A few nights ago, I dreamt that my parents' cat died. She was attacked by a big dog and broke her leg. Then she just floated away, like a flying cat. Yesterday, my parents' dog, Tipsy, who was 18 fell down the stairs and injured her spine. So the dog died, not the cat. Tipsy was 18 years old and very ill, so while it is sad, she wasn't going to make it much longer anyway. I just wish she didn't have to be in so much pain at the very end.

I keep thinking about the Thames. About the walk between Big Ben and the London Eye. We went there so many times on vacation, that when I think about it, it is as if I am thinking of a place where I used to live. I am not actively thinking of this place, but it just keeps popping into my head. I want to get on a bus and go there all the time. It is so hard to have a favorite place that lives so far away. Why is it that the earth has to be so big?

Sometimes, I wonder if the girls can see my thoughts. Sometimes, I wonder if they dream my dreams. It would make sense if they could. I guess it would mean that thoughts and dreams could travel in your blood stream.

I want to send them my love of the Thames. I want them to understand this feeling that I can't quite understand myself. This love of a cold and rainy place where I spent the very first days of their creation.

I read a post on a parent's board asking how someone could teach their 18 month old to apologize for biting someone. Now, I am not in the trenches of parenthood yet, but to me that sounded like a silly thing to worry about. My big question right now is, how can I get my girls to understand a love of a certain place and time. Not as practical as apologizing for biting, I know. ;)