November 6

 Sooooo.tired. Didn't sleep well and six AM came waaay tooooo early. I stumbled out of bed and met the girls at the door. Pancakes? I asked, and received two affirmative answers. But first, hair. A braid for Arya and a ponytail for Claire. While I was brushing Claire's hair, she made mention that we needed to hurry, 'cause I have a kitchen to build! I thought she was being metaphorical, because she had in her hand, a handwritten menu for the TNT Cafe, which included Wadr, and Limonad, and also Peza. I didn't really take her seriously, though, as I snapped the rubber band around her pony tail and let her go. She promptly ran downstairs and I put away the hair stuff and followed after her, so I could make the pancakes. However, and I am laughing in retrospect, when I got downstairs, I found out she wasn't kidding! She had the little Tykes kitchen propped up on the coffee lounge couch and was attempting to take it upstairs. I said what are you doing? She said, I told you. I have a kitchen to build! Will you carry this for me? Well who could refuse such a request. So I hoisted the tiny kitchen on my hip and away we went, she following, with a box of plastic food. 

Back downstairs, I started on the pancakes, but I was having some problems. I was so tired I was dropping things, and knocking things over. Overly clumsy and irritatingly slow, I was chastising myself. In an attempt to flip the cakes in a hurry, I made a rookie mistake. Instead of getting one of the flippers out of the dishwasher and washing it, so I could utilize it, I tried flipping the cakes with a rubber scraper. Well, that didn't go well. The Mr. came in just as I made hash out of the biggest pancake, and took over for me, while I got out the butter and syrup. 

Girlies off to school, I sat in my chair, sandwiched between my heating pad and my warm electric throw, and you won't be surprised to know that I fell asleep. And I had a dream. 

It was one of those dreams where you are a child but you know you are a grownup. I found myself outside Daddy's house, but it wasn't Daddy's house. I heard the ice cream man coming. As I stood there in anticipation, he passed me by! I began gesticulating wildly (grown up me?) at him as he slowed at the corner down the street. He looked back at me and gestured that he would come back around. Quickly, I ran in the house. Daddy, Daddy! The ice cream man is coming! Can I have some quarters? (little girl me?) Daddy was sitting in his kitchen, although not a kitchen I had ever seen, and was doing some kind of kitchen reorganization project. Yes, he said. The money is right over there. I looked where he said, but because his kitchen was in such a shambles (a dream reference to Hurricane Harvey, maybe?, when the kitchen was in such a state of disaster?), I didn't find it immediately, but finally I located the coins. He was still sitting down reorganizing something. I guess it was Tupperware, the kind you get lunch meat in, not real Tupperware. As I stood there looking down at the money, he said Julie, I want to ask you a question. I said, sure, Dad. What is it? A slow Dad pause followed. I waited for the question he had on his mind, knowing it would be of great importance. He said How many lids do you think I should have for each type of Tupperware I have? 

Oh, I said, giving it great thought, although in a hurry to get my ice cream from the ice cream man. I think probably ten lids each. 

And that was when I woke up. And immediately started laughing. TEN LIDS EACH KIND OF TUPPERWARE? HAHAHA. That's a LOT of lids! I told the Mr. and he laughed too. 

Lunch time and my friend called and asked if I wanted to go to Sherman, so I drove, we went. IHOP. Yes. Yum Yum. Pancakes that looked like pancakes, not mishmashed all to heck. 

Home again and another nap. I must have just been exhausted. No work at all anywhere today, although the weather is brilliant, and time is short. We are going to get a hard freeze on Monday, and our heater upstairs does not work. We may end up in a hotel for a day or so. 

Tomorrow is another morning with the girls. Their dad didn't make it back from his business trip when he had hoped, so I guess I should go to sleep early. Maybe I can jump back into that profound dream and catch the ice cream man.