January 11 with KT

Thursday:  I am behind on posting these little tid-bits of my almost-never-read day-to-day journal of what is going on in my "elderly" life; so this might be a somewhat choppy and less than usually prosaic (who am I kidding?!?!?!). Why I am so behind? First, WINTER has arrived and has me somewhat occupied with shoveling and taking care of my Beach House. And ALSO, I am engrossed in reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" (Alexander Dumas), 1,098 pages of a LOT of detail about people that I can't even say that I like in any way whatsoever! There are a few things that I appreciate about the Count himself; but due to the tragic circumstances of his life, he is overcome by hatred and revenge for those who wronged him. Most of the story is about how he gets even with them in the most malicious of ways. The other people are rich, spoiled, self-centered narcissists! But for some reason ... I can't seem to put the book down.

Anyway, I picked Kaity up from Jesse at the usual time on Thursday afternoon. I believe she had a snow day from school (due mostly to ice on the roads, not much snow)--she also had a snow day Tuesday. She was ready to go to my house for a few hours, so we did that; and then we took off for Altitude to rendezvous with Ayden (via his dad, Jorden). 

It had been almost two weeks since I had seen Ayden; however, Kaity has been able to get together for playdates over at Altitude a couple of times before this. We were scheduled to meet him at 6:00PM and we were there, ready to go at 6:00 sharp. However, Ayden didn't arrive until 7:00, which was when Kaity's hour at Altitude was finished. I told Kaity that I would pay for her to stay another hour so that she could play with her good friend; but it was unnecessary! They never called for Kaity's armband, and she was able to stay until 8:00 without any additional cost.

It was good to see Kaity so happy and playing in such a fun way with Ayden and their cohorts. They do a lot of "cops and robbers" kinds of activities, and it is so funny to watch. Other kids start observing their antics and crack up, and then want to be "arrested", sent to jail, escape from captivity, and sometimes SHOT as well (at which time they fall down, with their faces all contorted [simulating PAIN], on the nearest trampoline).

Ayden, quite naturally, is the ringleader of all of this criminal activity; with Kaity his deputy-in-crime. They have so much fun. I love these children so much.

I was thankful tonight to have a much more positive encounter with Ayden's dad. We had a short conversation--very positive (with eye contact included), and I left feeling much better about him as a person. 

I returned Kaity to her mom and then went over to Terry and Ruthanne's to play a few games of Bananagrams (which is our usual routine most nights of the week).