Catching Up with Stories
Tuesday, November 11, 2008 at 11:27PM It has been a few days of adventure, including the beginning of Stories in Hand, so I have some recap to do, starting with Sunday.
So Sunday.
I was feeling really sick, so I stayed home from church, and slept quite a bit. Jared took the kids to church, then came home, we ate, and the kids went in for a nap. I came out to check email at some point along about 3 p.m. We could hear Ele banging around in his room, and he had come out a few times, so we figured he wasn’t going to sleep.
So I went in to tuck him back in to see if he’d sleep for even a little while, and I found this:
That’s a planet sticker on his shirt, by the way. And somehow he found a different pair of shorts than he was in when he went in his room for naptime. But the fact that he actually took time to SPREAD DIAPER CREAM (vestige of the pre-training days) all over his face, was pretty awesome.
Oh, and what is the pile if white powder? Why is there powder in his hair, you ask? And on his arms and hands and, of course, face?
Well, (he explained this to us while he was still looking a little smug before we washed him) you see, when you take a whole handful of baby powder (another pre-training vestige), and throw it in the air while the sun is shining through the window, it makes really cool dust, which floats gently down to the ground. And you can do it again and again!
I think his actual words were, “I made dust in the sun!” Which clearly tells the story better than I can.
We asked him, though, WHY the cream on the face? What mystique did this give to the dust-in-the-sun adventure? Was it a mask? Was it to help the dust stick? He didn’t know.
Then he began to figure out that diaper cream doesn’t like to come off.
And I can still, two days later, see traces of it at the base of his eyelashes.
We think that Ele has now outgrown the diaper cream. And the powder.And perhaps everything except a completely empty room from now on. Except he’ll probably smuggle something in there under his shirt without us knowing. Is this a phase? Is being a walking disaster-area a phase? The good news is that you can tell because there are pictures of this one, that we were smiling. Sternly.
Okay, that was Sunday.
Monday, I was speeding down the little road between the bookstore (where I caved and bought guess-who a guess-what - and if you say Elliott and planet book you’d be right on) and the Super Target, heading to get Rowen from preschool. And I say speeding. And then I was caught speeding. *sigh*
Totally went from being just barely on time to get Rowen to really late to get Rowen. And I have a pink ticket to teach me better lawkeeping.
Okay. That was Monday.
Tuesday (that’s today), Jared went on the little surprise vacation I got him, to the Smashing Pumpkins concert in Washington D.C. He left at about noon to drive up - it’s about 4 hours from here - and is staying the night in a hotel. I’m the spouse that’s always leaving, so this was fun to do. :)
So the kids and I go to iHop for dinner. Because heck no am I cooking, and pancakes sounded good at 5 p.m. Rowen decides that she would rather wear her tutu. And why not? IHop is great. So we bam over to Bath and Body Works to check out the candles. This time of year always makes me want to light a new candle. We find two (Leaves and Apple Cider, yum!), and head back out to the car (which is Jared’s car, because he has taken the new car to D.C. with him),
And it doesn’t start.
It makes this shuddering kind of thud sound and all the lights in the dash come on.
It was 6:30, so it’s dark. Kinda chilly. Kids are strapped in their carseats that were moved over from the other car, and I start to wonder, ok, is it in Park? Did I leave the lights on? Are we out of gas? I never drive this car, so I’m not used to reading all the signs it gives.
I call Jared.
I say, the car won’t start. I say this maybe a bit too accusingly, like he has planned all along to take the nice car and bug out of town just in time to leave us stranded with two candles in the car.
I say, did you put gas in the car? Tell me you put gas in the car.
Yes, he says. Two days ago.
Ok. What else.
He says, maybe a bit too accusingly, did you leave the lights on? The battery might be dead.
I say, we JUST drove it! Like 5 minutes ago! We looked for candles!
So we think.
Hm. They have not developed teleportation yet (still waiting for this, sign me up for the beta!), and it is dark. And cold. And we’re like 4 miles from home. No walking that with 2 kids. And there are no cabs in this small town.
So I called my friend Aubrey, whose cell number I just happen to have programmed into my phone. And it happens that her family is on the way back to their house. Without any hesitation at all, asking only where we were, they turned around and came to find us. They even drive up on the sidewalk, and courageously jump-start my car.
I say, do you want a candle?
And then I say, you guys saved us. Thank you.
And I am so grateful tonight, that we have friends who will come and get us in the dark when we are stranded. Rescue is a wonderful, but humbling feeling. :) And it’s one of those things that you can never pay back, but must always look for the chance to pay forward.
So we limp on home and what? Oh you better believe I lit that candle. And made popcorn. And we watched Diego. And Rowen is sleeping in her tutu.
So how’s that for the beginning of this week, huh? LOL.
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Reader Comments (42)
Betsy
*stepping down off know-it-all-soapbox* Motherhood to little ones validates Einstein's Theory of Relativity better than anything I can think of...It takes forever... and is gone in a split second. That's relativity. Bless you and your kids. They are lucky little ones.
I may have posted here about it before, but have you googled Fisher Price's Planet Heroes? The DVDs are free, but they offer each one for only a limited time (there are 3...we missed #2 but I've seen it on ebay). I think E would love it as much as my sons do...
Our little ones have really their own way of experience magic :)))
ps- my little girl ate diaper cream once
Sam had an episode like Elliott with the diaper cream...yep...same age...but Sam DREW on the carpet with it! ugh....and I have NO pictures!!!! So you are the most fortunate mama alive!!!!!
I can feel a bit of your pain - I got my very first speeding ticket about a month ago. *sigh*