House of Leaves

                Lately, I feel like that character in Mark Danielewski's book, "House of Leaves".  He finds, that his house has somehow become sentient...and is growing, and he finds new rooms...and corridors, in his cold, cold house...
               This post may come as a bit of a ramble, but bear with me...it must be leading somewhere...
               Today, I took the bambini's to see 'Megamind'.  They are absolutely nuts about Will Farrell and have been dying to see it (thanks to Mrs. Lopez, Cody's algebra teacher, for funding this outing!)...It did not fail to deliver and they kids thoroughly enjoyed it.  But what got my emotions going during the movie, was the soundtrack...particularly when they played ELO's 'Mr. Bluesky'...instantly, I was transported back to 1977, when ELO had a few hits that Kim and I really enjoyed (Sweet Talking Woman, was my favorite....guess who it reminded me of?).  And I could remember those days, when, after football practice, that song was played often and Kim and I would be walking home together, listening to my 8-track boom box, that probably weighed at least as much as me.  We would also listen to ELO while walking to the Westgate Mall, where we met.  It was about a 2 mile walk and we had plenty of time to hear our music and talk as we winded our way, seemingly aimlessly, through neighborhoods, back alleys, etc, to the mall...It is funny how a song can just bring back an experience, in vivid detail, so bitter sweet...there are many songs that do that for me.
              The bambini's have banded together into a nefarious group (thanks Aunt Sherri for introducing this word into our vocab, we all use it, especially Autumn!).  The watch reruns of Will Farrell on SNL, constantly quoting, none as funny as Antonio, who has nearly every skit memorized - his favorite is the Lawrence Welk show where there is a lady with baby hands and Will Farrell sings.  They have been very good for each other, especially Autumn and Tonio, who hug each other as we drop Tonio off at his classroom and wish each other a great day.  They enjoy staying after school together and hanging out with the principal, Ms. Bryson, who keeps them entertained...and, of course, their teachers, Mrs. Schrantz, who brought in an air popper to make fresh popcorn for her and Tonio, with hot sauce on it, of course.  Mrs. Rudzena took Autumn out for ice cream again this week and has really helped her keep on top of her homework. 
              So, we had fun together today, beginning with breakfast at Jamba Juice.  This place was one of Kim's favorites.  It became a routine of mine to stop there on my way to the hospital each day, to get her a Mega Mango smoothie, her favorite!  Kim so looked forward to that each morning...I order that one now, even though I like the raspberry based drinks better.  The boys and I had oatmeal and berries with our smoothie and Autumn loves their yogurt parfaits.  When we left there, we went over and visited with Angie and Mark...they helped me sort some things out while the bambini's played Wii...their family has been so supportive...then we saw our movie, stopped by Target - we saw Ami Bunch, who has been so helpful in posting my blog while I waited for my new laptop to arrive - and it is working great!  Thanks again Ami!
              Ami also posted the photo of our neighbor, Amy's tattoo...Her and Betsey went down to my friend Dave's shop, Tattoo Artistry, to have them done yesterday.  Betsey's husband Brian, designed the tattoo.  Amy, Betsey and Kim had planned to get a tattoo of a sea turtle as soon as Kim was well enough...so, they kept the sea turtle and added the shooting stars, one for each of them...they stopped by last night to show us - Dave sure does a great job!
             Here's another entry from Kim's journal:
                                                                                                                Sept. 29th, 2003

            Another beautiful day in Tucson!
            Antonio's Batismal outfit arrived today from Italy.  It is a beautiful romper made entirely from Italian silk in ivory.  It is "sailor" styled for our little prince.  It has a little cap to match.  We look forward to his Baptism in early November.  I'll have to shop for special outfits for Cody and Autumn for Tonio's big day!

             So, we find Kimmy in our daily lives, in the sunrise, in the clouds, in the mountains and, of course, in the stars...we just keep moving, looking and watching, gathering strength from each other and those around us...always looking, never wanting to miss a sign...

             Love,
                   Dave

             For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present not the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~ Romans 8:38, 39

   Ok, so my point was, we find Kim randomly throughout our day,  never know where or when...sometimes we just ramble...just like this post!