Date with Dad, and Escaping Cow

Right now Kate and Brent are on their second-ever date. They've gone to see the Sound of Music performed in a nearby town. Before the date I was in the bathroom with Kate, her standing on a stool while I curled her hair, and I could just imagine the same scene 12 years down the road. Only then she won't need to stand on a stool, she'll be going out with some boy I don't know so well, and she may not want me doing her hair. So we chatted about what going on a real date is like, and what prom is like. I ended up showing her one of my old prom dresses, and when she heard there was one more I didn't have, she said, "Mom, why don't you just tell me about it?" How did she know that girls like to describe their dresses to each other?

It has been a fun two days. Yesterday we went to a great valentine-making party during the day for the kids, and to a fantastic fondu party at night for us grown ups. Then tonight Danny and I went on a date of our own, running some errands and then ending up at B&N, where we split a brownie (the most condensed chocolate experience I've had in some time) and then went on to browse books. He looked at Snoopy and ladybug books, and me at C.S. Lewis's Surprised by Joy (I'm giving a talk in church tomorrow and really enjoyed reading about C.S. Lewis's conversion from atheism to theism to Christianity, after he walked and talked with J.R.R. Tolkien and another friend until 3 a.m. Don't you miss late-night philisophical talks with friends? Now I can't stay awake past 10:30.)

In the meantime, Coolie has broken out again. He did this for the first time one week ago, and our neighbor and Brent were running around in their church clothes waving their arms to the side trying to herd him back in. In the meantime, I chased Moolie back in. It was kind of a thrill, running at full speed in my pasture boots, trying to predict Moolie's next move and cut him off before he could slip past me. But as the week went on, and Coolie kept breaking out, it became less of a thrill and more of a hassle. "Kids, keep eating your breakfast, I've got to go chase Coolie in." So tonight, when I took the dog out for a bathroom break, it was pitch dark, and so I didn't notice the all-black Coolie standing about 20 feet away. When I did notice there was something alive standing there, it was a bit of a startle. I thought about trying to herd him back in the complete dark all alone...nah. He can wait an hour or two until I get backup.