Family Portrait!

Well, after the big parade through town the day before, all of the new critters were completely exhausted. They had been trekked around the highways and the byways in my arms, meeting and greeting everyone, and making the neighbors laugh!

So it was a somewhat quieter crew the following morning, when our Welcome Wagon (Tiny Tiger, Little Bear, and Alex the Alligator) came over to do some more warm welcoming and also pose for a family photo.

In this photo you may see the new Sock Monkey, and the Mama polar bear and her two sweet little babies. The babies had been attached to Mama by plastic strings, which I cut. Now they are free to have adventures on their own, hooray.

(I am sorry I did not fit the bright red, happy happy, Stevie Nicks Christmas angel pillow into this shot but I will try to feature it in a future Blip.)

Look at Sock Monkey there, trying to act like a Big Daddy to all the other critters. Now, isn't that special? So my soundtrack song is this one, a big favorite of mine that makes me think of my own sweet Dad (who actually IS Big Daddy to all of us six kids - his "kiddies," as he calls us - and a whole bunch of people well beyond that!): Big Daddy, by John Mellencamp.

Also of note 1: Meltdown. I had a meltdown on this morning due to the heat and bad memories. My big sister Barb died on the hottest day of 2019; it was 97 in Harrisburg that day. Somehow the heat took me right back to that day, and I struggled with some kind of very bad body memory of my sorrow. But I am typing this on a much cooler day, and everything will be all right, it's gonna be okay. (Cue: Wailin' Jennys, with Light of a Clear Blue Morning.)

Also of note 2: Movie Trivia. The Sock Monkey reminded me of a silly line from the film Multiplicity, which is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen, and features Michael Keaton in not just one but FOUR starring comedic roles. There is a line where the one character asks, "Did you bring me a monkey, Steve?" Highly recommend it if you've never seen it. Well, we've got a monkey now, Steve! (My husband's name is Steve, which makes it funnier! Yes, I said this to him.) Also: "Now, let's all review Rule #1!"

Also of note 3: Playlist. I don't even know how to fit this story in here, but I've been trying to build the ultimate 80s playlist, and I discovered that I do NOT, in fact, have any Psychedelic Furs on it. Where is my Furs? Where is my Pretty in Pink soundtrack? Well, turns out that those were things I had ON CASSETTE. And so my brain is thinking, "Oh yeah, we already OWN that," and checking it off the list, but ha ha, SORRY, GIRL, not in a format we can access! And so it is that I ended up buying a best-of collection of the Psychedelic Furs on Amazon, including this song that I love (that I used to own, well, still do on a cassette called Midnight to Midnight, but that cassette "has issues" according to a note I put on it), and so I'm listening to them now: Heartbreak Beat!

Also of note 4: Coping. And now you see how I manage my sorrow and my anxieties and my everything with two of the sweet balms of life: movies, and music! (I also polished my toenails bright purple, which helped a bunch.) Oh, and I can't leave out love, for I am surrounded by love; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over!