Script Frenzy. It's another offshoot of NaNoWriMo, (National Novel Writing Month) and the idea is that you write a 20,000 word script in 30 days. You can write in teams of two, if you want, which is what we're doing. It's going to be a spoof disparaging the stereotypical archetypes of literature, and it should be really fun! Which is what we're doing it for, because script writing is not to be taken seriously by us. Anyway, it will count for our monthly contest, which is great! We're all doing really well on that, and that makes me proud. You guys all know that I'm a dreamer, not a doer.

I watched the PBS special "The Mormons" and was severely disappointed. Luke and I decided that we had both expected too much out of it. Like unbiasness. The creepy, dark pictures and eerie music really was all it took to turn me off. "You come off looking like a bunch of nutters," one of my friends told me. I had to agree. Would I let a missionary in my door after watching that first program? I don't think so! We came across as mindless, sweetly naive people who blindly followed power hungry lunatics. I suppose that I should laugh, really, because it is so off the mark. Hardly anybody that they interviewed actually IS LDS, and what kind of view will a torked-off ex-member or unaffiliated historian present? I want to know where the light is. I want to know how they think so many educated, happy, and industrious people could be so easily led. That just isn't the case. But enough of that. I've ranted already to people who love me, and they treat my religion like the tender, valuable thing that it is. It is very precious to me. And really, when it comes down to it, the people I love are really the ones who matter.

Being A Quick Reader Is A Curse

I just plowed my way through the worst book.

The heroine, of course, was the obligatory soft-soul-within-tough-armor lawyer type, and her life and the life of her son was being ravaged by the twists and turns of the case. She was torn between the lover who left her behind twelve years ago, her current love interest...and some old guy who is just getting over the death of his wife enough to make goo goo eyes at her. Who to sleep with? Who to sleep with? Well, why not all three, right? Makes the decision easier.

Oh, yes, and her son was kidnapped at least twice in the book. Because that happens all of the time, you know. I can't tell you how often Niko has been kidnapped. But they always bring him back within minutes with a fruit basket and a beautifully handwritten note of apology.

So! The big meeting to draft up Niko's IEP went without a hitch yesterday. It lasted two hours and my head throbbed mercilessly by the time it was finished, but it is signed, sealed, and delivered. I was impressed at the time people took working on it, and at their dead on assessment of Niko, for the most part. It's never easy hearing all of your child's weaknesses, but we made goals to try and improve them, and that's what mattered. I think we're going to start the picture exchange up again. Gosh, I hate that. SO BADLY. But. It should help him learn words, at any rate.

We just spent a week down in Oceanside, CA for the annual Yardley family vacation. It was a lot of fun, actually, and they rented a gorgeous condo down on the beach. Niko got a real kick out of the waves, and woke up at 5:30 in the morning most of the time, clamoring to go down. As for me, you guys know that I'm not into that much togetherness. It freaks me out. But it was nice, and now we're home, and I can put Niko down for his nap and have all of the brooding solitude that I want until he wakes up. Which is what I live for. I like time to breathe.

And write my own books. Better than this one that I just read. Egads.

Jeitohpalooza!

Luke and Niko have driven off into the glorious future to attend an out-of-town graduation, and I have opted to stay behind. Because I am incredibly tired. And expecting a baby in August, surprise surprise to some of you. This and the constant running in and out of town have just exhausted me, so tonight it is Jeitohpalooza, as it is called. My scintillating, fun filled plans include....lying in bed watching Mystery Science Theatre 3000: The Dead Talk Back. Oh, and eating some ice cream. Because this is my wild night, after all.

When did I ever become so boring? ;)

Luke was playing the piano this morning, and Niko came screeching in with his accordion. You really should hear the two of them together. Wait, perhaps it would be best to not. It would just blow your mind. The Von Trapp family we ain't.

It might be another month getting into the house, which is disappointing, but all right. I need to learn patience. And yoga. Perhaps yoga will lead to patience....no, it has never worked for me in the past. I sit there and think about how inflexible I am, and how I'm wasting time standing like a tall, firm tree when really I should be kickboxing my way out of something. Some of us might not be born to really relax. Of course, I don't believe this. But I do believe that I'm really bad at it. The relaxing, I mean. And also yoga.

I realized yesterday that I had quite a few short stories that are polished and ready to send out. How daunting! How naked! But I am going to do it. I have got much better at hearing the word "No". It isn't nearly as crushing and devastating as I used to think. What a freeing thought!