Back when she was 6 months old, Monica wound up in the hospital. Her innards were telescoping, eating themselves, an "ileocecal intussusseption." In the baby, it was easy enough to fix with a barium enema, which was heavy enough to push the small intestine back into place. I remembered this the other day, in relation to the "something" they are looking for in the same place in Rich. Perhaps the valve is just a little different, something Monica inherited. I said this to Rich today, and he said, in a tone of great wonderment, "You're worried, aren't you?" Well, DUH. He says he isn't, really, though he adds that he might be in a state of denial. Quesadillas for dinner tonight.

We walked over in the burned-out field along Auburn Boulevard. It's interesting to see the green shoots starting up already in the blackened dirt. There wasn't much else of interest in today's short walk.

I discovered the darling kitties had turned off the freezer. It wasn't unplugged, the switch on the side was off. I had to turn it on with a broomstick. There was still ice in the freezer, so I think the food stayed cold enough, but if I die of food poisoning in the future, you will know why.

I called my uncle to let him know I've been thinking of him, a year after my aunt's death. I also wanted to solve the mystery of the Gift From Casper, which could have been from him or from my cousin to Roni. As I suspected, it was my uncle, so she can send her thank-you to the right place.

I finished reading AMONG SCHOOLCHILDREN. What an inspiring book! (Here is a differing opinion.) What I'd like to know is whatever happened to Chris Zajac? Is she still teaching?
I'd had an interesting talk with Sam about the book. It was out in the car, the "book I'm carrying." Sam looked at it and I told the child the title and author. Then I said, about Tracy Kidder, that he's written a number of other interesting books. Sam was surprised that Tracy could be a boy's name (hmm, I thought my next gender-neutral name would be Alex, but Tracy would do as well!) and I showed the back cover flap with the picture. Then Sam was attempting to read the book, and asked what "too-oooo" was. I checked when I was stopped and then explained why "too" was written that way. The final thing was Sam checking what page I was on (21, though the child thought 12) and then looking at how many pages there were ("thirty four hundred?" "Actually, three hundred and forty.") I was encouraged at all the hints that literacy is finally lurking.