Pizza Hut

Danny has it all figured out.

Kathy made some really good pizza for us the other night. Danny told Kathy the next day his plan. I’m not sure how long he has worked on the plan.

He decided that it would be good if Kathy worked at Pizza Hut. That way, he explained, he could go to Pizza Hut and ask the manager: “Can I have a pizza made by Kathy Cashel?”

The manager would ask him, “Who are you?”

“I’m Danny Cashel, her only boy.”

The doubting manager would ask, “What’s your mom’s phone number?”

Danny would quickly say, “985-8090”.

The manager would then ask, “What’s her other kids names?”

“Nicole, Kelly, and Danny and a new baby,” Danny would say.

The manager would ask, “Does she have a dog or a cat or a bird?”

Danny would answer, “A dog.”

“What is the dog’s name?”

“Charlie,” Danny would say with confidence.

“Is it a boy or a girl dog?”

“A girl,” Danny would say, knowing that this is one of the trickiest questions since his dog’s name seems like a boy’s name.

“What’s her middle name?” the manager would finally ask.

“Michele,” Danny would say uneasily because he has a hard time remembering this.

Then the manager would let Danny have one of Kathy’s pizza for free. Danny would pay for the drinks and the games.

Later, I asked Danny why he couldn’t just ask Mom to make a Pizza. Why does he have to go to Pizza Hut?

“Because they have funner games,” Danny explained the obvious.

Sounds like Kathy will have a very protective manager when she works at Pizza Hut. That’s a good thing. You just can’t trust any kid that walks through the door asking for a Kathy Cashel pizza.

Christmas Is Coming Soon

Christmas is coming! Mom is supposed to have the baby soon. Toaday I’m baby-sitting for Eric and David. Dad says if I potty-train Kelly, he will give me $25.

Ithink I could do it. I play the clarinet in band. It’s so fun.

–Nicole

Ridgeway Tent by Kelty Silver Lake

Danny and I went camping with Jim and Nick Menson up to Camp Rainy Mountain. This was Danny and my second time, and Jim and Nick’s first time camping.

It was also their first time going to Waffle House which they thoroughly enjoyed.

So that I can throw away the tent box (which I did not need this time for the picture on front), I thought I would record the key information:

The cover dome’s blue panel goes in front.

Ridgeway by Kelty

Silver Lake

10′ x 10′ Family Dome Tent

Sleeps 5

Center Height: 6′

Model No: 81914010

Content:

Tent, fly, frame, stakes, carry case, guy lines and owner’s manual.

Roof and walls: Lightweight, rugged nylon taffeta fabric.

Fly: Water-resistant urethane coated nylon taffeta.

Door: Oversized dutch door with screen window for easy entry and extra ventilation.

Windows: Large inside zip windows for convenience.

Frame: Shock-corded fiberglass frame for easy set-up. No loose pole pieces.

Mesh Pocket: Convenient storage for smaller items.

Pig On Pewter

When I went to MacWorld in Boston, Don Voshall saw a lot of drawing programs that he had John Watson buy.

I installed Painter at home, and we’ve all had some fun with it. Kelly asks about the pig drawing almost every day. She watched me draw it from her Mother Goose picture/music book that she got for her birthday.

I think she feels some ownership of the pig. “Drawing of pig on pewter?” she’ll ask, wanting to see my and her pig.

MAD_Pig.png Smeared_Flowers_by_K.png Monster_by_Danny.png Snot_had.png Ks_Apple_Banana.png Sunset_by_Nick.png Kathy_by_J.png

The Pink Stick

This morning I came down to Kathy reading the paper at the breakfast table. She seemed tired or in thought, so I asked her if anything was wrong.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said, which is what she always says whether or not something is wrong.

I asked her if she felt ok. She she said she felt fine, but then she hesitated! AH HAH! I sat down and asked her what was wrong.

She admitted that she was a bit worried because it had been about 60 days… woops. After some discussion, we agreed to take a test. I mowed the yard, and Kathy went to the grocery store to pick up some lunch things and a home pregnancy test.

After lunch, I asked her if she wanted to take the test before or after Danny’s All-Star game that afternoon. Nicole overheard me ask.

“Test? What test?” asked Nicole. “A pregnany test?” she said worried. “Are you going to have another baby?” She was almost panicking. I tried to steer her off this course of thinking, but not very successfully.

Kathy and I went upstairs. This new test involved only a simple stick. None of the chemical vials and critical timing involved in our previous tests I performed for Kelly and Danny. In fact, there was nothing for me to do but read the instructions several times. We were looking for a pink or purple strip.

Meanwhile, I found out later, Danny and Nicole sat downstairs discussing who would get what room and who would have to live in the basement.

As in the past, Kathy doesn’t do any half way jobs on being pregnant. The strip turned pink almost immediately. We didn’t have to wait the proscribed three minutes.

Needless to say, child number four has caused quite a bit of commotion. Nicole broke down smiling and crying at the same time when we came down and confirmed her earlier intuition. When asked to explain, she said she is very happy to have a new brother or sister but she is also very sad because she will have to share her room and baby sitting will be much harder.

I asked Nicole how she thought she might react when she finds out about her own first child. I’m afraid she might slip into a coma.

We then all went upstairs to meet the new addition, which is just a stick now. Danny and Nicole were very interested in the stick. Kelly wanted to play with her new sister/brother the stick, but of course I couldn’t let her.

When I told Kelly that Mom was going to have a new baby, she took it very seriously and gave Kathy a serious look. I’m not sure she understands what it means, but she recognized that whatever this was all about, it was important.

So now I have to finish the basement and find at least one vehicle with six seatbelts. Danny and Charlie should be moved in (down) by Christmas.

Nicole and Danny on Same Team

Nicole and Danny competed for the first time on the same athletic team tonight. Nicole missed the first swim meet of the season because of her trip to Washington D.C. with Grandad and Gramalie. At that meet, Danny swam freestyle and backstroke. He came in a very close second in freestyle. Then he swam a very graceful backstroke (much to my amazement) and beat everyone else. In fact, his backstroke was two seconds faster than his freestyle! Danny’s backstroke time was best in the county for the week.

Tonight, Nicole got a second place for swimming on a relay team. She scored 4th in both freestyle and backstroke, which is pretty good since she is on the young side of her age group. I was impressed with how she maintained a good stroke for both laps. She has a little work to do on not smashing her head on the turn (ouch) and not touching the bottom towards the end! (She didn’t get caught.)

Danny (who is on the old side of his age group) got a first place in freestyle and backstroke. This time his freestyle was faster.

It’s good to see them pull for one another. Brothers and sisters don’t always do this day to day. Sometimes it takes a little pressure or competition to get them working together.

Kelly Story #247b

med-Visoflora-spathiphyllum-1105.jpgKathy’s Peace Lilly bloomed for the first time this year. The white flower shoots out of the leaves and has one large, white leaf. At the center is a hard white finger with little nubs.

Kelly was investigating these little nubs and said: “Teeth!”