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Capsule view of females under this roof:

1. The teenager went to her first and only Quinceñera....she and her friends all got new dresses and shoes. Figgy looked so lovely in her floral-on-white strapless dress which bared her fair, freckled shoulders. I snapped some photos with a disposable Kodak camera......and my friend, Anne, took one of Figgy next to me, in a tank top over my swimsuit and pool skirt. "You have to promise me," I said to Figgy, "that years from now when you look at this photo, you will remember that I was swimming in the pool with Punch and N. and did not have time to change!" :) "Okay," she said with a smile that showed her braces. I looked a mess next to that young beauty. Have sneaked some peeks at her Facebook updates about Cha Cha Slide and more tonight. She coyly did not reply to my text message asking if she was having a good time but FB told me the answer.

2. The three-year-old visitor happily splashed and paddled with swimmies in the lovely pool here at the condo complex. Which meant that I had to wriggle into my swimsuit for summer's rude awakening, and splash in the water next to lounging twentysomethings in perfect white bikinis, handsome boyfriends at their side. [But the young women were sweet, with friendly smiles that didn't make me feel like an old mother. I did notice too that they had margarita salt and opaque Thermoses. Lucky them.] Punch had a sandwich and juice, cucumbers and raspberries. She took a long walk with me and Sug. She watered and overwatered the flowers on our terrace, so much so that I hope they won't die. She would not nap, and fought bedtime. It brought out Mrs. Cranky in me.....You have to put your head down! I said. Alice has no more energy. And we need to rest so we can do all we have planned for tomorrow, like the street fair. It was almost 10 P.M. and I was dying to take a bath and write.

3. The fluffy one with the black button eyes has flopped to sleep in relief, near Punch on the bed. She has to be on red alert when Punch is here, because she prods her and acts as though she is another child, not a dog. "Put her in the bedroom for a timeout," Punch said to me today, when Sug did something like eat some butter off her bread.

4. The friendly ones, Anne and her daughter N., came to visit us today and most graciously drove us over to Punch's house to pick her up, since I and Punch's Mom were carless. Anne also made a stop at Dollar Tree for me so I could buy the swimmies. N. and Punch swam and laughed, and shared a towel to lie on in the hot sun. When I asked Punch what her favorite part of the day was, she said it was seeing N.

5. The aging one is tired, but refreshed from a bath and careful tooth care with Listerine and floss. She has realized that seeing Punch is a gift in so many, many ways--one of which is a reminder that it's important to take care of yourself so that you are not resentful, exhausted and completely lost while you make sure that your child has everything she needs. The old one is remembering her friend Jean, mother of six, and the smart advice Jean has given her over the years, such as shower after the little one goes to sleep [no matter how tempted you are to just collapse right next to her].

Now I lay me down to sleep. Probably on the couch, so I can get a report from Figgy when she gets back.