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2004-03-15

[written early Sunday afternoon]

I'm in the parking lot of the grocery store. Clay conked out on the way over and I'm letting him sleep a bit before waking him up to shop.

Spent almost all of yesterday outside with B, clearing the pine needles and leaves from around the house. This is at the advice of the fire chief who visited last weekend when our neighbor inadvertently set her house on fire. We had to move a large pile of firewood and to rake and bag tons and tons of pine needles and leaves. My knees are sore today from all the squatting and we aren't even half done. When we get home, there's more in store.

Friday night we went to the new Target, the first one in our town. It opened a week earlier and we were pretty excited to check it out, though I couldn't think of anything in particular we needed. This didn't prevent us from spending $118. Of course, there were certain things we realized we needed once we saw them (such as a new fire extinguisher to replace the one B used--in vain--last weekend and new smoke alarms), and a couple of toys for Clay, and some purchases that feel just so Excessive American, such as a new dish drainer and tray that are more esthetically pleasing than our old, perfectly functional dish drainer and tray. The new set is stainless steel and quite attractive and about twenty bucks. B wanted it and I can't say I'm unhappy to have them. I guess when/if the time comes that we really need to tighten our financial belts, we will.

We're having some concerns about Clay's daycare situation. Things have been weird all week. Though he hasn't resisted going in with the kicking and screaming intensity of last Tuesday, B says he doesn't seem happy to arrive each morning, and does hesitate at the threshold. Very much in contrast to the way things were before last week. We wonder if they have perhaps started to treat him differently, less nicely. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem too far fetched an idea, and B and I both arrived at the thought independently. We've heard the director badmouth other parents and even treat some of the children not particularly nicely. Clay and we have always been on her good side so we've tolerated it but now it looks as though perhaps the tide has turned.

We ask ourselves what caused this, or rather, I wondered aloud and B pointed out that she doesn't like having to deal with anything extra, anything out of the easy ordinary. And Clay has been going though a pretty oppositional stage lately. Nothing out of the ordinary two-year-old range as far as I can tell, but maybe it's enough to make her want to edge him out. It's pretty disturbing, especially since the alternative place I've checked out only accept new kids once a year, in August. That means several more months of this. B even asked Clay the other day if he liked school, and Clay said no. Then B asked if Clay would like to go to a different school and Clay said yes. Of course, one takes everything a two-year-old says with an enormous grain of salt --at least, we do--but it's hard to dismiss that out of hand.

And what else? Oh, I don't know. The weather is very beautiful this weekend--around 60 and sunny, perfect to be outside. B is talking about building me a 12x16 screened-in room out back. Our old house had a screened back porch where I practically lived for much of the year and I really miss it. My favorite place to be is outside but with a roof over my head. I just love it.

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