Today’s blog
Lynn Murphy Mark
The eaglets land today
In a handful of hours I will be circling Terminal 2 at Lambert Saint Louis airport, looking for a place to pull in to the agreed upon pickup location on the upper level. I imagine that the airport is going to be a regular madscape of traffic and travelers and drivers trying to duck the attention of the parking bosses in their yellow vests. The idea is to have boys and suitcases and backpacks and a harried mother in a spot where a hasty entry and exit can be accomplished.
Before that happens, I will take Mollie to her vet’s office to be boarded for a few days. I always tell her she’s going to the spa, because she gets a bath, and her nails done, and another procedure involving her butt. The decision to board her is primarily for her benefit. She has never been around children and she is neurotic enough about new people without adding the energy of two little boy strangers. They are very busy people and I don’t trust her not to nip at them if they get too close to her personal space – which is basically this whole place. They know her well at the vet’s and seem to enjoy her company. I don’t think she appreciates the experience, though, and for that I feel a tad bit guilty.
Yesterday Jan went to Dierbergs and I went to Trader Joe’s to lay in cookies and cereal, cheese and crackers, hummus and pita chips, and so on. I was working off of a series of pictures of the precise items that our guests like to have around. I hadn’t been to TJ’s in a long time. I forgot how much I enjoy shopping there. Despite the crowds, the Hawaiian-shirted workers were as friendly and helpful as I remember. If I lived alone, I would live off of Trader Joe’s products, but many of them are too exotic for Jan. Anyway, we have enough provisions that if we get snowed in we won’t go hungry.
Chance of snow is out of the question. Instead we can expect temperatures in the 40’s, 50’s, and even a couple of days of the 60’s. I notice a lot of cloud pictures on my weather app, and a day or two of rain. Jackie will have access to the Prius to take the boys wherever they can run around and discharge some of their energy. Our small condo simply is not suited for Ninja kicks and rolls, which the boys love to demonstrate to anyone who will watch.
Cameron has already challenged me to a Scrabble game. He and Jan usually team up against me. We also have a “Sorry” game. I have not played that in decades, so the boys will have to school me. I don’t trust them not to mislead me so they have a better chance of winning…you have to beware of small people who like to win. There are a couple of jigsaw puzzles that they can open on Christmas Eve – pictures of their favorite animals. Cameron has always favored lions, while Xander is a committed tiger fan.
Our gift to the boys is to take them and their mom on the Polar Express ride at Union Station on Christmas Eve. We even have matching pajamas in what is called a buffalo plaid. I don’t get that. There isn’t one picture of a buffalo on the jammies. On Christmas day they will have full stockings from Santa. We just have to wait for them to fall asleep before we hang them on our mantle. And don’t let me forget that Cameron wants to raid the Lego sets that live in the basement.
This trip from the East Coast has been affected by the appearance of COVID at the other grandparent’s house, where they usually stay. We are doing our best to work around the need for isolation, and hopefully negative testing and masking, before visiting can happen. I do believe that the spirit of Christmas will be demonstrated the whole time the visitors are here. The day and date don’t matter as much as the gathering together to celebrate each other!