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2/22/1999 Drinking StarsI find myself getting so upset with Daniel sometimes. When's he's by himself he is a joy. He asks insightful questions about the way things work, he's playful and affectionate, and he spend hours building amazing constructions with his K'nex and his Legos. But when he's around his younger brothers, the constant bickering and sniping set my nerves on edge. I've realized what disturbs me the most about Daniel's behavior is that he possesses two of my own disagreeable traits: irritability and impatience. Is it the less than stellar example I've set for him or is it genetic? I need to learn how to cope with them when these fights start to escalate. This morning Stephen decided he didn't want to wear the blue shirt I'd picked out and instead chose a shirt with white, green, red, and purple stripes. He made quite a picture with this striped shirt topping his multi-colored corduroy pants. In Stephen's world the only fashion rule is "the more colors, the better." When I went to get Stephen and Matthew up from their nap this afternoon, I found them sound asleep on their stomachs, lying in the same direction. Stephen had stuck his arm through the bars of his crib and was resting it across Matthew's shoulders. They looked like little angels lying that way. They always look beautiful when they are asleep. Of course, once I woke them up, Matthew cried without letup for the next twenty minutes. They looked much less beautiful then. I finished Sky Coyote by Kage Baker today. It is her second "novel of the Company," a series about time-traveling, immortal cyborgs charged with the mission of saving lost treasures and extinct species throughout the ages. It wasn't as good as her debut novel, In the Garden of Iden, but it was an enjoyable read. Baker has posed a lot of unanswered questions in this book, setting the stage for the third in the series, no doubt. I needed wine for a chicken recipe I was cooking today, but we didn't have any in the house. We did have two unopened bottles of champagne in the frig., one of which has been hanging around since New Year's Eve 1997. Neither Tab nor I are great drinkers. I figured, what the heck, and opened the older bottle. I drank a glass to be sure it hadn't turned, and I was reminded again of what Dom Pérignon is said to have exclaimed upon first drinking champagne: "I'm drinking stars!" That is exactly what champagne tastes like to me: chilly little pinpoints of flavor exploding in my mouth. I had another glass at dinner; I may finish the bottle tonight.
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