The Little Red Headed Monster WAS here today. She seemed happy to see me, because she stuck the cake that they brought into Dr. Park's hands, eluded his attempts to hug her and fastened her pudgy hand on mine to drag me to her side. Her brother was also happy: he beamed at everyone with his mouth open, the little white teeth coming out in his upper gum making him look like a miniature hippo. Their mom looked tired. She is on her fourth month of pregnancy and looking after that pair!
Dr. Park worked very hard on the lunch. Unfortunately, upon the guests' arrival, he immediately put popcorn and cookies in front of the kids. My outraged bellow scared only him. The kids outright refused to eat the non-entertainment food.
It left us. I was not hungry, and Roberta was just saying: "I hope, he doesn't try to feed me again!" To make Dr. Park feel better, though, the adults all ate his wonderful chicken and potatoes. He even managed to make the children's mom, Sveta, eat his soup.
Katya and Sasha (the Monster and her brother) went straight for the technology in the room. I managed to lock my laptop, before Katya took a hold of it, but she was happy to just type little stars in the password bar. Sasha tried his luck on the Nordic Track, standing in the corner of the room. I think, it was the first time in ages that someone used it! The pedals were too hard for him, so he went to see what Katya was doing. She is younger than him, but he is, definitely, under her leadership. Her bright eyes lit on the phones. We have a pair of them, on the same phone line. The children remembered the game they invented the last time they were here. One of them would push the intercom button, and the other's phone would ring. It would make sense to play like that while keeping distance. Fortunately, the common sense doesn't bother these kids yet. They had a lot of fun standing right next to each other and talking into their respective receivers. Every time there was a ring, they would scream with laughter. Every time after that, they would come to me to make the intercom work again!
The adults gathered at the table. After picking at our food, we talked together for a bit. Then Roberta and Dr. Park retired to their room. Sveta and I kept talking. For some reason, its easier for us to speak in English, throwing in some Russian words and phrases, when we can't think of a good translation. I plied Sveta with tea and sweets. She brought a Tiramisu cake in a box. Do you know, what it is? O.K., I'll tell you.
Actually, I, probably don't know all the details about that Italian cake. Usually, the Lady's Fingers crackers are soaked in the mixture of espresso and brandy. The cream is prepared with mascarpone cheese (smooth Italian cream cheese). Then the cake is constructed from the layers of soaked Lady's Fingers and cream. The cocoa powder is dusted on the top of the cake and then it goes into the freezer. It's very creamy and not as sweet as some American cakes. Even the one that Sveta brought, that was probably, made in the factory somewhere, was very good.
Are you salivating yet? Sorry, we'll finish Tiramisu tonight!
The Monster is barely five years old. Yesterday, she got her shots to go to the kindergarten this year. You should see that curly carrot-top dynamite! She lugged the heavy fan all over the carpet, tortured it to death (it's refusing to work anymore), stood on her head for a while and fought with her brother: we alternately had to wipe first his tears and nose, then - hers. The children, finally, settled to watch some TV. Thank God for Spongebob Squarepants!
Dr. Park has no idea, how to deal with the kids. He gave them so much popcorn that they can open their own movie-theaters. The cats knew better than showing up, while the Little Red Headed Monster was here. Chicken Bone made a brief appearance, checking if there was some food he could snag for himself. He ran like crazy from the Monster.
I had to take Sonny to the Department of Motor Vehicles, to get his Learner's Permit to drive. He tried to get it yesterday, took a written test and failed. Today's another day! Sveta overcame the Monster's objections: "I don't want to leave yet!" - and took her brood to the gymnastics' class. Good luck to that teacher after all the popcorn and sweets those kids inhaled at my house!
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