Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

To wit: I just finished The BIG Adventures of Babymouse: Besties!, which I’ve had in my library pile for a good long while; Goodreads, however, lists it as ‘Not Yet Published’ and gives an expected publishing date of January 2, 2079. (Note: if I’m still alive at that point, I will be 99 1/2.) Why? No one knows. But Besties! is as insightful and entertaining as the rest of Babymouse’s adventures, so I wouldn’t wait until the last quarter of the century to pick it up. In it we meet Kara, an adorable and seemingly perfect koala that seems to be charming her way into the heart of Babymouse’s friend group. Has Kara replaced her–and even appropriated her best friend, Wilson? You can guess what the end result will be, but Babymouse is consoled on her journey of understanding by an unexpected source, making for some fantastic panels. Don’t miss this one!*

On the homefront, my dad–my amazing, flawed, loving dad, who dementia has reduced to a shell of himself–is scheduled to enter a care center today. It’s more than time, as the strain of his caretaking has been weighing more and more heavily on my 81-year-old mother, but it’s going to be a difficult transition for both of them. I can’t be there today–my son’s very first high school jazz band concert is tonight, and I wouldn’t miss that–but I’ll be spending a great deal of time with my mother later this week, so I’ll likely not post until a week from Wednesday. If you’d like to send prayers, thoughts, or good vibes their way, our family would appreciate them.

*It’s clear that many people have already not missed it, so to speak. I generally mend rips in library book pages, but more than half of this one’s over 200 pages had at least small rips on the bottom. I didn’t have the will to mend more than the worst one or two.