Just to See Matilda Smile

Matilda turned two months old on Sunday! And on Monday, as a birthday present, we decided to paint her room. It was not a bad color, at least if you do not mind a nice masking tape color, but we decided to freshen things up anyway. I have painted quite a few rooms in my life, including the bathroom in our former apartment, but never have I attempted to tackle a room with a 14 foot ceiling. Boo. It felt like I was trying to mop a cafeteria with a toothbrush, or build a sandcastle with tweezers, or mow my lawn with nose-hair trimmers, or win a presidential election by putting Sarah Palin on my ticket--all utterly ineffective activities. After a few hours of back breaking rollering and mind numbing fumes, I thought I was painting rainbows and daisies on turtles' shells with my roller, so I decided to get some French air. (I worked at a group home with a guy, Kenneth, who said he wanted some "French air" whenever he wanted to go outside and I liked it, so now I use it.) The worst part was that I had to prime everything first because of all the crappy patch jobs the former owners did on the walls and blah blah blah...

I'm complaining about painting walls. That's probably about as interesting to most of you as watching said paint dry. I still have one more coat to put on (to keep the walls warm in the winter), and I will post some pictures of the finished product. Matilda seems to like it so far.

Speaking of Matilda, I really enjoy spending time with her now. Not that I did not enjoy it before, it is just that now she will look at you and react to what you do. I am sure that as she becomes even more interactive I will enjoy my time with her even more. All part of the natural progression of things.

My favorite thing to do with her now is have her sitting up against my knees facing me. Most of the time she will focus right in on my face, at which point I will start into a musical series of doos and dees and dahs. I have found that she likes jazz melodies the best, whether they be original standards (i.e. In the Mood) or modified into jazz (I've Been Working on the Railroad, Waltzing Matilda, etc). I will do about ten seconds of a song, usually with her staring intently at my mouth with a furrowed brow and/or a frown. A few seconds after I stop, she breaks into a gigantor grin, and I think I have even gotten a laugh out of her too. That is what we were doing in the video at the end of the following movie (except I muted out all of my noises, leaving only hers). I would do anything to see her smile.



Che bella ragazza! Noi abbiamo quasi finito di leggere "Harry Potter e la Pietra Filosofale". Non so che faremmo dopo averlo finito, perche quello e l'unico "Harry Potter" libro che ho, e comprare gli altri mi cosarebbero quasi duecentoventi dollari. Menaggia la miseria...

In other news, I have to thank my Brodder-in-Law Nate for taking me to the best Italian pizzeria this side of the pond - Settebello of Salt Lake City. Mammia mia, here I go again. I am a connoisseur of fine pizzas, and this was about as good as it gets. Their margherita is a true Italian margherita in all its simplicity. The flavors of the bianca are bitter, creamy, sweet, and altogether very palatable. I could eat there daily.

Now bear in mind that you will not find a "pepperoni" or "Hawaiian" pizza. If you want deep dish or cheese in the crust, this ain't the place for you, buster. This is for pizza snobs. This is the haute-couture of pizzary. I do not recommend it for all. But if you do go, make a reservation.

Megan and I also gave talks on Sunday on "Salvation and Exaltation". But honestly, I do not feel like writing any more. So I am done.