TheMommyBlog

This afternoon and evening was largely occupied in rescue and recovery operations and none of it involved rescuing me, which was quite refreshing.

First, Phil called from work to tell me that his car was coughing up blood and that a tow truck was on the way. Could I pick him up and drop him at the dealership to get a loaner car? Suuuuure.

Folks, I am embarrassed to say that I worked within four miles of his place of employment for nearly twelve years and still managed to get lost for FORTY MINUTES before I finally pulled up to where he was standing by the road. Sweet pastel jimmies on a bagel. Granted, it's a mess of twisty roads in a hilly town, but man is it annoying to be looking around at familiar places, yet know deep in your gut that you're two hills over and that you can't get there from here.

I had a brief respite at home after stopping at the pharmacy to use my brand new, shiny insurance card! I have insurance! And proof of it! It only cost me five dollars to pick up a prescription! Now I just have to collect the thousands of dollars in receipts to submit for reimbursement for the last three months... there sure were a lot of holidays, and medical bills to go with them.

Anyway, just as I was thinking that I'd rather put in Snakes on a Plane than finish watching Flight 93 (I just couldn't do it - it's still too upsetting), my eldest son called me, sobbing and in a panic that he would never get his outline and narrative done before bedtime, and Dad said he had to stop at nine, sharp, and he was so stressed out, and waaaaaah! So I hopped in the car and went to sit with him at the kitchen table, soothing him and calming him down. When his eyes lost some of their puffiness, we looked at the assignment. He had to write a story. Did he call the right rescue service, or what? Piece of cake!

At least it would have been for me—he kept finding logical flaws in my ideas and refused to include anything that made him or his dad look bad. His brother could take the rap, though, so we made it him that had dirty, smelly socks gross enough to grow seeds in. While he shot down my ideas one after another, I asked, "So what do YOU think might happen with MAGIC SEEDS? Something logical? Ya think?"

We got it done, and it's a very good story that made us laugh when we read it out loud, and we had a long hug before he suggested he have a shower before bed. I encouraged that mightily. He then thanked his dad for giving him the original idea. "Dad, you're really good at starting things, and Mom's really good at completing them. That's one reason I don't like divorce."

*knife in the heart*

Before I left, I helped Dylan tape a cone made out of construction paper together for his shapes project, and after kissed them all goodnight, I went to my car and shut down my rescue and recovery operation service.