Milly told me this morning that she wanted to walk to the store and get a doughnut. It was nice out and it was still relatively early, so I thought that sounded like a fine idea. We both walked the whole way, though I did carry Milly on my shoulders over halfway back, and on the way to the store we saw that the ladder of the fire trucks at the fire station across the street from one of the entrances to our neighborhood was way up in the sky. Milly likes the fire trucks, so we stopped and watched as they brought it down and extended it horizontally. I’m guessing they were just doing some checks on it or something. Anyway, we sat in some grass across the street and watched all that for a few minutes.
When we got to the store Milly took a small shopping cart and walked to where the doughnuts are and picked one out. It was chocolate-covered with sprinkles on top. I let Milly wander around for a while after that, just following her to see where she’d go. We covered most of the store from end to end before heading to the checkout.
When we got outside I said something about heading home to eat our doughnuts, but Milly said she wanted to sit outside. There’s a little slant at the bottom of the outside walls of the store that we’ll sometimes sit against, so we sat there and ate our doughnuts. A number of people smiled at Milly as they were going in or out of the store.
Most of the rest of my day was filled with work. Scott and I talked on the phone for, I think, the first time since he told me he was going to be letting me go at the end of the year. I told him my plans about going into business for myself, and he was glad to hear that. We discussed some logistics, like me taking direct referral clients (friends, family and people I know). It was a good talk. I also started in earnest on a website for Maddie.
Amanda thought about taking Milly to a park when she got home, but Milly was stuffy and coughing some, so they stayed in.
Memphis beat Tennessee in double overtime in the Maui Invitational consolation game. I had the final overtime on ESPN3 in the background while I worked. Duke played Michigan tonight and never trailed. They got the lead up to 15 at one point in the first half and 16 or 17 in the second, but they did what they’ve been doing and it started to get uncomfortably close in the final minutes. I think Michigan got within five, though the final score was 82-75. Duke had five players in double figures, including a 20-point performance from Austin Rivers. Once that kid figures out how to more consistently finish at the rim, or develops better court vision and passes more often when he’s not going to make a shot, he’ll be a terror. The defense was much improved (for the most part) tonight too.
Duke faces Kansas tomorrow night for the Maui Invitational championship.
Milly was crying at around 11:00. Amanda was already in her room when I got up there. She seemed pretty distraught, so I took her a couple of crackers then let her watch an episode of The Backyardigans on the iPad on the couch with me. I think I dozed off in that time. When that was over we went back upstairs where I made her a nest (cover her with a thin blanket, wrap her thicker “Tiana” blanket around her) and stayed in bed with her for a bit. I may have dozed off some then too.
Zach Dotsey