Have you ever done it? Lost your transportation? I have to pause to laugh...
This afternoon the boys and I went to the garage to mount our bikes and strollers for an excursion uptown. Peter declares, "I can't find my bike. My bike's not here." Hmm. He's totally right. Bike gone.
My first thought was that someone stole it. But then I remembered that he is his father's son. So I asked him, "Did you ride it somewhere recently and leave it there?"
He thinks for a moment then replays yesterday's solo trip to the market. "I rode my bike to the market to buy meat for dinner... And then I walked home." I smiled hugely in disbelief that he actually did this. Because...
More than once, Paul has been out and about driving somewhere and he ends up at the local cafe, which is a two minute walk away from our house. After spending hours solving the world's problems with the farmers, he heads out and, forgetting that he drove the car, he walks home. Then later in the day one of us goes to use the car and we don't know where it is.
"Oh, heh heh, I left it at the cafe."
See how funny and ridiculous this is? It brought great humor into my life that Peter, never knowing that Paul is also prone to losing his transportation, took a one-way trip on his bike.
The truly sad part of the story is that his bike is gone. It was not at the market when we went to retrieve it today. I'm hoping that it will magically reappear, but I imagine one of the nocturnal youth who traverse our town in the darkness of night took it for a joy ride.
Cue Reuben's act of mind-blowing kindness. He told Peter that he could ride his bike any time he wanted and that he would ride his scooter. Yes, Reuben. You're amazing too.
I'm a California city-girl living in a Midwestern town of 1,042. It's a small life, but one filled with love and purpose.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Legalities and Love
Passports
Jury duty
Sleeping Paul
Conference
Nexus
Wassail
Snow
My sister
So Charlie joined our family August 4, 2011. His adoption was finalized November 17, 2011. We received his birth certificate with the wrong birthday on it in February-ish 2012. When the corrected one came, we applied for his Certificate of Citizenship, which just came this fall. With all of these documents, including his adoption decree, I went to the Social Security office to get his social security number. Six weeks later I added this to my stack of really important documents to grab if our house is ever on fire. Now comes the grand finale... I took all of the aforementioned papers and my legal husband to the courthouse to apply for Charlie's American Passport!! And it came in the mail last week. So all of our children are labeled as American citizens and we are free to move about the globe. Which we will do shortly.
But before I leave the country, my services have been requested to solve a legal dispute. Word of my smooth ability to daily fix a bajillion crisis must have reached the jury selection committee. "We want her! Did you see her bring immediate peace in her house when her middle son..." And, "Whoa, she just put him in Time Out. And he's staying there." I hope I get to sit on a jury. I would like to add that to my list of life experiences.
Paul went to bed by 8 o'clock tonight due to being up past 3 am last night. Isn't that interesting? Last night I went to bed before 10 o'clock and woke up just before 8 am. That's the way to do it. It was lovely. So tonight, we switch. And I'm about to dig into my secret stash of blueberry/pomegranate ice cream with cute little chocolate hearts in it. This staying up later than everyone is a good idea.
Tomorrow we head to a conference. But I'm deciding right now not to write about because it's not going to come out very interesting. Next...
So, we have never owned a cell phone. And we get a bit of, um, crap about it. But we really really like the cell phone-free lifestyle, so we take the snide remarks and then go eat a bowl of ice cream, or whatever, because we don't really care. But, I think this next thing I'm going to tell you is going to help The World accept us a little bit more. We recently got a tablet thingy. Right? It's a tablet? A flat rectangle with a touch screen that gets on the Internet and lets us download books and stuff. Isn't that cool? Aren't we totally with-it? I knew it. I knew it would make up for us not having a mo-bile. You can't call me, but we can Skype! And now I have Apps. Everyone has Apps on their rectangular device-of-choice. Our Saturday night pastor even did a whole sermon series around the Apps theme. Now I have Apps and can totally relate. Except that sermon series was months ago and I don't remember what he said.
It's Wassail time. I make it several times in the fall and winter for gatherings and such. It's super good, so they say. Here's the recipe I use.
1 gallon of apple juice
1 quart of pineapple juice
6 oz of orange juice concentrate
8 cinnamon sticks
27 whole cloves
Put it in a crock pot (that works) to warm it up for a few hours. Delish. And your house will smell all holiday spicy.
It snowed on Monday. Here. Outside my window. Paul came to tell me as I was doing my hair and I asked if the kids knew yet. Cue children squealing. "It's snowing! Ahhh!" Charlie grabbed his sandals and brought them to me with a high sense of urgency. He did not like having to wait for me to find his snow-appropriate shoes. And Charlie and Reuben went out to play. I think Peter read a book on the couch. Snow shmow. This first baby snow is our reminder to start contacting last year's clients for Peter and Bros. Snow Removal. And my cue to get the hot chocolate supplies ready.
And it can snow all it wants because I'm going to California for two weeks. Aha! Just don't order snow for Denver because that's where my layovers are. I was the opposite of encouraged when I saw that Southwest plane slide off the Denver tarmac last week. Flying Southwest for this trip. Through Denver. Double whammy. Remember that show? I barely do. So, to California I go. Without anyone else. And hopefully I will make it there. Because I get to spend time with my parents and my sister... And this baby who needs to meet me:
Did you read her onesie? This is my sister's new baby Cadence. Before she turns one she will be a big sister. Why keep The World waiting for more extreme cuteness when it could be available in an easy nine months, I always say. Excited for them.
And, I think that covers it. I've had my ice cream. You've read my nonsense. It's time to bury myself in my flannel-shod bed, pre-warmed by Paul.
Oh, let me tell you one more thing about Paul. Today was a special day. The beginning of It All in the world of PaulandStacey. This day, November 14th, back in 1998, Paul and I became PaulandI. So sweet. I've probably already told you about it. We were sitting on a bench on Lover's Lane at PCC and he held my hand... Then the next November 14th, he called my Dad to ask him if he could marry me. Then he asked me what I thought about that plan. I thought it was a good idea. A great idea. The best idea. So a few months later we were married and really became PaulandStacey. And that's the story of November 14th and why the boys thought I was all weird and sappy today.
*What I learned while writing this post: 'tarmac' is short for 'tarmacadam.'
Jury duty
Sleeping Paul
Conference
Nexus
Wassail
Snow
My sister
So Charlie joined our family August 4, 2011. His adoption was finalized November 17, 2011. We received his birth certificate with the wrong birthday on it in February-ish 2012. When the corrected one came, we applied for his Certificate of Citizenship, which just came this fall. With all of these documents, including his adoption decree, I went to the Social Security office to get his social security number. Six weeks later I added this to my stack of really important documents to grab if our house is ever on fire. Now comes the grand finale... I took all of the aforementioned papers and my legal husband to the courthouse to apply for Charlie's American Passport!! And it came in the mail last week. So all of our children are labeled as American citizens and we are free to move about the globe. Which we will do shortly.
But before I leave the country, my services have been requested to solve a legal dispute. Word of my smooth ability to daily fix a bajillion crisis must have reached the jury selection committee. "We want her! Did you see her bring immediate peace in her house when her middle son..." And, "Whoa, she just put him in Time Out. And he's staying there." I hope I get to sit on a jury. I would like to add that to my list of life experiences.
Paul went to bed by 8 o'clock tonight due to being up past 3 am last night. Isn't that interesting? Last night I went to bed before 10 o'clock and woke up just before 8 am. That's the way to do it. It was lovely. So tonight, we switch. And I'm about to dig into my secret stash of blueberry/pomegranate ice cream with cute little chocolate hearts in it. This staying up later than everyone is a good idea.
Tomorrow we head to a conference. But I'm deciding right now not to write about because it's not going to come out very interesting. Next...
So, we have never owned a cell phone. And we get a bit of, um, crap about it. But we really really like the cell phone-free lifestyle, so we take the snide remarks and then go eat a bowl of ice cream, or whatever, because we don't really care. But, I think this next thing I'm going to tell you is going to help The World accept us a little bit more. We recently got a tablet thingy. Right? It's a tablet? A flat rectangle with a touch screen that gets on the Internet and lets us download books and stuff. Isn't that cool? Aren't we totally with-it? I knew it. I knew it would make up for us not having a mo-bile. You can't call me, but we can Skype! And now I have Apps. Everyone has Apps on their rectangular device-of-choice. Our Saturday night pastor even did a whole sermon series around the Apps theme. Now I have Apps and can totally relate. Except that sermon series was months ago and I don't remember what he said.
It's Wassail time. I make it several times in the fall and winter for gatherings and such. It's super good, so they say. Here's the recipe I use.
1 gallon of apple juice
1 quart of pineapple juice
6 oz of orange juice concentrate
8 cinnamon sticks
27 whole cloves
Put it in a crock pot (that works) to warm it up for a few hours. Delish. And your house will smell all holiday spicy.
It snowed on Monday. Here. Outside my window. Paul came to tell me as I was doing my hair and I asked if the kids knew yet. Cue children squealing. "It's snowing! Ahhh!" Charlie grabbed his sandals and brought them to me with a high sense of urgency. He did not like having to wait for me to find his snow-appropriate shoes. And Charlie and Reuben went out to play. I think Peter read a book on the couch. Snow shmow. This first baby snow is our reminder to start contacting last year's clients for Peter and Bros. Snow Removal. And my cue to get the hot chocolate supplies ready.
And it can snow all it wants because I'm going to California for two weeks. Aha! Just don't order snow for Denver because that's where my layovers are. I was the opposite of encouraged when I saw that Southwest plane slide off the Denver tarmac last week. Flying Southwest for this trip. Through Denver. Double whammy. Remember that show? I barely do. So, to California I go. Without anyone else. And hopefully I will make it there. Because I get to spend time with my parents and my sister... And this baby who needs to meet me:
And, I think that covers it. I've had my ice cream. You've read my nonsense. It's time to bury myself in my flannel-shod bed, pre-warmed by Paul.
Oh, let me tell you one more thing about Paul. Today was a special day. The beginning of It All in the world of PaulandStacey. This day, November 14th, back in 1998, Paul and I became PaulandI. So sweet. I've probably already told you about it. We were sitting on a bench on Lover's Lane at PCC and he held my hand... Then the next November 14th, he called my Dad to ask him if he could marry me. Then he asked me what I thought about that plan. I thought it was a good idea. A great idea. The best idea. So a few months later we were married and really became PaulandStacey. And that's the story of November 14th and why the boys thought I was all weird and sappy today.
*What I learned while writing this post: 'tarmac' is short for 'tarmacadam.'
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Points For You and Me
Here's the lineup of tonight's discussion:
Charlie and the dentist
Paul gone
Bonus plane money
Polyp
Date at the museum
Voting tears
Ju-seok
Car battery
Pork chops
They say you should take your kids to the dentist when they're young. Peter and Reuben were older than the dentist preferred, like fiveish. They've always had a good time at the dentist though. But Charlie, being fully two, wanted to keep his teeth to himself. He clamped his mouth shut and fought with great might. So much for bringing them in young to ease into the dental experience. I brought him in at this younger age because we're moving soon and I wanted his formerly cleft lip checked out. And I wanted the dentist to explain what she saw in English, you know, so I could understand what she was saying. She said the something something arch looked good and all of his teeth are in the right place. Ten points to Dr. Rucker.
Paul is not here. Maybe he is with you. Just go ahead and give him a big ole kiss for me. If you have any extra pity sitting around you could share it with Paul, poor guy. He's out in California where it's all sunny and warm and filled with people he likes to hang out with. It's really sad. Whereas I, I get to take the trash out to the street tomorrow morning in the 28 degree cloudiness after being woken up by a Charlie telling me he's "All done." Negative 50 points to jealous me.
But Senor Paul did scored us -ME- some bonus airplane dollars by volunteering to take a later flight. He said I can use them this winter when my annual I Must Go To California Right Now urge appears. Sweet man. One million points to Paul.
Okay, so what if your doctor found a pretty small little growth attached to your insides? And what if he wanted to remove it? Would you let him? Me neither. Thanks for your input. I feel better about it now. Zero points to impending doom.
What's next? Oh, our date. We spent a lot of hours at the art museum last Friday. We went on three docent-led tours discussing American impressionists, Flemish painters, and Islamic art. We were really nerdy and very romantic. It was so nice to do something that WE wanted to do without having to manage our dear, but needy, children. A thousand hundred thank yous to Debbie who fulfilled all the needs of our children that day. 75 points to educational dates in the city.
Did you cry when you tried to vote yesterday? Me too. I just looked at that ballot and those two names and implored God to tell me which one to pick, because I didn't want to mark either of their names. And ultimately, I didn't. Then I fought back my tears of frustration that there were not suitable men listed to lead our country. It felt odd to deposit an empty ballot, but perhaps I am not the only one who did. Negative a lot of points to man's sinful nature.
This is to formally notify The World that the child formally known as Reuben would, from this point on, prefer to be called Ju-seok. He will remind you if you forget. Cute points to the Korean.
Last week our car failed to start, so our friends at Bradley Tire tested our battery for us. The little machine said it was fine. And then Paul went out of town. Which leads us to this afternoon when I loaded the kids in car to take them to piano lessons and... nothing. Not even that little clicking sound. Everybody out, call to cancel piano, and call to Bradley Tire to come rescue little me. And they totally did. An hour later they returned my car with a new battery. They brought it to me. And before that they came to my house to jump my car (after pushing it out of the garage) and take it to their shop. This is small town love. And I'm going to miss it. So I baked those boys some of my favorite brownies and cookies and brought them to the shop, which I could do because when I turned the key, my car started. 600 points to small town America.
Since my car stopped working, my crockpot followed suit. Porkchops and stuffing and sauce all laying nicely in there all afternoon. Cold. It was plugged in and turned on, yes. So I microwaved them. Isn't that silly? And then I hoped really hard that we would not get sick from eating meat that sat on the counter and may or may not have been fully cooked. It's been five hours and we're okay so far. Negative 6 points to my crockpot that let me down.
Let's end with a positive score board. I am now going to read my Perspectives book and attempt to complete the homework. 200 points to this fantastic class. And 4973 points for me because I earned 18 out of 20 on my last two assignments! And the crowd went wild...
Charlie and the dentist
Paul gone
Bonus plane money
Polyp
Date at the museum
Voting tears
Ju-seok
Car battery
Pork chops
They say you should take your kids to the dentist when they're young. Peter and Reuben were older than the dentist preferred, like fiveish. They've always had a good time at the dentist though. But Charlie, being fully two, wanted to keep his teeth to himself. He clamped his mouth shut and fought with great might. So much for bringing them in young to ease into the dental experience. I brought him in at this younger age because we're moving soon and I wanted his formerly cleft lip checked out. And I wanted the dentist to explain what she saw in English, you know, so I could understand what she was saying. She said the something something arch looked good and all of his teeth are in the right place. Ten points to Dr. Rucker.
Paul is not here. Maybe he is with you. Just go ahead and give him a big ole kiss for me. If you have any extra pity sitting around you could share it with Paul, poor guy. He's out in California where it's all sunny and warm and filled with people he likes to hang out with. It's really sad. Whereas I, I get to take the trash out to the street tomorrow morning in the 28 degree cloudiness after being woken up by a Charlie telling me he's "All done." Negative 50 points to jealous me.
But Senor Paul did scored us -ME- some bonus airplane dollars by volunteering to take a later flight. He said I can use them this winter when my annual I Must Go To California Right Now urge appears. Sweet man. One million points to Paul.
Okay, so what if your doctor found a pretty small little growth attached to your insides? And what if he wanted to remove it? Would you let him? Me neither. Thanks for your input. I feel better about it now. Zero points to impending doom.
What's next? Oh, our date. We spent a lot of hours at the art museum last Friday. We went on three docent-led tours discussing American impressionists, Flemish painters, and Islamic art. We were really nerdy and very romantic. It was so nice to do something that WE wanted to do without having to manage our dear, but needy, children. A thousand hundred thank yous to Debbie who fulfilled all the needs of our children that day. 75 points to educational dates in the city.
Did you cry when you tried to vote yesterday? Me too. I just looked at that ballot and those two names and implored God to tell me which one to pick, because I didn't want to mark either of their names. And ultimately, I didn't. Then I fought back my tears of frustration that there were not suitable men listed to lead our country. It felt odd to deposit an empty ballot, but perhaps I am not the only one who did. Negative a lot of points to man's sinful nature.
This is to formally notify The World that the child formally known as Reuben would, from this point on, prefer to be called Ju-seok. He will remind you if you forget. Cute points to the Korean.
Last week our car failed to start, so our friends at Bradley Tire tested our battery for us. The little machine said it was fine. And then Paul went out of town. Which leads us to this afternoon when I loaded the kids in car to take them to piano lessons and... nothing. Not even that little clicking sound. Everybody out, call to cancel piano, and call to Bradley Tire to come rescue little me. And they totally did. An hour later they returned my car with a new battery. They brought it to me. And before that they came to my house to jump my car (after pushing it out of the garage) and take it to their shop. This is small town love. And I'm going to miss it. So I baked those boys some of my favorite brownies and cookies and brought them to the shop, which I could do because when I turned the key, my car started. 600 points to small town America.
Since my car stopped working, my crockpot followed suit. Porkchops and stuffing and sauce all laying nicely in there all afternoon. Cold. It was plugged in and turned on, yes. So I microwaved them. Isn't that silly? And then I hoped really hard that we would not get sick from eating meat that sat on the counter and may or may not have been fully cooked. It's been five hours and we're okay so far. Negative 6 points to my crockpot that let me down.
Let's end with a positive score board. I am now going to read my Perspectives book and attempt to complete the homework. 200 points to this fantastic class. And 4973 points for me because I earned 18 out of 20 on my last two assignments! And the crowd went wild...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)