WASP-Approved

"White people do love the Home and Garden Show!"

A few weeks ago we were at my older sister's apartment. The radio was playing in the background as I went to the dining room to grab more food. (She's a great cook!) I was in the middle of dishing up more of the sausage stromboli, seasoned with garlic and fresh herbs, when a commercial for the local exposition center came on. It filtered through slowly, I realized belatedly that I heard,

"White people do love the Home and Garden Show!"

I couldn't believe the advertisers had been so straightforward about their target market! It was a bold and pretty offensive move.

Of course, the end of the story is much more bland. After listening a little longer, I realized the announcer had actually said, "Why do people love the Home and Garden Show?"

My question now is: What people, exactly? Is the Home and Garden Show equally appealing to all demographics?

It's a Date

Keith and I actually went out for Valentine's Day. It's pretty amazing, considering we didn't even really go on our first post-baby "date" until early December, when Eleanor was more than 5 months old. Then we went again at the end of January, when Keith's parents were visiting. And somehow we went out again 2 weeks later?!? If we're not careful, we might get used to hanging out, sans Eleanor, once a month or so.

When my older sister first offered to babysit for us in February, the possibilities seemed endless. Once we realized it would be on Valentine's Day, however, we immediately crossed dinner and a movie off our list. Or any other activity that could be construed as romantic in nature.

But in actuality, it took me a really long time to think of a few activities we might enjoy. It's so hard to think of regular, adult activities. I can't help myself from wondering, "How will I cart around a baby there? Will I have a place to change diapers? What about when it's naptime?"

Eventually, I settled on a winter sporting theme. The finalists were: a toboggan run, ice skating, or cross-country skiing. It all depended on the weather (lots of snow? cross-country skiing; pretty warm and sunny? tobogganing; frigid? indoor ice skating rink) and our mood that day.

It turned out to be a pretty nice day. Not too much snow, but a light dusting, some sun, and a temperature in the 30s. So we ended up ..... at the Western Reserve Historical Society Museum. Of course! Keith had run 18 miles that morning, and wasn't exactly feeling up to ice skating. Cross-country skiing was out due to the lack of snow (for the first time in over a month). And I had neglected to check out directions to the toboggan place—it was a 40-minute drive away. A little too far for our time frame.

So I learned that it's always good to have a back-up of your back-up of your back-up plan. After the museum, we stopped by a local coffee shop for hot drinks and enormous peanut butter cookies. It was a really nice afternoon filled with adult conversation and companionable silence. All the same .... there were diaper-changing stations, and Eleanor would have loved it. We might just have to take her along next time.

Setting Some Goals

Alright, I think I need to make a few of my goals public, to hold myself accountable. So here goes:

• I want to run a 10k in the beginning of May.
• I want to lose 20-30 pounds by July.

There! I've admitted it. Since I didn't write any New Year's Resolutions, this will have to do instead. We'll see how it goes .....

Ruff! Just Call Me Houdini

Ruff! Beckett here. It's been a few exciting weeks. The baby human is much more interactive these days. This is good because she shows excellent taste—she smiles and coos whenever I walk in the room. This is bad because she shows excellent taste—she's always trying to tug on my ears and fur.

To get some more attention, I've started a new Friday tradition of escaping. For the past three weeks, I've managed to get out of the backyard every Friday afternoon. Every time the parents think they've figured out how I got out, I find another way!

But just once a week wasn't enough anymore; I've gotten hungry for more freedom. The best was Wednesday morning. I escaped at 6:45 am, before it was even light out! It was pouring rain, everything was wet and muddy, and I squeezed through the closed gate in 2 minutes flat. Dad drove around the neighborhood (making him late for work), while Mom called from the back porch and walked a few houses down, but couldn't go too far because of the baby human.

I finally took pity on them and showed up at the back fence, barking and excited to be out on such a gorgeous day. I was covered in mud from head to tail and in the best mood. And yet, they weren't pleased. Mom made me take a shower and neither one of them would talk to me for the rest of the day. I don't think it helped my case that, while driving around looking for me, the car picked up a nail and when Dad went back out to the garage 15 minutes later, he could hear the air hissing out of the tire.

And yet, I can feel the itch to escape building. They think they have everything figured out, because they have me hooked up to a leash every time I go out. But it's only a matter of time before I escape that, too. Just this afternoon I snuck out through the gate but didn't get very far because I was still leashed to the porch. I'll figure it out, though. Tomorrow is Friday, after all ....

Class of '26

When uploading January pictures from our camera, Keith took one look at this one and said, "I didn't realize Eleanor had already posed for her senior pictures."

She plans on majoring in Adorable with a minor in Screech Monkey when she matriculates this Fall.