Currently This

This past week, my middle girl turned seventeen. She got a lot of good loot and had some friends over. Her biological father came down but she wasn't feeling well enough to do much. He went to Universal Studios with her sister, instead.

We went trick or treating at my in-laws house. I'm concerned for both of them, but mainly my mil. She seems more frail than usual, he seems more tired. It's getting impossible to ignore their age and that one day we will be without them both. You don't know them, but believe me when I say you will have suffered a loss.

My older girl saw Saw II (twice). The second time, Ray Romano was in a near-by line with his children. They were seeing Chicken Little. My middle girl and I saw Prime and it was worth the money. Meryl Streep is always worth watching.

Someone stole my son's Nintendo DS system. I want to hunt that kid down and strangle him. I am amazed at how well he is taking the loss; a year ago, this would have sent him into a melt-down. He is maturing so much suddenly, as though he were only waiting all this time for fifteen to roll around in order to venture away from my side.

We saw a new neurologist, hoping to have him take over my middle girl's case. He refused, saying her case was 'too complicated' and he did not want to be responsible for her care. I am grateful for his candor and for not wasting our time. I also want his licence to practice covered in barbecue sauce for dinner. Given the constraints of the HMO system, we may have to change medical groups (and thus pediatricians) to find a neurologist who is in the state often enough to take our calls.

Lastly, I finished The Quality of Life Report. If you're looking for brain food, this is not the novel. It made good brain candy. I'm a little over halfway through Bee Season which is very, very good.

Brain food, baby.