Free parking

My long day at work started with a pleasant surprise. The machine that time stamps the parking tickets was not working. There were guys (5 of them) trying to fix it with no luck, so they gave me a blank parking ticket and told me parking would be free today. Yea! It's only $9, but it sure made my day!

My mom called me at work this morning to tell me that Luciana had a little accident which partially knocked her top front tooth out. She was pretending to be a dog playing frisbee with Grant. When Grant pulled the frisbee away from the 'dog', the 'dog' didn't let go. The tooth ended up stuck sideways and bleeding profusely. I told my mom to put an ice pack on it and let me talk to Luciana, who at that point wasn't about to let anyone touch it. Had I been in Janesville, I would have rushed home, but being in Madison meant an hour before I could get to her, and something had to be done before then. That killed me. After trying unsuccessfully to logically explain why she should let Grandma try to fix it, I could see that was not going to happen. Then I resorted to the tried and true--bribery. I told her that a tooth that was partially knocked out AND required bravery to get it fixed was always rewarded by the tooth fairy. How much of a reward, now... well in my mommy agony and desperation, a number just came out of my mouth--$10. What the hell did I just say? $10? Too late now. That's one of those things that, once out there, cannot gracefully be changed. That did the trick. She bit down on the ice pack as hard as she could, numbing it, and loosening it further. My mom was able to pull it out then. My poor, poor baby--that really hurt her. Once the tooth was out, the profuse bleeding stopped. She was fine after that, and took her tooth into the bathroom to brush it nicely for the tooth fairy. It's now wrapped in tissue in her little treasure chest, waiting for the ridiculously high bribe money from the tooth fairy. My mom took her to Rotary Gardens to have lunch with Mark, so she got to show Daddy her new gap right away. I got a shot of the new (fake) smile tonight. The faint brown spots on her face are remnants of the freckles she drew on last night with a marker.

We enjoyed the evening outside tonight after dinner. Mark did some pruning, I did some weeding, and Luciana built fairy sinks and other accoutrements in the alpine garden. Dejanique stayed in the house on the phone. It is now officially spring, as I have painted my toenails. I am ready!