It seems like all of a sudden that Penny has learned the power of a kiss.

Now she wants to kiss everything. Her stuffed animals. Pictures in books. Flowers in the yard. The bed. Her blanket. Her favorite shoes. The ducks on her sippy cup. Ants. (Yes, real ones. Lucky for me, she mostly contents herself with air-kisses.)

Sometimes she even kisses Matt and I.

I'm mostly free for most of today, it looks like. I am, in a word, vastly relieved. Yesterday afternoon, I finished the revisions on the first two chapters of Willow Bough; I'm hoping to get through another couple of chapters today. (I'm not really hoping for more than two; chapters 3 and 4, if I remember correctly, are where I need to make the most and biggest changes.)

I'm supposed to have lunch with my dad today. That'll be nice.

I kind of enjoy having him work half a block from me. We try to get together every day to go walking (it works out to maybe three times a week, but it's better than nothing!) and the plan is to go out for lunch every couple of weeks, with or without other friends from our various offices.

I'm such a homebody. My mom once told me, "Your father doesn't want you to live with us your whole life. He wants you to grow up and be independent and have your own home and life. ...Right next door to us would be about right for him."

For large chunks of my childhood, we lived within walking distance of my grandparents. I can remember biking over to their house fairly frequently, just dropping in to visit. There was about three years in the middle, where they moved a whole half-hour away from us, and we only saw them once a month or so, and then we moved into their neighborhood, and things were normal again. I was distraught when they decided to move to Texas.

My dad calls his mom every Sunday evening, and they make sure to talk to my brother and I at least once a week. Matt and I try to make sure Penny gets to visit with my parents at least once every couple of weeks. If Matt's family were closer, we'd do the same with them. As it is, we'll try to get her to Chicago at least once a year.

Yeah, I'm kind of all over the map today. I didn't sleep very well again last night. Though at least it wasn't another serial dream that dragged on all freaking night.

I've been doing a lot of dreaming lately. I wish I could remember them better, when I wake up. I'd love to do some analysis.

Or maybe, given that I was male in both of the night-long serial dreams, I should just be happy that I can't remember more than I do.

--Liz