calmEllie was, needless to say, down in the dumps and quite bereaved over the death of her dad, so I wasn't expecting any miracles and the like, but she surprised me by smiling a couple of times, and there was a need for a lot of hugs on her part that I was happy to give.
I decided to make her a relatively healthy supper last night, and cooked up some beef kebabs with vegetables, and some fresh salad, but gave her a nice surprise with some Kraft mac 'n cheese, which is her favourite (not too much, of course), and then had a Granny Smith apple to round things off for dessert.
She wasn't in the mood for board games or any such stuff, but she spotted my copy of Pink Boots And a Machete by Mireya Mayor, whom she had heard about (from me, of course), and the cover intrigued her enough that she picked it up and started reading the book. By the time supper was ready, Ellie had read about 1/3+ of the book (she's a precocious reader), and was enjoying the book a lot. (May have sold another one, Mireya! <g>)
She was intrigued, and after supper, asked if we could watch some of the Expedition Africa episodes. So we started in on the first episode, and watched three of them during the course of the evening. She had a really good time watching the episodes, and had three classic lines:
"Ooh, Mireya is pretty! Are you sure she's an explorer?"
"Wow, is tall grass that sharp?"
"Ooh, she's *drinking* the blood of the cow!!!"
After the three episodes of Expedition: Africa, I gave her some warm milk to drink before sleep, as is her usual want, and then tucked her in snugly, and she was off to dreamland, while I took care of the dishes and stuff.
This morning, Ellie was up all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, and we had a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs with green peas, onions, and a bit of cheese (just the way she likes it). She washed up, and put together her small bags, and then sat and read some more of Pink Boots, and then her mom's sister showed up around 10:20 am and picked her up.
All of that said, my goddaughter wasn't her usual self at all, but I hadn't expected her to be after the loss of her father. Still, kids seem to be more resilient than we adults are, and seem to handle death a bit more...ah, heck, I don't know what word I'm looking for here.
Anyway, going about taking care of a few things around the house, and getting stuff together for myself. Got a few things to do today, and need to start getting a bit of personal focus back on stuff.