“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!” from Rissa downstairs. “What? What is it?” I bolt to the top of the stairs. “This! JUST. LOOK. AT. THESE. PICTURES!“ “What are you looking at!?!” “I signed up for the House Hippo Instagram feed…” Oh thank God… She hadn’t found any of those pictures… House Hippos AKA Skinny Pigs AKA Hairless Guinea Pigs. …
“Would you like to see a puppet show?” asks Rissa as we travel into Toronto on the GO Train. “YES!” David and I encourage enthusiastically. Rissa clears her throat and reaches into her bag. “TA-DAH!!!” She flourishes two Compak Tampons in their wrappers – one purple, one yellow. Holding them vertical, she presents them to…
Rissa may look like me, but she gets her perfectionist streak from David. David comes from a long line of perfectionists. On his worst days, David will despair, “I’m not good at anything!!!” David is on crack when he says this. “I’m a Jack of all trades and master of none,” he huffs. “Okay, first…
“So what did you do in school today?” “We had a work period in English.” “Journal entries for your ISU?” “Yep.” “Oh, and in Geography we got to watch a video.” “What kind of video?” “A video about sewers. It’s called Crap Shoot.” “Seriously?” I burst into laughter. “Madame showed you a video about sewers…
Rissa’s clear, perfectly pitched (to our ears) soprano drifts down the stairs. She is in the shower, as she is every night after her dance classes. For the grace that she exhibits as a dancer, this child, after 3 hours of sweating, smells like a dead goat. David and I are both working on our…
“It hurts when I smile,” says Rissa, as we’re chatting before bed. She’d mentioned it earlier in the evening. “The zit?” I ask commiseratively. “The zit,” she confirms – pointing to the right of her nose. She then does a Vanna White flourish. She tilts her head to the side and flashes me her best…
Oh, those iconic 80s dance films…. Quick! Name the winners! For me it’s three Fs, a D and a W – Fame, Flashdance and Footloose – Dirty Dancing and White Nights. Rissa had already seen Footloose, Dirty Dancing and White Nights – I got it into my head that she needed to see the other…
When I look at Rissa now, I can’t remember her as a toddler. Even when I see photos of her from that time, it’s like I’m looking at somebody else’s kid. I know that she was this small elfin child, but that child bears next to no resemblance to the tall, poised 14 year…
“Agnes the camel has three humps…” “Agnes the camel?” “Yes.” “O….kay…” “Agnes the camel has three humps… Wallace the camel has two humps…” “You don’t remember the actual song, do you?” “No.” “It’s Alice the camel, although I have to say that I prefer Agnes now…” “Well, obviously.” “It’s Alice the camel has 10, 9…
Have been experiencing technical difficulties… (will explain later) posting on the fly… Rissa gave me this card for Mother’s Day…