JoAnna leaves for work early. I drive Andy to daycare, then begin to work on the list of 15 chores I have assigned to myself. Laundry. It's a nice enough day to hang a lot of stuff on the line. The garage. I begin a tidying up process that will continue into the weekend. Closets. I collect all the unused wire hangers and stuff them into a plastic bag and then designate some of my wardrobe items for rummage.
When Eddie wakes up from his morning nap and decides that he's not ready for lunch, I take him to the library to see how many Beatles CDs are waiting to be checked out. Eddie's not in a particularly friendly mood. He allows Sharon to hold him for awhile, but his face slowly turns from a show of contentment to perplexity to anguish.
I'm halfway to JoAnna's office when I realize I've forgotten to bring along the bank statements and bills. I turn around to retrieve them. When I present them to her, she determines that she can deal with our household budget at a later time.
It's quite an afternoon for Eddie. He gathers up compliments effortlessly. As we are walking along East Mifflin, a woman walks up to us and effuses, "What a doll!" Obviously, she is not talking about me. On the afternoon visit to Mom's eighth-floor office (the one without the spectacular view of the east side of Madison as offered by ceiling-to-floor windows) two women in the elevator go absolutely ga-ga over Eddie. At Coyle, where I sign our carpet contract, a woman compliments Eddie on his "killer eyes".
I drop off Baby Studly at home and then do some shopping: Prangeway, Apollo, Cub Foods. I can't find the postcard protectors I need to store my travel notes.
Back home, I am soon confronted with an inconsolable Eddie guy. I have to hug him to my chest to keep him quiet, but that keeps me from preparing supper. I lay him in the playpen and he fusses a while longer. It takes him a half hour to regain his usual sunny disposition.
Supper is great. Pork chops and sauerkraut, steamed red potatoes and green beans. JoAnna cleans up and I watch the boys in the TV room. JoAnna offers Barb our bedroom to watch the U.S. Open tennis tournament, so now I feel like a prisoner in my own home. I don't want to join Barb because her bursts of applause sound like a game of Patty Cake on amphetamines.
Once Eddie's in bed and Andy's absorbed in a second viewing of his newest video, I crawl into the lower bunk and try too hard to fall asleep.
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