Daddy's little girl comes back awhile...The Two Rings..

We went to the mall, just Izzy and me. To buy magnetic earrings and eat mall food.

Izzy: "Daddy, can we get my earrings first?"
Daddy: "No honey, I'm starving we should eat first."
Izzy: "(disappointed) OK. What are we going to eat?"
Daddy: " What do you want to eat?"
Izzy: "Chinese food!...Chinese food!...Chinese food!"
Daddy: "Do you want Chinese food?"
Izzy: "Can I get my own drink?"
Daddy: "What the hell, you only go around once."
Izzy: "Can I get the drink or not?"
Daddy: "Yes."
Izzy: "Doo...doo...doo...Chinese food!"

Isobel and I got to have a bit of a Father Daughter date night this past weekend. Off we went to the mall and I realized how long it had been since the two of us were on a road trip together, even if it was just to the mall and back and secondly, I had forgotten how honest and hysterically bizarre she can be. I'll share some of the choicest bits of conversations we had.

Spring is in the air and Izzy has assumed her usual spot on the hood of my car or playing inside of it. I figured now was as good a time as any to do my yearly cleaning. After many months of being forgotten, Santa was found under the front seat and returned to his rightful place of honour...
"Look who I found." I said.
"Santa!" she exclaimed upon emerging from under a pile of newspaper. She grabbed hold of him and hugged him and rocked back and forth.
"Well, we can't throw him out." I said.
"Oh Santa, I missed you so much." and she rained kisses upon him.
"OK Pick, are you gonna help me or play?"
"Me and Santa are going to play." she said.
"I thought you might. Alright I'm going to clean up some stuff in the garage."
She gave Santa a kiss and placed him gently on the hood of my car. She the proceeded to crawl up the hood and sit on the roof of my car. She had done it millions of times before but maybe she was a little out of practice since the last time she did it the previous summer, she slid off the hood as she was trying to get down and landed on the ground. It's not far to fall, even for her but I think it startled her a little. She winced a little and then stood up and held her arms up in triumph. Mustn't let the underlings see your weaknesses. She then gingerly took Santa from his perch on the hood of my car and set him on the ground, just as gingerly. She then booted him square in the face.

We were sitting in the food court. She was staring past me, looking over my shoulder and concentrating very hard.
"S-M-A-T."
"What?" I asked
"That's how you spell smart." she replied matter of factly.
"No," I started. "That is how you spell smat."
"What's smat?" she asked with a giggle.
"How the hell do I know? You spelled it.
She thought about it for a minute or two.
"Oh , right." she said. "S-M-R-A-T. See? SmarT-T-T"
"You know what?" I said. "That's plenty close for a Friday night."

She had nagged a little and whined a little more and threw down with the giant pouty lip and I finally relented and took her for ice cream after supper on Saturday. It was a nice night for March and who doesn't like ice cream? The Boy, apparently as he didn't want to go. He is getting to that age where being cool by not being spotted with his step father and baby sister far outweighs he desire for frozen treats. Or he found a good youtube video...tough to tell these days...
So off we went, just Izzy and I and she held my hand the whole way there.
"Daddy?" she asked.
"Yes my tulip."
"Daddy, do you think we will see the llama?" she asked.
"The what?" I asked.
"The llama," she repeated with a tone that said you are the stupidest man on earth. "You know, the one we always see when we are walking downtown."
"We see a llama when we walk downtown?" I asked. I scanned the back parts of my brain, trying to think what in the hell she meant. We passed a ratty old horse on the way to a restaurant in Mexico. And then like a shot, I got what she meant. One of the houses we pass on the way to the ice cream place used to have a small statue of a LAMB tucked away in one of their flower boxes. She noticed it when she was two years old and has clearly never forgotten it. We walked past the house and she saw it was gone.
"I was going to ask them if I could have it." she said with a note of sadness in her voice.
It was to be a day of disappointment, the ice cream store was closed. She stood there in the doorway, looking in side and I thought she was crying. I turned her around to comfort her and was met with a look that bordered on rage.
"We'll go to the store and get something instead." I said.
She followed me slowly and I heard her mutter, "I bet their ice cream sucks, that's why they're closed."
As we were walking home, she stopped and looked at a house that we have both always liked. An older Victorian style home. Not a mansion but no shack either. She gave a chuckle like someone revisiting memories from a very long time ago.
"What is it, Pick?" I asked her.
"I was just remembering something." she said. "I really like this house."
"I really like it too." I said.
"I was just remembering it when it had Alphagetti on it."
"When it had what on it?" I asked, obviously not hearing her correctly.
"When it had Alphagetti on it." she repeated.
No doubt about that one, that was what she said.
"Wait, what?" I asked. "When it had WHAT on it?" I was so not understanding something.
"Alpha-getti." she said.
We walked home not saying much but we didn't need to. She was still holding my hand (she held it the whole way there and back and I even got a kiss out of it) and in her other was a fistful of candy. She was happy and I was happy to have my pal back...I still don't have a fucking clue what she meant.


As I mentioned earlier, we went to the mall to get Izzy magnetic earrings. Six pairs per package! They were a bust. They don't stay attached unless you put all six magnets behind one earring. So I started thinking what would the harm be in the real thing?
I don't think Mrs. Narrator is too keen on the idea and maybe I'm not either. I did mine the old fashioned way, ice cubes and a safety pin but I do remember them getting a bit infected and what a pain it was to get them healthy again.
I'm not certain what a good age is? I don't know when Mrs. Narrator got hers done or my sister for that matter. I know Mrs. Narrator does not currently wear earrings and I know that I have seen babies...literally babies with earrings.
I also know I am no role model for leaving one's 'temple' the way it was found. I am virtually sleeved with tattoos and have had earrings and a nose ring at one time or another who am I to come out against self mutilation...even in a six year old?
She hasn't said anything in a while so maybe we'll just let this one alone for a while. It doesn't say anything about piercing the sleeping dog's ear after you've let him sleep...does it?