A visit

I nearly got eaten alive by mosquitoes yesterday. Once the sun sets, these bloodsuckers pour out of whever they hide in the day in droves. Elizabeth asked me to dinner and we had pizza, orange juice, and good conversation on the front steps of her home.

It was probably the last visit to her Northwood Housing abode. Now that her novel has been sold, her husband, Georgi (happy driver of my Rabbit this summer - after driving nothing but an MPV for years, switching to a little Golf was like leaping onto a motorcycle for him, he declared) will get his turn at graduate school. He'll apply for a Masters/PhD program in computer science here at U of M, which means they'll be here for another three years. Over the summer, they bought a house and will move at the end of August. I'm sad they won't be my north campus neighbors any more, but I'm happy they're going to be homeowners and that they'll have a pretty house with honeysuckle growing over the walls, even a garage too! They showed me pictures and I can't wait to visit once they're settled in.

The kids - Tony, Yanka, and Kiril - were wild and crazy and sweet as usual. I continue to be amazed by Elizabeth's gentle but firm discipline of the children. She's been watching over a neighbor's son too so that's four little people she has to care for. And four kids will have their ups and downs. By sundown, the children were tense and often cross with each other. Elizabeth never once raised her voice. She spoke to them like adults and never had to physically pull them apart. They heeded her words and eventually continued their play despite their differences. When Kiril wanted something, his mother would direct him to the object or direct him to ask one of the others to help him get it, and he did so with no whining. What an independent little chap! He had an operation this summer at Motts Children's Hospital and Elizabeth told me how brave he was. A few days before the op, the doctors gave him a video to watch - a little puppet was due for surgery and helped instruct children on how it wasn't anything to be afraid of. Elizabeth also said the doctors had asked her if she wanted to put on scrubs, carry little Kiril into the operating room, lay him down, and hold his hand while they put him under general anesthesia. When they entered, all the staff involved in the operation greeted Kiril cheerfully and really put him at ease. He was sent home three hours after the operation and playing in the yard that very afternoon! What a guy.

I gave them some little presents I'd bought over the summer and they whooped like it was a surprise Christmas. Kiril said of his new little red truck - "This is my favorite truck now!" - and Yanka fanned herself with her Hello Kitty fan like a true empress. Later, Georgi, Elizabeth, and I allowed ourselves to be subject to the creativity of young hairdressers. I had marigolds and geraniums planted in my hair while Georgi was given a mohawk. I survived, thank goodness.

The bug bites, I didn't quite survive. Still scratching furiously.

Posted by Monoceros at August 25, 2004 5:08 PM