Saturday

Last night, two friends took me to the Bartell Theater to see Blasphemy! An Unholy Trinity of Musical Comedies, a wickedly funny, albeit tasting somewhat of community theater, show. Yes, we laughed at parodies of Bush and Palin and Adam and Eve. A good conservative, religious Republican might not have laughed as hard as we did, but there was enough ragging on Al Gore to please even someone from the far right. It was a great way to being a new year.

Julia enjoyed singing happy birthday and sang it a number of times, and she was so enthusiatic about my present that she wanted to open it herself.

That and cheese cake to go with Indian food. What a perfect birthday!

Today, we went to see the mime in the Rotunda. This guy was pretty good. He did a sketch with a rock that was excellent. Julia's behavior during the show was very good. She sat, she enjoyed, she laughed, and commented much more quietly than she has before. It might be time to start buying tickets to kid shows.

Julia is slowly becoming my friend again. I got a spontaneous hug today and she went upstairs willingly with me tonight. I know I am the one who demands work and good behavior of her, and for the last few months, she has been prickly with me. I don't take it personally but there are times when it seemed like an awful lot of mother work for little affection. I could use a turn around even if it doesn't last long.

We tried cuddling as per Marilyn's instructions today (although I never asked Marilyn how long is optimal) and it was okay. We did it yesterday as well, and yesterday, Julia was pretty willing because it was a novelty. Today, she caught on that we are going to do this often, and was not as cooperative. We had some soft candies from the Y left over so I used those to break up the enforced embrace. I made the rule that she could have a sweet but she had to look in my eyes while it was in her mouth. She doesn't like my rules but she did it. The eye contact seems to be hard on her but she is coping with it, both during cuddling and when she is getting mad and I count as we lock eyes. We did a bit of singing and peek-a-boo. I don't necessarily think we've found anything new yet. She tried to squirm out of my arms and complains some, but she is not putting up much of a fuss. If she did, I would let her go.