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3/5/1999 Toys for BoysYesterday I was even more scatterbrained than usual. I tried to make instant pudding and accidentally poured 4 cups of milk into the mix instead of 2 cups. Then I was making macaroni and cheese for dinner (the Kraft boxed mix, which the boys prefer to my good homemade version, alas) and added 1/2 cup milk instead of 1/4. I could salvage the mac and cheese, but the pudding had to be trashed. Tab thought sleep deprivation was to blame and suggested we get to bed early. So I quit work on Prakash at 10 and was in bed by 11, early for me. Tab was not looking forward to work today. His department is sponsoring a two-day conference, and his attendance is compulsory though his interest in the topic is almost nil. Worse, he has to spend his entire day tomorrow at the conference, too, so there's half the weekend gone. Sunday is his birthday, and for the past few years he has tended to get blue around this time of year. I'd been pestering him for nearly a week to tell me what meal he wants for his birthday dinner and what kind of cake, but he wouldn't give me an answer. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to do anything special. You already have too much work to do." And so on, until I was ready to tear out my hair, or his. Finally I got him to admit that he would like a roasted turkey and a chocolate cake with chocolate icing. This morning, the twins and I went to Acme to pick up the ingredients. While I was browsing among the aisles, I spotted a perfect birthday gift for him. It was the Mattel John Glenn Action Pack. It includes three John Glenn figures--as Mercury astronaut, senator, and shuttle craft crew member--and models of his Mercury capsule, Friendship 7, and the space shuttle Discovery. Talking to Tab on the phone this afternoon, I hinted that I had found something really cool for him "at Acme, of all places," and he responded, "Let me guess...John Glenn?" Drat! He saw it there when he went shopping last week and already bought it for his toy shelf at work. We'll save it and give it to Daniel when he is older. Fortunately, I have another gift for him.
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