Stories 2001

Stories From 2001

	December 28, 2001 When Nick got home from work, he spent a few minutes talking with Cindy. Cindy said, "Your son has convinced your daughter...." She paused, as is her wont, and Nick interjected, "That's never a good way to begin a sentence."

	December 25, 2001 At 9:00 a.m., Zoe sat on the couch brushing Sugar Plum Princess Barbie's hair. Out of the blue, she asked, "What do you want for Christmas next year, Daddy?" Daddy's first thought was, "That's a long time away." After a moment or two of reflection, he said, "World peace." Zoe gave Daddy a "cut-the-b.s." look and said, "Dad-dee, for *real*."

	December 17, 2001 Mommy wasn't feeling well, so Nurse Zoe felt her forehead. "Warm as a cucumber!" she declared. "If it was cold, you'd have a fever." Then Nurse Zoe continued with the examination. "Now let's listen to your heart." She put her ear to Mommy's chest and listened, then said, "Your heart's beeping, Mom. If it wasn't beeping, you'd have a fever."

	December 15, 2001 Gus came into the office, where Daddy was working on the computer, and said, "Daddy! I can fly!" Daddy said, "Oh?" "Yeah!" Gus replied with a big grin. "I can fly like a penguin!"

	December 12, 2001 Daddy and Zoe dropped Mommy and Gus off at his piano lesson and went to do some shopping. When they returned to pick Mommy and Gus up, the lesson wasn't quite over, so they had a chance to talk in the car. Zoe asked Daddy, "Who's your girlfriend?" "Mommy is," replied Daddy. "Da-ad! Mommy's your wife." "Well, when you're married, you're not allowed to have a girlfriend." "Can't you love both of them?" Daddy paused, thinking this over. "When you're married, your wife is your girlfriend. You can't have another one." "I'm never gonna get married. I'm just gonna have boyfriends." "Ewwww! Boyfriends!" exclaimed Daddy. "But I'm not gonna kiss them!" said Zoe, trying to reassure Daddy. When Mommy and Gus got into the car, Daddy recounted this conversation to Mommy. Later, as we neared home, Zoe asked Mommy, "Am I in trouble for what I said to Daddy?" "No, honey," Mommy and Daddy quickly said. "Whew!" Zoe sighed, in that way she has that she knows is so cute. Somewhere in the middle of the trip home from Gus's piano lesson, Zoe stated, "I'm almost a teenager!" When the rest of the family reacted incredulously, she said, "What? I a-am!" Mommy and Daddy glanced at each other with a look that said, "Yeah, 4 going on 14."

	December 11, 2001 At the supper table, Mommy told Gus a joke. She said, "Pete and Repeat were in a boat. Pete fell out. Who was left?" This is an old joke, and you may know that the desired response is "Repeat." Then the joker asks the question again, and this goes on until the jokee finally figures it out. Not so with Gus. He said, "Tell it to me again?"

	December 8, 2001 While Mommy was driving Zoe to her friend Delaney's birthday party, Zoe was singing "Go Tell It On The Mountain." After the song, she said, "I know who Jesus Christ's mom and dad were! They were Mr. and Mrs. Christ!"

	December 3, 2001 On the trip back to Rochester from Gramma Nancy's, Daddy stopped at a convenience store for a pop. Mommy, Gus, and Zoe waited in the car for him. Gus and Zoe were having some sort of spat in the back seat, most likely about the pile of pillows and blankets between them. Words were exchanged, pillows were thrown, and then Mommy heard this from the mild mannered little girl: "I'm gonna kick your ass!"

	December 1, 2001 While visiting Great Gramma Semmler, Daddy tried to tell Zoe something. Zoe contradicted him, and he said, "Oh, I forgot. You're always right." Mommy then asked Zoe, "What's it like to always be right?" Without missing a beat, without even looking up from the cartoon she was watching, and with a straight face, Zoe said, "Pretty good."

	November 26, 2001 Gus likes to take his socks off as soon as he comes in the house. Then, when it's time to go somewhere, he has trouble finding a pair of socks to put on. When Mommy works nights, Daddy lets Gus and Zoe sleep with him. It's easier to get them to go to bed, it's easier to get them to go to sleep, and Daddy doesn't have too many years ahead of him before the kids are too big to cuddle. Last night was one of those nights. It was chilly, so Daddy went to bed with his socks on. When the alarm went off in the morning, Gus was sleeping sideways, with his head nearly off the bed and his legs across Daddy, and Zoe was rock-solidly asleep curled up on Daddy's arm. By the time Daddy had fought his way clear of the children to shut the alarm off, he'd lost a sock. As Daddy was feeling about under the covers for his sock, Gus opened one eye and asked, "What are you doing, Daddy?" Daddy said, "I'm looking for my sock." With a world-weary sigh, Gus replied, "Welcome to my world." This evening, the family ate supper at Bon's Buffet and Mongolian Bar-B-Q to celebrate Daddy's new job. Yang Yang, Zoe's friend from "Pretty" School, was there; her mother is a waitress. After watching Zoe and Yang Yang cavort for a few minutes, Mommy and Daddy couldn't imagine having a class full of 4-year-olds. Afterwards, Mommy wanted to go to the mall to get a couple things and to see if Santa was there yet. If so, she wanted to get the kids' Santa pictures taken. "Are we going to the Mall of America?" asked Gus. "No," he was told by Mommy and Daddy. Zoe was upset that she wasn't going to the Mall of America--specifically, the Kids' Quest playplace/daycare. Mommy told her that, since it was already 7:00 pm, the Mall of America would be closed before we even could get there, and Daddy explained that we were going to Rochester's Apache Mall. "I've heard of a patchy fog," Daddy quipped. "But not Apache Mall!" Then Gus spoke up. "Why isn't it Darth Maul?" Guffaws erupted throughout the car.

	November 25, 2001 Daddy took Gus and Zoe to *Monsters, Inc.* because they'd been pretty good this weekend. They had to be quiet all day Saturday and Sunday while Mommy slept--she worked nights this weekend. They were also good when Daddy took them to the Medford Outlet Mall to do a little Christmas shopping and to get a few pairs of jeans for Gus. He ended up getting two pairs of jeans and two pairs of cool baggy tan pants. The kids were so good that Daddy thought he'd grabbed someone else's kids by accident. So, to get back to *Monsters, Inc.*, all three thought it was a very very good movie. They even thought it might be better than the Harry Potter movie they saw the weekend before. They laughed, they cried, and Daddy and Zoe were sorta scared a couple times. This is definitely a movie to buy on video!

	November 20, 2001 Daddy had a Parent-Teacher Conference with Gus's teacher.

	November 19, 2001 Gus, Zoe, and Daddy were driving home from dropping the babysitter off, and Gus and Zoe were having a conversation in the back seat. Zoe was heard to say, "I know ALL ABOUT houses." After a few rounds of "Nuh-uh-uh!"s and "Yuh-huh-uh!"s, Gus asked, "Then, why are they so big?" Zoe replied, "'Cuz." "'Cuz why?" "'Cuz, so if they're too small then people can't go in them!" Then Gus asked, "Why do houses have chimneys." Zoe replied, "'Cuz, so the smoke can get out, and they can breathe!" Then Gus asked, "What's the biggest house in the world?" Zoe quickly said, "Our house," to which Gus replied, "Nuh-uh-uh." Zoe then said, "That one." Gus replied, "Nuh-uh-uh." Then Zoe said, "Thaaaat one," like she had momentarily been confused and had just realized her error. Gus, of course, replied, "Nuh-uh-uh." Then he asked, "Daddy, what's the biggest house in the world?" Daddy toyed with the notion of saying, "Bill Gates' house," but instead told the truth. "I don't know, Gus." Then Gus declared, "It's the Sears Tower. That's the biggest one." Daddy contradicted him. "That's not a house." Gus said, "People live there." Daddy caught himself just before he declared they didn't, as Gus is such a literalist that he'd maintain that if they were in the building and alive, then they lived there. So Daddy changed his answer slightly. "They work there." Gus was not to be dissuaded, though, and the conversation drifted on to other things.

	November 18, 2001 Gus, Zoe, Mommy, and Daddy went to visit Daddy's Aunt Janny this weekend. On Saturday, the five of them went to see "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" at a theater with stadium seating. The movie screen was huge, and Daddy thought it would've been better if they'd sat even farther back than they did. Gus and Zoe wanted to sit in the front row, of course. The movie was very good, and even a little scary for Zoe. Daddy said, "That movie would be a good reason to get a DVD player." Daddy should speak a little more softly on that subject, though, as Mommy won't need any convincing to get one. After a great supper at Panera, Aunt Janny watched the kids while Mommy and Daddy did a little Christmas shopping. This has become an annual tradition, and Mommy and Daddy are very appreciative of it. Gus and Zoe like it, also, as Aunt Janny is a bit of a pushover in the "Can we have more fruit snacks?" department! Mommy and Daddy drove over the the Mall of America and got some shopping accomplished. It was nice for them to get out without the kids, too. On Sunday, Daddy and Gus taught Zoe how to play the card game "War" while Mommy and Aunt Janny went to church. Zoe is getting pretty good at recognizing her numbers, especially those from 1 to 5. After a lunch of KFC, Gus, Zoe, Mommy, and Daddy said "Thanks" and "Goodbye" to Aunt Janny. Then the family went to the Mall of America to finish up some more Christmas shopping. Zoe and Mommy made a teddy bear at the Teddy Bear Factory. "Fluffy" has tiger-striped fur, and pretty pink-and-other-colors sweater, and a hat to match her sweater. Then Gus and Zoe went to play at the mall's Kids' Quest while Mommy and Daddy rushed off to get a couple more things. Afterwards, Zoe and Mommy went for ice cream while Gus and Daddy played air hockey. Gus won the first game 7 to 4, but then Daddy got into his rhythm and prevailed in a couple close games. Another game was tied as time ran out. Gus is getting pretty good at air hockey, so Daddy had better be watching out. On the way home, Mommy and Daddy had a nice visit. Zoe napped and Gus left a "Do Not Disturb" order. He was listening to Eagle Eye Cherry on his headphones.

	November 10, 2001 Gus and Daddy and Gus's Cub Scout Den went to pick up the food donation bags they'd hung on doorknobs the Saturday before. A large number of the bags were back out on the doorknobs, with food donations in them. Daddy had borrowed a pickup from Pepsi to put all the food in as it was picked up. Gus loved it, as he got to ride with Daddy in the Pepsi pickup. Afterwards, while Gus played with his Cub Scout friends at the schoolyard, Daddy went to pick up the den's popcorn order and bring it back for the den to divide up. Gus sold almost half of all the popcorn sold by his den! Thanks to everyone who bought popcorn, and thanks to Pepsi for the pickup.

	November 9, 2001 Daddy came home from work at about the same time as Zoe, Gus, and Mommy came home from a bike ride. Zoe excitedly told Daddy about her day, then paused, pointed to the bicycle helmet on her head, and said, "You probably can't hear me. I've got my helmet on."

	November 8, 2001 Gus played his first game of Dungeons and Dragons. He had seen the game played on both "Freaks & Geeks" and "Dexter's Laboratory" and was curious about it. Finally, on Wednesday, he persuaded Daddy to teach him how to play. Daddy couldn't find his dice, though, so Gus had to wait until they were found. The next day, they showed up in a box Daddy had sort of looked in twice the night before, and the game commenced. Gus rolled up his character, a magic-user named Suyom (pronounced Sigh om). It took a few minutes to decide how to spell Suyom. Then Suyom and his hired fighters were off In Search of the Unknown. At first, Gus was a little put off by the open-endedness of the game. He'd expected some sort of a board game, or at least a game with limited options. But, once he realized he could do anything his imagination could come up with, he was fine. All four of his adventuring party survived, and they will all be rested and ready to go as soon as Gus can talk Daddy into playing again.

	November 6, 2001 Zoe watched an episode of The Simpsons in which Bart, Lisa, and Maggie learn how Homer and Marge had met. After the explanation, Homer and Marge got a little bit mushy, to which Bart said, "I'm gonna be sick!" Later, in the car with Mommy and Gramma Wager, Zoe asked, "Mommy, where did you and Daddy meet?" Mommy replied, "At college." "Did you go on a date?" "Yes." Then Zoe said, "I'm gonna be sick!"

	October 27, 2001 Daddy, Gus, and Zoe visited the Minnesota Zoo while Mommy was at a conference in Cincinnati. As they looked at the tapir, Zoe turned to Daddy and asked, "What is it made of?" Daddy said, "Well, the same stuff as you are, I guess." An excited look came over Zoe's face, and she asked, "You mean sugar and spice and everything nice?!?"

	October 23, 2001 Daddy, Gus, and Zoe attended Gus's Cub Scout Pack meeting at Our Savior's Lutheran Church. The kids dressed up in their costumes and played games. Gus was dressed as the grim reaper, Zoe as an M&M. Gus bobbed for apples and didn't get wet. His secret: grabbing the stem with his teeth. When they left, Daddy got Zoe into her seat, then got into his seat. As he leaned over to unlock the passenger door so Gus could get in, Zoe squealed, "No! Don't let him in!" Daddy replied, "But I can't leave your brother behind." Zoe said, "Don't let the grim reaper in!" Then, as her brother got in the car, she said in a lower voice, "I hate grim reapers."

	More Stories Stories of Gus and Zoe Spring Break 2005 Trip to Mississippi Stories From Summer 2004 Stories From The 2003-2004 School Year Stories From Summer 2003 Stories From May 2003 Stories From Early 2003 Stories From Late 2002 Stories From Early 2002 Current page: Stories From 2001

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