It poured today. Mmmm...I love a really good rainstorm and this one delivered. Oh, I've seen worse, but this one really did a good job.

Joey keeps getting rebuffed when she invites Ashlee, the neighbor girl, over to play. Up until about 10 days ago or so, they played together usually 2 times a week, but lately, whenever we call her she has been saying she's too tired, she wants to watch TV, or she has already agreed to go play with Hannah (another neighbor girl who is 2 years older than Joey and Ashlee who seems to be Ashlee's favorite person of late). Today when Joey called, she said that she was working on her Halloween costume with her mom and afterward, she wanted to play with someone else. I could hear Joey's voice cracking when she tried to be cheerful on the phone saying "Ok, see you later," and it broke my heart. I can't imagine why Ashlee isn't accepting our invitations to play at our house or at theirs, but we're done extending the invitations. Fortunately, we discovered that one of Joey's classmates also lives in our neighborhood so I suggested that we call Nicole. Her mother is pregnant with twins and has 2 other youngsters besides Nicole at home, so I offered to pick her up and bring her back. The girls had a great time and played very nicely together. I foresee many more playdates with Nicole.

I'm at a loss, though, as to why Ashlee would suddenly not want to play over here and why she would say things that are so hurtful to Joey. Joey said, "Mom, when she said she wanted to play with someone else, it made me feel like I wanted to cry." I'm half-tempted to ask Ashlee's mom (we're good friends) if she has any idea what the problem is (perhaps it's me--I can be a scary, mean mom, you know) but I don't want her mom to force Ashlee to play over here and I don't want Joey to feel like I've interfered. I just suggested that perhaps we should stop calling Ashlee for awhile and concentrate our playdate efforts on Nicole and Moira and Natasha, 3 other girls in our neighborhood that Joey knows and likes to play with.

It's unfortunate, since Ashlee is so convenient, but she has so far shown a remarkable ability to say things that are rude and unthinking, like turning around and saying to Joey in a sharp-edged voice (while they're walking home from school), "Why are you following me?" Um, perhaps because we live right next door???? But "I want to play with someone else," is too much. I don't need to expose her to that kind of pain.

Tomorrow my father comes for dinner--I'm making pork roast with resh, homemade cranberry-orange relish, steamed brocolli and rice (I'd normally make potatoes but my father is allergic to potatoes). I'm thinking of making an apple pie for dessert. Or maybe an apple crisp or an apple cake. I'm not sure which apple thing I ought to make. Hmmmm.... Afterward, we're going to a smoky (hopefully) pub for pictures of him playing pool. I can't wait!

--L