Elaine's passion for raisins was short lived, and, now, she can't abide them. Like me, she will manage to avoid each and every raisin, even if they're hidden in another food. It'll be interesting to see if her dislike of them is as short lived as her love of them, or if she's going to share my life-long loathing of the hideous things.

In other culinary news, our favorite local Thai restaurant is obstinately on vacation. So far, we've had to replace them with Thai food from the mall -- which might have been better if we'd ordered better -- and Indian take-out which is delicious, but not Thai. I miss Chang Thai, and I hope their vacation is over soon.

On the writing front, I may have actually figured out the plot for "Hot Chocolate For The Unicorn." I wrote the first few pages of this story six or seven years ago, and I've poked at it numerous times since then but I've never managed to figure out a story that will work inside the frame. It's such an odd combination of mainstream and High Fantasy. The goal is to make the actual story magical realism, but it's very tricky to balance it there given the diverging restraints placed on it by the frame.

We've decided it's time for Trudy to start earning her keep. To this end, we think that she should start a Hawaiian shave ice stand. Who better to buy a frosty, pineappley shave ice from than a floppy-eared black lab? Preferably wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Trudy would look good in a Hawaiian shirt.

The child can climb up stairs now.

And Daniel has spoiled her for cheerios. She cries when given cheerios, because she only wants raisins.

Swing dancing makes a lot more sense to me with a baby strapped to Daniel's chest. She laughs, squeals, giggles, claps, and grins, having the greatest time. And everyone else has a great time watching her. Everywhere I looked, I could see Elaine's grins being mirrored back at her. One woman asked us if Elaine was going to win American Idol when she's older; a man came up and told us how much his wife enjoyed watching us; and another of the dancing couples assured us that we're great parents. It's amazing how Elaine can radiate her happiness out like that. I'm not a big fan of dancing usually. I'm kind of clumsy. But swing dancing as a threesome with both Daniel and Elaine is a lot of fun.

Today was Patrick's birthday. We walked around Green Lake in memory of him, and we ate his last two peeps. We didn't bring Trudy, because that's as he would have wished it. Patrick wouldn't want to be remembered by Trudy being given a walk. He would want to be remembered by Trudy not being given a walk. (Besides, she's not really up to a walk that long and challenging yet.)

We've reached the time of year again, apparently, when Elaine eats all my food. Last year, she absorbed anything I ate directly, leaving me always hungry. Now she chirps and cries for bites of my food like a little bird, and she can eat a shocking amount of whatever I happen to be eating. Yesterday, to protect my hamburger from her, I had to fix a half bun with cheese and slices of tomato just for her. She had to be fed it in pieces, but she most definitely preferred having her own faux-burger to being fed something mushy from a spoon.

Tonight, I'm going to plant my flower-pot garden again. I haven't had one in about two years, and I've missed it. We bought a geranium, three marigolds, an impatiens, something fancy looking, and something fierce looking. They don't really go together. The colors look all haphazard. But, I'm not really decorating with them. Flower-pot flowers are more like little pets to me than decorations, and it'll be nice to have my flower-pots filled with funny, leafy, colorful creatures again.

We're back from a long weekend in Oregon. There're always about a million things to do when we get back from a trip; even more so with VKNW coming up. While we were down, I got to celebrate my first Mother's Day AE. There were chocolate pancakes with chocolate syrup, pecan whipping cream, and strawberries. It's a recipe from my cookie cookbook that I've wanted to try for years, but they always seemed like too much effort. Daniel made them, and he says they weren't too bad. So, chocolate pancakes may become a Mother's Day tradition.

It feels like summer today.

Elaine and I spread a blanket out on the grass in the front yard, and she got to pull up fistfuls of grass for, pretty much, the first time in her life. After about ten minutes of concentrated grass-uprooting, she stopped to declare, "Guh, guuuh, guuh!" That's her word for things she likes.

Before that, Trudy let us take her on a walk. I've been working on her training ever since Patrick died. I had Patrick trained to walk perfectly on leash, but Trudy didn't spend two years walking around Green Lake almost every day as a puppy. So, when we started her training in the fall, I was lucky if she didn't pull me over. Today, we made a five or six block circuit, and, since she and I are equally strong, that success was entirely dependent on her good behavior. That fact was particularly driven home when we passed a man with a pair of Shiba Inus. We had to stand and wait for them, because Trudy wouldn't let me walk away from them, and I wouldn't let her walk toward them. So, until they went by, we were at a complete stand off.

Living in this house, summer has developed a taste: rosemary. There are several bushes of rosemary in the front yard, and, in the summer, we pick it to put on pasta. I will very much miss those bushes when we move.