Banished

There I was in the kitchen, minding my own business, having my coffee and just digging in to the NY Times. Jeff had left for basketball.

A sleepy red-head comes shuffling into the room. "Hey mom," she said.

It was nearly 9 a.m. -- late for her on a weekend but she's got a cough again and I was hoping she'd snuggle in there longer.

She comes close to me. Puts her little head on my thigh and hugs me.

"Hey mom," she says. "When I make my cupcakes this morning, would it be ok if you were, uh well, not in the room?"

I looked down, aghast. Baking and decorating has always been our thing. Sure, we let Auntie Jen in on the fun at Christmastime, but day in, day out, we're a baking-decorating team. It is not a solitary sport. Even when she's the primary and feeling her way with new things, I'm in the room as the advisor.

So here I am in the bedroom. Stupid adolescence.

My friend Lisa did brighten my morning with this gem:
http://www.indystar.com/article/20130207/LIFE/302070035/Valentine-s-Day-What-do-women-really-want

That was a fun day. Long before I'd an ungrateful child who wants to be in charge of her own destiny..... :)

Send your warmest thoughts, if you would, to my family in Maine and anyone else in New England today. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone.

If you were with Jeff and me about a week ago in February (and I wish all my great friends who I met afterward had been there too) the photos are a happy retrospective for me and I think for most of you. David Cowan gets credit for most of them.

I did have a great time that day, and just about every day after.....