Fifteen minutes' worth of things rattling around in my head

1. Hi, I'm back. Did you miss me? What a week, huh?
2. There's a tension between "My personal connection to a newsworthy event deepens my sympathy for the people involved" and "Meeeee! Everything is all about meeeee!"
3. So I didn't tell you that I love the Boston Marathon from afar. My uncle placed twelfth there when I was a wee small child. Even though I didn't appreciate for a long long time what a feat that was, I've always enjoyed the buzz about Boston.
4. Except this year. Gotta say, I hope there's never again that much buzz about a Boston marathon.
5. Oh my goodness, did that picture of Martin Richard with his First Communion banner just break your heart? I think of those 8yo smiles, when they haven't quite grown into their new central incisors, as hopeful. My soon-to-be 8yo asked me, "Why are my front teeth so big?" "Because they will chew up your food for you until you are an old old man," I told him. I can't stand to think about Martin Richard's life ending so abruptly, and his smile frozen in time.
6. Note to my future self: don't glue yourself to news coverage of unfolding events. It's just not worth it. You can catch the recap later. It might not be like it was in 2000, when your plan to stay up until the winner in the Bush-Gore race was announced would have meant long weeks of sleep deprivation, but it's not a good idea.
7. I have been reluctant to post silly goings-on from the Gladly house during a week when so many people were facing such un-silly difficulties, but there are a couple of things I want to remember so I will fold them into this post:
8. Stella has an imaginary friend named Sherka-Kerka. He's a boy.
9. She sounds like Bugs Bunny when she tries to say a postvocalic r, so his name is rendered Shoika Koika.
10. This weekend I was alone with the two littles and so I was talking to Pete about what he might especially like to do. Remember, I asked him, when Stella was tiny and we used to go downtown together? I'd pick you up from preschool and then we'd share a bowl of soup at the Irish-ish pub and go to the kids' museum? We haven't done that in forever. (Forever in this context = approximately three years.)
11. He thought this was a great idea. "Oh!" he said, lighting up. "We can revisit olden times!"