Dear Kid,

It’s West Side Story at our house. You can tell because the birds are walking around wearing teeny tiny leather jackets, snapping their wing feathers, and breaking into song as they squabble over territory.

The bird feeder is the gym—neutral territory.

The Puppy is Officer Krupke—cute, tolerated, mostly ignored, and completely ineffectual when it comes to regulating gang or avian activity.

The lead roles are still in tryouts.

The director’s instructions are clear: Try to stay on key—but above all, be loud. (Sing out, Louise!)

Rehearsals begin exceptionally early (and by “exceptionally early” I mean before daybreak) and are currently running 7 days a week.

We have a full season subscription, so I’m looking forward to them going into full production.

Love, Mom

Dear Kid,

A Perfect Sunday (obviously) starts with the night before. Last night Dad took me to see the North College Hill Community Theater production of The Real Inspector Hound. The accents came and went a bit, but it was delightful (I LOVE Tom Stoppard [the author]) and a nice little space. The only thing that could have improved it would have been to tie it with another of Stoppard’s one act plays. On the flip side, with only one act we got home before bedtime.

Also last night the Puppy slept through the night. Which was a Big Freakin’ Deal. We are quite hopeful that this is a sign that the 4am barking phase is over and done with.

Today, I hope to get to the gym early and be home in time for the most important event of the year. You got it: the Puppy Bowl.

This year they’ve included several “disabled” dogs. Um, “differently-abled” please. The really wonderful news is that all these pups are from shelters and have now been adopted. Big cheer from the endzone if you ask me.

Also, flippin’ cute.

Then there’s football.

I really hope it’s a good game. It’s the last one of the season and I hope, hope, hope it provides 100% in the way of entertainment and sport and 0% in the way of scandal. We, the People, need that.

Meanwhile, the sun is shining, the streets are clear, and the coffee is hot.

This is shaping up to be a perfect Sunday.

Love, Mom