The first thing neglected when tragedy befalls you: the feet.

Since this blog is all about honesty, I have another admission: it hasn't bothered me a bit that people have seen my tired dogs (feet) and the ghosts of care that once was. The slivers of polish were reminiscent of the days when I actually cut my toenail cuticles, exfoliated, and polished. BUT, there is something wonderful about having feet that do not have the same consistency and texture as concrete...

News: My toes are happy and bright thanks to two of my oldest and dearest friends (and I mean "oldest" in that we have been friends forever), Kristen and Jaime. They drove out west from my hometown of Milford and have spoiled me rotten. I am now officially a brat. We dined at Food Dance Cafe and they had a foot intervention and pedicured me up at a spa nearby in downtown Kzoo. Mmmmm... lovely, lovely fluorescent pink toenails are happily peeking out of my sandals now. Once we were home, they forced me to take a nap while they played with Brody and Gideon was still sleeping. I thought there was NO WAY I could fall asleep (especially since I took my dosage of grape "Five Hour Energy" today), but my head hit the pillow and it was magic!

Other magical moments included the fact that Gideon slept through the night without pain, but woke up around 6 am. He is getting braver and braver when it comes to taking his medicine. We have a red chair that he sits on and he whimpers up until go-time. Then, he puts his game face on and swallows the grossness with gusto! When I say, "Medicine time!" He begrudgingly moves his little red chair into the kitchen and watches me as I concoct his shark-fighting elixir. His little eyes look at me with a sad little shadow, but he knows we are doing all of this out of love.

He also begged me to attach a smiley-face paper clip to his shirt. He said, "I will smile more with it on." The paper clip is WORKING. More glimmers of sweetness have been gracing us than hauntings by Chemically Altered Gideon. I think the paper clip will be on every shirt he wears from now on. It's the little things... Remember? I believe in magic and miracles. The pegasus will happen (one day).

For now, Gideon's tummy is still really bothering him and it breaks my heart the way he paces (waddle-paces) around the house while grimacing and quietly moaning to himself. I am doing all I can to distract him from the pain, and somehow we will overcome the hurt.

I always feel like I need to balance sad news with beautiful news... Sarah Rypma had her school of ESL grade students make Gideon cards -- SO MANY CARDS! They are pieces of art with beautiful messages inside. Gideon and I poured over every single one... It took us two hours to go through them all, but Gideon never got bored or distracted by anything else. His little face lit up as he pointed out smiley-faces, swing sets, balloons, hearts... he had a comment (or ten) for every single card. I was (silently) sobbing to see his cheerful smile. Thank you, Sarah. Thank you, students! We will treasure your art bursting with love!

Brody capped off my great day with a bike ride - just the two of us (I know you know that song...sorry. It'll be in your head all night). He said to me, "You go first, mommy. Know why I'm letting you go first? 'Cause you told me it's nice to let girls go first. I'm doing it like you said." He also warned me about upcoming puddles so that my new toes wouldn't get dirty. What a honey. I am so lucky and feeling lots of love...me and my pink toes.