ender has no idea, but he is the first member of my Girl's Scout troop! I'm hoping to recreate the adventure I had in my group with my dad. We were an ornery, hardy bunch led by dynamic, trail blazing women with support from our patient dads.

Ender's first patch: "Make it Happen!" (a re purposed cookie badge:)

*i'll sew it on his diaper bag so he can proudly show it off

the challenge: to successfully be a passenger in a Boeing 737.

the skills he will learn-

1) pop one's own ear

2) make friends with fellow passengers (a girl scout knows that the circle is round, it has no end, that's how long they want to be your friend)

3) memorize the flight attendants safety speech so you can tune them out the next time you fly

We'll start there for now. He is only 8 months old.

BON VOYAGE!

ender's dapper moose, in ender's cozy little den.

this used to be the arena, where we would battle it out, i added a few trophies. ender was a worthy opponent. he would attack me at my weakest. sleep deprivation, middle of the night scrimmages, public humiliation. I would counter his moves with determination, prayer and my secret weapon, zander. there were two of us and one of him, but oh was he a might number one.

regardless, we soon defeated our little foe and actually signed an agreeable peace treaty. He would sleep at night and be charming in public and we would let him room and board for free.

he is now one of our most loyal allies.

"A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world"-l. buscaglia
-no this is not true of me. this is zander's quote. he loves roses.

this particular bush happened mysteriously on our doorstep one spring day.
got to hand it to the rose, it has wooed me. i now want a kaleidoscope of roses. but of the darkest hues. all of them slightly touched by the matchstick.