misc.

at the friendship club parish luncheon, ralph and i were the only ones under the age of 65.  ralph was charming the folks with his antics and his angelic smile while they all oooed and aaaahed. he scrambled up his chair, across my table place, onto my lap and whispered in my ear, "what are all these old people doing here?"

lionel won a trophy in a chess tournament today, even though the rest of the chess club had been playing since kindergarten, and it consisted of 1, 2, 3rd grades.  he skipped it a 'go-see-it' badge in cub scouts in order to play in the tournament.  you should have SEEN his face all lit up!

lately, cecelia and lainey have been struggling with the pressures of 3rd grade girls and have grown distant.  last night, i brought lainey home from school with us and the girls did their homework together, snacked together, played together.  at bedtime, cecelia and i were sitting on the couch chatting about the day and she was telling me how great it was to hang out with lainey and how they had gotten past their differences.  she became DEAD serious, looked at me, and said, "NOTHING will break our friendship, mom.  nothing will break our friendship."  and looked away, deep in thought.  *sigh* i remember those days!