The Bones of our Family

For the fifth year in a row, my kids put up a Day of the Dead display in our library.




We've been collecting these skeltons since before Dominic was two. We were living in Arizona, and told him he could pick any book at the bookstore. He chose this $28 photo gallery from Pomegranate Press:which we thought was pretty random. Until we took him to Mexico a couple months later, and our little toddler chose a clay basketballing eskeleto.

This was our 2008 display:You can see that our display began a little skimpy.






Here's 2009:







In the past 11 years, we've added so many pieces from Cabo, Tijuana, San Francisco, San Diego, even Portland. People send them to us, too.

And we've made some--some from felt, some clay ones with Steven.

It's kind of a funny family hobby, I guess. But aren't these skeletons great?

Day "Off"

"I was a slug -- so unproductive," I whined to Dave when he called from the fire department today. "I have no idea why I'm so tired. All I did was...take the kids to swimming lessons and the library, cut Daney's hair, finish revising the manuscript and send it back to Holly, make some French toast then lentil soup, do the floors, and hit up Wal-Mart for sunscreen and vitamins."

When I listed it all out, it didn't seem quite so unproductive.

Neither did it come close to the kind of day I usually have.

I wonder what that means...

Vanished

It could've been the slim little Love is the Higher Law. Or Pobby and Dingan. Or even Metamorphosis.

It could've been any one of a thousand skinny reads.

But it wasn't.

I lost the 1074-page Stephen King book Under the Dome.

It's gone.

Seriously gone.

I know it's gone, because this house is only 1,300 square feet, and that book is one foot by one foot its very self.

It didn't slip through the couch cushions. It's not under the bed.

Thirty-five dollars: that's what the library is charging me for it.

The most expensive book I've ever "bought."