What the Neighbors Sent Over

When me made the practice Rice Krispie pops on Sunday, we had kind of a big passel of pops that were not going to be eaten. So I sent the girls to the next door neighbors house with a handful of pops (plain, undecorated pops- gotta work out some decoration!), and they came back immediately with a shopping bag full of books. The bag has a black marker "N and M" on it, so it was clear that it has been sitting over there waiting to come to our house.

Most of the books were about dinosaurs. There were one or two that we already have (but Little Bear's Visit is so cute, I will be happy to send our second copy to a new home somewhere). There were one or two of those science books. Anyway, one of the books (also about...dinosaurs?) was called When Dinosaurs Die, and it talked in a very straightforward way about shuffling off this mortal coil. It was not about mass extinction, just regular, everyday extinction. They wanted me to read it, and I read it. I kept my cool, even when it talked about Grandmas and Grandpas dying (yikes!).

After we read it, including the page about cremation, I thought it would be a good time to disclose that Luna's cremains were right up there in that box on the piano. They wanted to hold the box, and Muriel insisted for a minute or two that I open it up (which even if I were willing to, which I am not, would require a screwdriver). I told them I considered bringing it along to Minnesota when we eventually get back there for a visit, and spreading the ashes in the Mississippi River, where she first swam and had her best, most epic swims. Girl loved a swim! Naomi countered that we should spread some and keep the rest. So, there's some sentiment in there.

Speaking of pooches, the girls FINALLY like 101 Dalmations. Naomi used to forbid me from playing that movie, because the part where the puppies are struggling through the freezing snow was way too disturbing for her. And of course the whole thing scared Muriel. But somehow after a recent screening, they made peace with everything, or remembered that it all comes out OK in the end, or something. And the way they relish the scene where the farm animals wail on the bad guy brothers is hilarious, because I remember having that same reaction to seeing unequivocal bad guys vanquished in the movies of my childhood. Know any bad guys that should be kicked hard by a cartoon horse?