Dan

Kathryn’s back is “out”. Not “out” as in “un-cool”; “out” as in “out of commission”. (I find her back very cool.) So she asked I post a little something to let you all know that she has not, in fact, passed away, but is merely immobilized for the time being.

Because staying on her back is crucial to her recovery, today was a unique Father’s day–I got to really be a dad, full-bore, the whole day. It was tiring, but I love my family and it was great to be able to run the whole show for them.

Thank you so much to those who have been aware of Kathryn’s sidelined state and have been so kind. Your encouraging words and especially your helpful hands (thanks for the dinners!) have really cheered us and helped us along.

One such friend, whom I will call Brandy, went so far as to take Laylee shopping to get a Father’s Day present for me. Laylee had decided (on her own) that I needed new “work shoes”. Not your everyday Father’s Day gift idea, for sure. I guess my current pair are starting to deteriorate a bit. So Kathryn sent her to get me a new pair like my old ones:

Instead, here is what she came home with:

Apparently, the trip to pick them out was quite fun, too; Brandy sent us an email afterwards to detail their exploits together, from which I quote:

“Laylee was so adorable today =) She made Roberto and I laugh the entire time! I’m going to try and remember the funny things she said and share them with you.

But first you should know that Laylee picked out the shoes for Dan all by herself-—she didn’t want to get him tennis shoes-—she wanted to get him ”˜work’ shoes. She was so cute-—very particular about which shoes he’d like. So, yeah — I hope you like them, or rather Dan likes them!

Laylee was very proud of herself. I pointed out many Skechers and Laylee would say ”˜those actually look like Bobsled shoes’ if the soles had bumps on them—-which most of the Skechers had. She said that about 3 pairs of Skechers. It was hilarious—-like when have you ever been shopping for Bobsled shoes before and how does she know what those would look like?!

She liked the fact that the shoes she chose would look good with “jeans… and even sweats”—-she’s so funny. I tried to steer her towards running shoes like you described or other Skechers that you had to tie up and had some design on them-—like two-toned or stripes, but she was set on black as he already had a brown pair of shoes. I had Laylee try on the shoes for comfort testing—-it was cute—-she tried on one pair and said they had ”˜bumps’ on the sides, so they wouldn’t work. She really thought the ones we ended up getting were comfy!

Laylee told us she made a Father’s Day card and said ”˜I wrote a Father’s Day card and put “To Dad” and other Father’s Day stuff’ =) It was funnier the way she said it because it sounded like ”˜To Dad’ was a Father’s Day saying or something.

Laylee said ”˜I am a good example in my family because I always have to remind my mom and dad to not say bad words’. Which after we laughed, I told Roberto it is probably words like ”˜hate (I hate peas) or stupid’ etc. But it sounds so funny coming from a child — as though you used swear words 😉 <ed.: We used to sometimes, in extreme situations, say “gosh”. I guess we still do, since Laylee has to remind us not too. 🙂 >

I told Laylee she could pick out Dan’s favorite candy bar — so we were looking at all the choices and she picks the Hershey Bar and says ”˜I’ve seen him eat one of these before, so it must be his favorite’. Ahhhhh, too funny.

Laylee told us she was going to keep Dan’s present a secret, so it’s like ”˜keeping the beans’ instead of ‘spilling the beans’–too clever! =)

We bought Laylee bubble gum and she said as she chewed some ”˜it makes me smile because it is so delicious.’ She then stated ”˜when people are sad, they should eat food because then it would make them smile and be happy’—-she has no idea that it’s called emotional eating-—LoL.

So, it was entertaining and enjoyable to spend time with Laylee-—she’s great Kathryn!”

Thanks for “keeping the beans”, Laylee. It was a great Father’s Day surprise. 🙂

P.S. I wore the shoes to church today, and they were comfy and looked great.