catching up

Really, I thought I was going to be able to blog all last week, after sitting in class from 8a-4p with a chaser of parenting duties. What can I say—I am delusional. I had my last class for the Mini Masters yesterday and rewarded myself with a fun evening with Caryl and lots of book talk. After volunteering in Winston’s classroom this morning, I decided to spend the rest of the day decompressing. I need some reflective time to process my new learning, as well as to recall the details of two whirlwind weeks leading up to this very moment in time.

But, most important, I wanted to reconnect with my handsome husband, who has done major dad duty. And, I missed my feller. So we made a lunch date for ourselves at the Khyber Pass*, an awesome Afghani restaurant in St. Paul. Before we went to lunch, however, we watched an episode of Classic Album on VH1 Classic. And, so it came to pass that we were sitting on the couch in the den, minding our own business, in utter awe over the genius of Daniel Langlois, oh and the members of U2 (Joshua Tree was the featured album). Occasionally, I’d get lost in my own reverie about 1987 and about seeing U2 in Dublin, when one after another, our cell phones started ringing. John answered his cell: the school nurse. Never a good thing.

The nurse reported that Winston had a small accident—got hit in the head with an icy snowball (apparently his “little friend” was in quite a bit of trouble—can't wait to hear who it was). Win was fine. No need for us to pick him up. John and the nurse chatted for a while. From my end, I could hear John laughing. A lot. After he hung up the phone, John related the following:

Winston to the nurse: Can I tell you something?
Nurse: Sure. What is it sweetie?
Winston: My dad is the hottest person my mom has ever met.

[Yes, my eyes are bugging out in horror as I’m trying to imagine in what context I’ve ever said this in front of him. Bracing myself now for the follow up.]

Winston: Yeah, he sweats a lot.

Apparently the nursing staff got quite a chuckle and just had to call us. I’m glad they did, cuz it’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a long time and I'd forgotten how much I like to laugh hard.

*I’d like to wax rhapsodic about the lunch buffet at Khyber Pass, which, in my opinion, far exceeds any other local lunch buffet. For one, all of the food tastes fresher, by far, as well as being hearty and warming. Today’s buffet held a couple dals, a chicken curry, curried potatoes, eggplant, meatballs, to name a few highlights. But, I mostly go for the hummus. One day I will summon the courage to ask Amil for the recipe.