Elcie out door - next shift starting 6:50 a.m.

Afterthought - I'm going to keep up with the ways I'm losing it. It's a party - anyone is welcome.

How come I can remember that the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066 but I can't remember if I put laundry detergent and softener in the machine? Now I may have put it in twice.

How come I can remember (fill in the blank) but I can't keep the girls' names straight? I start with Elcie and work my way down or I just say "whoever you are". I can rely on them to tell me.

One of my on-line friends was commenting yesterday about his toddler and the adorable things coming out of his mouth. Elcie, who is 12 going on 20, engaged me in an Alice in Wonderland conversation about angels and did they watch over her in the bathtub. She's maturing quickly and was worried about her privacy. I said something about too many kids taking baths at the same time for the angel to focus on her and that no one on this earth really knows much about angels. She countered with "Angels in the Outfield" and I reminded her that movies are fiction. Possibly so are angels, but I won't get into that now. She'll make her own decisions when she's older.

I lost my train of thought along with the other things I seem to be losing these days. What I wanted to tell my friend from BB, if I hadn't been saying far too much already, is to enjoy his toddler and listen, listen, listen. I know he knows that so maybe I'm just saying it to myself. Years (and generations in my case) go by so fast. In a year or so, my goofy conversations with Elcie will have changed and, if she's like many teens, I'll have to drag three words out of her. I'll never forget the "angel" conversation and he'll never forget the first conversations with this toddler, no matter how many kids we have raised.