john lithgow is stolen

it all started on a beautiful bad mood friday

both my husband and my child did not sleep well all night long
and that meant i didn't sleep either
i came to work - walked into the vault - and sobbed - long and hard for about 5 minutes
then i laughed hysterically

it was such a release

the rest of the day was *rushed*
i left early to sit in traffic in order to pay for a dumb traffic ticket
i was irritated from my monthly curse
and then i rushed to get to the store, buy an upside down pineapple cake and a last minute halloween costume for my little boy (he had refused to wear his prince tuesday costume that morning) and made it to the school on time
since my little boy was being a real pingo it was appropriate that i found a little devil costume for just ten bucks!
i got to the school and did my obligatory volunteer stint at the cakewalk and then spent the remaining two hours chasing after my little devil boy
he ran wild - of course - eventually falling on his face and cutting his little lip - he ran to me with a sob and arms outstretched - oh baby - i said reaching for him - then connor ran by - in the blink of an eye he was right behind him

it was sooner rather than later that i was wishing for my husband's help - he is so good with adolfo - he certainly has more patience with him than i - BUT my husband had to work late this day and didn't make it to the fair in time to help me fill out the raffle cards - so we just gave the friggin school an additional $20 bucks because - what the hell - i can afford it - right!

and then it happened
saturday night
my lovely husband had gone to the office saturday evening and came back very late
he was catching up on his computer stuff in his office when at about 1:30 AM - we both heard - i from my bed and he from his desk - a car driving by, some kids laughing, then a big clumsy bumping, scraping sound
he jumped to the window seconds too late
they had taken off with john lithgow

WHY

the worst i ever did was tag my name on a bus once or twice - always in discreet places though - not where anyone could see really - but i never took someone's presonal property

MAN

i was determined that my little boy have his john lithgow - i went back to the store and told my sob story - the manager was nice and sold me one of the last ones on display for a mere half the price of the first - now it was a daily task to get the ghost out every evening up on my arrival and put him "to sleep" every night before bed

I am a Chicago White Sox fan

i am excited that the Chicago White Sox has made it to the World Series this year - i find it romantically satisfying that thus far they have outlived the curse - i am looking forward to enjoying a few games drinking a black and tan out of a chilled pint glass and making steamed hot dogs the way i remember

now i am not a typical sports fan - i do not routinely seek out my team's games - as a result i am not familiar with the players - i can't tell you stats and am not familiar with the lingo - it is usually with a passing curiosity that i will pick up the sports pages (and only when these have been discarded on the lunchroom counter) to see what Chicago has been up to

but i am a Chicago White Sox fan

according to Frank DeFord - i am being what a fan is supposed to be - i am sticking to the first team i ever knew - the team that opened up the world of sports for me - now granted - the world opening up was no more than a teeny-tiny crack - but that crack was revealed to me through none other than the Chicago White Sox

i went to the old Comiskey Park to see the White Sox playing - the old concrete and steel "Baseball Palace of the World" with the pinwheels on the scoreboard and Andy the Clown bounding about and where Harry Caray's fame began before he moved north - as a hispanic teenager growing up on the southside i rarely had an opportunity to go anywhere remotely interesting - but when i came home from school with free tickets to the next sox game because i had perfect attendance - my parents could not refuse my one reward - so i took my sister and my friend dolores and we walked the six blocks and bought steamed hot dogs doused with celery salt and hung out at the ball park

these were very quiet games - they were usually in the middle of the afternoon on the weekend and the ballpark was for the most part pretty empty - but we were there - sitting in the nosebleed section for the first part of the game and slowly making our way down to the empty box seats below - no one checking our tickets or caring that we were there - it was exciting to be getting away with something like that - and we cheered whenever there was a need and we booed at whatever opposing team was playing - and we laughed in our freedom and drank fountain soft drinks and ate candy and more hot dogs and flirted with the bat boys - we sat through the entire game - mostly it was because we were not thrilled about going home where chores and bore awaited - and since we were there - we would occasionally tune into the game - and when we did - it was exciting and memorable because suddenly we were aware of the years that had passed in this old park - and at that time i had romantic visions of Casey at Bat (until then, the only baseball reference in my life) and pretended that the White Sox were the Mudville Nine

the bonus - an unexpected familiarity with what the game was about

i went to one cubs game - i was much older though and it was through whatever job i had at the time - we sat on the roof of one of those brownstones that surround the park and ate catered grilled hot dogs and chicken - but the hot dogs were just red hots on a piece of cold bread - not steamed to perfection and i'm sure they were nowhere near the .80 cents we could get them for down south - i couldn't see the game from the rooftop bleacher and was sadly dismayed with the tiny image on the tv that was housed in the weatherproof acrylic box hanging over the ballpark below - there were no bat boys nearby to blush at my gaze - among the cases of beer, there were no fountain soft drinks - i couldn't even really hear the game from my vantage point - at the end of the game - i picked my way through the littered alleyway and into a cab that whisked me away to the southside where i belonged

one thing is certain - i really miss the freedom and heady exhilaration of those days at comiskey park when once in a while - the sox hit a home run and i could stand on my seat and really truly cheer for my home team

tuanos

sometimes i am writing too fast and screw up whatever i am typing - especially during the time s tjhat i haven't hgiven myself a amanicute in so long so my nails are just compeltety our of synch with aach other
today - for example - i wtried to write thanks and instead tyuped tuanos
so i thought what woul dike look like i f i sidn't change any of my tupong errors and left things the wwya that they came out
so ther eis a sample

halloween

it started at Kroger
Adolfo calls it Shopping

Momma, i wanna go to Shopping!

as soon as we pull up to the parking lot - he dutifully sits in the grocery cart - normally he insists on walking which means running after him the entire time - but not today

momma
where's the ghost

he clenches his hands into little fists with anticipation - he curls up in the corner of the grocery cart - i wheel him in

momma - where's the ghost!

i don't know baby

there are blow up pumpkins on display all over the store - a few blow up spiders - last week they had a blow up ghost - eight feet tall - but i don't know where he is today

so we shop quickly - i'm counting my blessings that the task is going so smoothly as i approach the checkout lanes
then adolfo shouts

momma - the ghost is going to get me!!!

he is looking up - i follow his gaze to where i see three - count them three ghosts - blown up and dangling from the ceiling smiling their creepy chillingly identical smiles - the entire time i am making my purchase and paying - my little boy is transfixed - he is fascinated, mesmerized

i don't know what's going on in his little busy head - but now i know i must have one

on my next trip - i make the purchase - i splurge the 30.00 for this giant harmless yard sentinel and as i suspected - my little boy is delighted, excited, and a little fearful

that night he kept watch from the window - was he making sure the ghost was alright? - was he afraid the ghost would come to get him - every few minutes he would announce - momma - the ghost is right there - and then dutifully return to his post at the window

i was afraid bedtime would be difficult - it was not - he slept well and woke up just fine - earnestly heading for his post at the window the next morning to see the ghost

when we took him to school - he walked in - his usual confident little strut - and announced to ms. goldie
ms. goldie - there's a ghost and he's taking care of the house
and she asks him
what's his name
and my little boy announces without hesitation
his name is john lithgow