Valentine's Day

I was greeted this morning by my student saying to me, "H V D, Mrs. C."

To which, of course, I said, "H V D, B."

It has been a day of high spirits and adolescent hormones firing. We had a party this afternoon that was really, mostly, a language lesson (we have been studying Bridge to Terabithia, and wrapped up the unit today by watching the movie, while making a Venn diagram comparing similarities and differences between the movie and the book--oh, and while eating a whole lot of junky food and giggling over the Valentines we had received).

Later on, after school had ended, Mommy and Daddy and Spilly put on their best duds and headed to the fancy Italian restaurant. There we met the best waiters ever, who plied Spilly with never-ending maraschino cherries and heart-shaped pasta, and paid her the kinds of compliments to which she feels she should become accustomed.

She held forth on the subject of love, giving it her own unique twist. Tenderly she said, "Mommy, I love you more than this whole building."

"I love you more than this whole building too," I said, feeling all sentimental.

Then the mood turned.

With unexpected menace, she muttered, "Not for long."

Not sure what to expect in the near future. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone.

For now.

The Fabulous New Word

Well, Spilly learned the word "nincompoop" today. She thinks it's great. As I write this, she is singing, "I'm just wild about nincompoop, and nincompoop's wild about me."

Don't know who the nincompoop is, but he should really run, run as fast as he can.

Tomorrow night, speaking of people being "wild" about each other, we are all going out for a romantic dinner for three, at the new Italian restaurant near us. We were there once before, when they first opened. Tomorrow, they are having a special Valentine's Day menu, and the helpful person on the phone is planning to arrange a special kid's menu for Spilly. We shall see what it is, but I bet it will be nice. Just hope she doesn't call the waiter a nincompoop.