The reluctant nephew

Behold my nephew, Robbie, aged 1 1/2 years. He is really sweet. He also would like me to sign a paper every time he sees me, guaranteeing that he will not be left alone with me, and I will not try to replace my sister. Since I feel this is insulting, he is suspicious of me unless my sister is within view. This dates back to about the second day after his birth. If you know anything about newborn babies, you know that they can hardly focus on anything. I took him into my (loving) arms, and spoke to him. He gazed up at me and then suddenly, stared at me intensely for about 15 seconds, in a kind of hostile way.

Yesterday, though, he did warm up to me a bit. He likes to watch people dance and imitate them, and also be entertained by silly eating performances. I'm afraid this rapport will be destroyed tomorrow when I babysit for him (for the second time ever). Ah well. In a few years he won't even remember how much he feared me. :-) My plan: to drive out fear with fear. If I play scary monster and chase him around the house, he might forget his parents aren't there to protect him!

Home makeover

My dear little sink unit is about to retire from active life and go to a lonely rest in a dump somewhere. It's about 50 years old, and the porcelain enamel is all worn off the sink, so I can't clean it anymore. The brand is "Beauty Queen," which has given me some laughs. I don't know why, but my landlady chose mauve for the new countertop. Gag-worthy. The previous landlord also decided to put some mauve-toned carpet in the hallway, which almost gave me a stroke. Mauve does not match anything else in the house, and it's going to be horrible with all my primary-colored kitchen stuff, and the cabinets. Oh well. A small penance, I guess. I probably won't notice it after a while. Why, oh why do people make churches with mauvish tile and then plan to put orange stained glass in the windows? Please, no!

I got everything cleared out of the sink unit this afternoon in preparation for the new one; only to find out the custom-ordered counter had the hole cut in the wrong place, so they'll have to wait for a new one. No energy left to move anything back...