the_rck

Today is Scott's birthday and the last day of his vacation. He's got a dentist appointment and an eye exam scheduled, so he'll only be home for part of the day. I'm not sure if I'll manage to write while he's out at the dentist (the eye exam is during my exercise programs, so I won't write then). I suppose we'll see.

When we got to Scott's sister's place yesterday, Cordelia was all smiles. She said, when it came right down to it, she wasn't even scared. She did almost call us because she was scared to try to sleep, but Scott's sister pointed out that she was there and might as well try. Once she did try, everything was great. We're all going cell phone shopping as soon as she finishes her homework (or as soon as Scott's eyes recover from being dilated).

Cordelia says she's willing to try other overnights. There won't be any opportunities with Scott's sister's family for the next couple of months, but Scott's parents are interested (and she might be willing. She previously complained that it would be too boring, but I think there may have been some sour grapes about that). There's also the possibility of a slumber party for a friend's birthday. That may or may not happen. They've been talking about it for a couple of months without settling on anything. I'm looking, too, at summer camps that include an overnight. Last year, we couldn't consider any of those sessions, but now she says she might be willing to do it.

I do hope that we can do a second overnight relatively quickly to capitalize on the success of this one. I want her to be remembering how easy this one was rather than thinking again about how worried she is. Scott's parents are going to be gone through most of March, unfortunately. I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

I found parts of the birthday party tedious. Everybody played Telestrations, and I couldn't. Watching is less fun than playing, I suspect. I just can't. I did play Sentinels of the Multiverse with Scott, our brother-in-law, our nephew and our nephew's two friends. One of the friends played a hero who's really difficult to get a handle on, and he spent the game frustrated and confused. Scott really wishes he'd steered the boy to somebody more straightforward. I played the Wraith and got exactly the cards I needed to do a lot of damage every turn. Scott played the Argent Adept and didn't get good cards to do much of anything. Every time he started to build up, a villain or environment card would knock out everything he had.

The rice dish I made turned out pretty well. About half of it got eaten. I wish I'd had a better handle on the menu, though. I'd have brought a vegetable of some sort. All there was in that direction was an iceberg lettuce salad, and there were bread sticks, so it's not like the rice was needed (well, I suppose it was nice for the two people eating gluten free).

Scott got a bunch of shirts, the Lord of the Rings card game, and some Star Wars decals for the car. The card game appears to be cooperative (and meant for two players. To play with three or four, you have to buy a second copy of the game), so we'll have to try it.

Cordelia apparently made (with supervision) the Watergate salad that Scott's sister served. It's a favorite dish of Scott's. I've never learned to make it, partly because I don't like it and partly because there aren't any occasions when it would be appropriate for me to make it when somebody else isn't making it. The thing is some sort of unholy mix of jello, pistachio pudding and marshmallows.

Scott used the Star Wars molds I bought for him last year to make chocolate Darth Vader heads and white chocolate Millennium Falcons and storm trooper heads. We put those on the cake Scott's mother made. We pulled them off again before she tried to cut the cake because cutting through them would have been impossible.

We brought home the leftover cake. There's enough for us each to have some tonight and still keep a piece for