It's all true

Dad had a great morning Wednesday, weeding my garden and trying to get Arabella to join him, when all she wanted was for him to give himself a heart attack pulling her in the little red wagon or pushing her on the swing.



Yesterday we went to the zoo, to pet sharks, see koalas, watch the dolphin show, see the butterflies. Unfortunately at least a quarter of the population on Indiana and a portion of our neighboring states had similar thoughts, because it was packed. There were more people than animals, a state I have never seen at our little local zoo.

I pet a shark, Dad pet a shark, but Arabella ...

was sure it would bite her arm off.


Dad and Arabella hanging in the shade, near the Emu paddock.


Arabella mugging for the camera. Check out the cool retro dress.



About those quirks, you know ... the thing that is both scary and funny is that it was a trick question. All those things are true. (Some have argued about the generosity thing. He's a jerk, but he can be very generous, even when it not expected or even welcome).

Dad has an air rifle that he uses to shoot squirrels which he freezes and then bbq's when his wife is out of town (what do you know! she won't eat them!). Even though his parents and grandparents were Texas natives, he didn't learn English until he went off to public school at age 7. He has no identifiable accent, so no one would ever guess he's not a native English speaker, and it's not something you expect of a Pole from Texas.



His hobby, for many years, was antique jewelry, especially diamonds, and he is very good at identifying the quality of diamonds. I picked up a little of this, and have had jewelry store staff either very amazed or very annoyed by my skill. I have actually had one job offer that way.



Dad lived in Saudi for 25 years, most of that time in Riyadh, and his villa was blown up in the al-Qaeda attacks on 3 housing compounds in May of 2003. He was mostly unhurt, but the guys living next door (and further from the blast) went to the hospital. I was pregnant with Arabella at the time, and yes, he strongly lobbied for me to name her for a Dutch prostitute who he said "was a really classy lady." Right. That's a story I want to relate to my offspring.


And all the rest. True.

And some people think I am strange!