Awake: 7:59am Sleep 7+08 flurries & cold overnight @ Indiana, PA.
This morning I succumbed to Matthew’s request to build a Brio train track with him on the 3rd floor. My 1st inclination was to build something different; something that Matthew would not instantly destroy (2) min after completion. He was loaded with the usual ideas of mimicking track layouts from others. “Dare to be different” I said to him. Let’s build a track so the train would slope downhill by gravity; thus no need to push the engine around the track. Well I’ll be darned; his eyes lit up & he gave that unexpected look of approval.
Easier said than done we found out; supporting the high track took many Legos which we quickly ran out of; in desperation, we began using unused pieces of track, cabinet drawers, office boxes & miscellaneous stuff from the storage room next to us. Matthew was great @ being a tester; putting the train engine with a few cars on the sloping track to check for too high of a speed that could cause derailment. This took some time & patience but success was imminent.
Kathy made a progress visit @ about the 60% mark; she couldn’t or didn’t want to stay. Somewhere around the last elevated turn area & the 90% mark, Matthew, who had been remarkably attentive, cautious, watchful, conscientious, responsible, etc; slightly grazed a very unstable mid-point support junction with his leg…..and half of the display fell like a hundred high speed dominoes crashing to the floor, only louder. Matthew’s big eyes seem to double in size; he didn’t speak & appeared mesmerized while staring @ the big heap of rubble on the floor. Myself, I stayed calm (some of my FedEx training I suppose) & simply replied: “Gosh! We’ll have to rebuild.”
Just then, Andrew came up the stairs; when Matthew saw Andrew, he cried & kept yelling & screaming: NO, NO. And that folks was the end of my “Dare to be different” project.
Dinner by Kevin: Pot roast & potatoes, salad & corn.
Later Nick spends quite a lot of time with both Kathy & me on the computer with extra tips relating to the Firefox browser.
After the Foote boys had gone to bed, Kathy gave Jerry the “fire engine” sweatshirt she had been embroidering for him along with a book of emergency vehicles, esp. fire engines. He seemed quite excited about both and wore the sweatshirt to bed.
For our last evening together with the Foote family for awhile, we all just sat around & casually talked with each other. We leave earlier than usual to get back to the motel & start packing.
Lights out: 12:10am
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