Bits N Pieces

There is nothing earth-shattering to report today. It was an enjoyable and productive day, plain and simple. I got a few things done around the house with Erik in tow this morning. I completed a load of laundry, scrubbed the shower, made some coleslaw (I gave Erik a break from the dreaded food processor and shredded the carrots with my vegetable peeler instead), and printed out work to be delivered. We read a couple truck books before Erik went down for his nap, and I worked a little bit before Bev came for Erik's home session. Bev brought over a ball that made a very loud noise when it rolled to try to further desensitize Erik to sound. He is still terrified, but curiosity now overrides fear in most cases (except for the food processor). Erik tolerated it with a little bit of shaking and backing up but no tears. Did I mention he can BACK UP now? There are so many things he is doing now that I cannot list them all.

My mother came to pick Erik up after his session, and I made the rounds at the medical center to pick up and deliver work before heading home to work some more. My parents were out and about, so they dropped Erik off around 5:00. I had just finished everything and was enjoying a nice glass of red wine with my feet up for once. Brian arrived shortly thereafter bringing gifts of raw meat and Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia (what a guy), and I assumed my role as reigning BBQ queen, perfecting my burger-grilling skills. Erik ate his Gerber #3 spaghetti from a jar (first ingredient: carrots), turning his nose up at even the french fries we were eating. How can you not like potatoes?

There are a couple good forest fires flaming away here, and I was hoping to get a nice shot of a blood-red sunset behind our mountain backdrop; but the wind is sending the smoke and resultant pretty sunsets up north instead. I snapped this photo of Gracie and Erik instead playing in our bathroom this afternoon. Gracie insists on drinking out of the faucet in there at all hours of day and night. She is a bit on the rotund side and occasionally finds herself trapped like a beast in the La Brea Tar Pits (still not as hilarious as when she gets trapped between the wooden bars on the banister). Erik knows Gracie weighs nearly as much as he does and doesn't touch her but is fascinated by her and smiles at her all of the time. It is funny but sort of sad, as facial expressions are generally kind of lost on a cat. Notice the Fisher Price sponsored debris/toy field at the bottom of the tub. Thankfully, I didn't find my cell phone under the cat's bottom this time.