The Spring Garden

This past weekend was a harsh one for my ego.  I don't know that I'll ever recover.

It started with Roland's work Christmas party.  I know, joy, joy, joy!  Ugh, work Christmas parties are the worst!  Second only to high school reunions.  What spouse wants to go?  This year sounded like it might be a better set up so I headed into it with, well, not complete dread.

His company had rented out the whole resort and novel idea, there was childcare.  Whoohoo!  The party didn't start until 7:30 and me being the responsible Mom thought, "Sweet, not much time between party start time and the kids bedtime".  Think about it!  An hour and a half tops?  One if I'm really suffering?  At this point I'm feeling pretty good about the whole situation.

Roland got the kids squared away in the kids room then came back up to our room were we read for awhile then got ready for the party.  I wanted to check in on the kids and make sure this childcare situation was kosher so we popped our heads in.

The little boy sitting next to Aaron asked me repeatedly and very loudly if I was Aaron's grandma.  Made me wonder if what I had decided to wear was severely matronly.  Or, if wearing my hair curly makes me look ancient.  I was feeling really great about walking into the party at this point.

Next ego hit came when the girlfriend of one of Roland's co-workers called me Mrs. Springer.  I wanted to hit her.  I have what 5 years on her?  OK, maybe more like 10 but still!  Mrs?  Really?

Then, and here is the clincher, the next morning we go to IHOP for Breakfast.  They gave the kids the place mats with activities and one was a fill in the story with random words.  You know the ones.  I never liked them, now I have a severe hatred towards them. 

Anyway, one of the words to fill in was 'hair color'.  Aaron looks at me for 10 seconds then tells his Dad "Gray".  I started to cry.  Roland busted a gut.  But, then his shin started hurting.

So, I'm Mrs. Grandma Gray Hair.

Bad weekend.  Really, really bad....

Peter is a tender little soul.  He doesn't like loud noise and he'll go into hiding if things get too loud.  (Something I've been known to do too).  Since we were on a loud train with no where to hide he got some help from his Dad.

Yesterday Aaron and I were looking through our picture archive.  So, I decided to do 12 Days of Favorite Pictures.

Here's the first;  While I was off doing something downstairs the kids stripped and got out all the ice cream.  Peter knows he's not supposed to be on the table and eating in our undies isn't on the list of manners we're learning.  Guess Mom's rules don't apply when Mom isn't around.  

We just bought a new mattress.  Our old one had become lumpy and rippled.  (There is a reason why mattress stores store their mattresses horizontal).  Know what the best part of having it is?  Lying on the old one, that is now outside under gorgeous fall trees, with my boys.

I've had several thoughts running through my head lately.  I thought I'd share them with you.

* To the clueless driver who stops in the traffic lane and flips on their hazards to check their phone you leave me speechless.  Really you do.  Do you not get that all the other clueless drivers will probably run into you?  Do you not see the SIDE OF THE ROAD.  It's safer there.  Promise.

* McDonald's makes people happy.  I sat watching the people in the drive through lane while the kids were in the play land and 100% of the people that came through were smiling and happy.  There IS a reason for Happy Meals.  Let's give the world a Happy Meal and see what happens.

* How did I live so long without liquid eyeliner?  This stuff has been on the market for how long?  I've just discovered that it stays on my watery eyes.  Nice.

* People who do not live in the D.C. area must think we've nothing to do.  News flash!  It's just the politicians that don't do anything.  Roland and I were meeting with a church leader when someone from Texas called asking this poor guy, who is responsible for thousands of people, if he wouldn't mind picking up her Glen Beck tickets.  S.E.R.I.O.U.S.L.Y.???? The United States Post Office really works!!  Give it a try.  We aren't your errand boys.  Or girl in my case.

* I cannot believe how much Aaron is learning in school.  It's amazing to watch how much that little head soaks up.  We were 'taking a nap' today and he started sounding out sentences on the Happy Meal pumpkin.  He read, "Glows in the dark".  Then he said, "Happy Meals make me happy".  OK, not really.  I'm just trying to see how many times I can use Happy Meal in my post.  He did read off the pumpkin though.

* How did I live 30 something years, going to church regularly, and not realize that the David from David and Goliath is the same guy as King David?  Makes me wonder what else I missed.

* There should be severe consequences for the person that doesn't understand that "next in line" means NEXT in line.  It doesn't mean, "Dude in the back come on down past all these women who are trying really hard to keep their kids from destroying the displays".  Not that mine would, I'm just saying..

* I'm tired of "Celebrating Diversity".  It's time for "Celebrating Similarities".  Maybe then we'd all be nicer to each other.  'Cause when it comes right down to it don't we all just want to be loved? Or have a Happy Meal?

I think I'm done ranting.  Thanks for reading.

What do you think of this bad boy?  (You can click on the picture to go to their website).  There are some great options out there now-a-days.  Have you ever seen a dutch box bike?  Those are gorgeous and only several thousand $$$$.  Now we just need to get them to price these fun bikes in a range the majority of the population can afford.

A few Saturday's ago Aaron went to a birthday party with about 30 other kids.  It was crazy and they had a pinata.  It's a rare thing to have the pinata part of a celebration go well, at least in my experience.  So, I'll admit I wasn't expecting a great outcome.

I could see I was going to be proven right as Aaron stood with his hand high in the air waiting to be called on.  He's not one to get in an adults face and with that big of a group you have to be aggressive.  Luckily, he has a slightly aggressive mother.  First problem solved.

On to the next problem.  The chaos that ensues when a pinata is broken can lead to more things broken then the pinata.  Aaron, still not being aggressive, gets knocked to the ground.  Any chance of making it to where the candy fell is long gone by the time I unbury him from the pile.  He starts to cry.  I start thinking about joining him.

So far this little tale is all pretty believable.  Here comes the unbelievable part.  The unbelievable has a name.  His name is Logan.  He's about 9 or 10 from what I can gather from the other parents at the party.  This kid, and I have a hard time calling him a kid, saw what happened.  He walks from the other side of the dog pile with an overloaded bag of candy.  He looks at Aaron's completely empty bag and with a smile on his face says, "Aaron, I'll trade you."  He doesn't wait for a response.  He takes Aaron's empty bag, puts his full bag in Aaron's hands and walks away.

I was no longer thinking about crying, I was crying.  I stood in that field under a tree in complete stunned silence at the gentleness of a young man who with one simple gesture became my Hero.

We've returned from a great visit to Utah.  We had a great time with family and friends.  I'll post some pictures soon.  While there we had dinner with two couples that we lived near in downtown Salt Lake.  There is always fun to be had with that group.  It made me think of a post Joe wrote that made me laugh so hard my abs were sore for a week.  Maybe it's the fact that I know the players in this little comedy that made it so funny to me.  Hope you get a laugh as you visualise what Joe is writing about.  Here you go:

I have been told this is the stuff of legends. I suppose it could be. Families sitting around the dinner table years from now will look back to smirk and guffaw; and were I totally innocent of doing the same, I might cringe. But alas, I myself still get a chuckle at long ago instances of fast meeting testimony singers and too-detailed health updates and travelogues. So here you go, all those that missed the actual incident. Jest away (everybody else in church did)!

So there I was....I remember it as though it was yesterday. Probably because it was yesterday. It was the end of a fine sacrament meeting and Denny was playing the organ for the congregation. We have been trying to get Emma to settle down a bit in church, so I sat near the front with her. Denny joined us in between hymns. After the last speaker finished, Denny went up front to play the last tune, ol' number 35, "For the Strength of the Hills."
The first three verses went as expected. In fact, if Felicia D. Hermans had stopped writing at three verses, I wouldn't be telling this sad yet fascinating tale. Where was I? Oh yeah, Emma started walking slowly to the front. I was thinking "she won't go up to the stand." I flashed her the sign for "candy" as she glanced back, and she quickly returned. She took off again, having broken the proverbial "up on the stand" barrier and went directly to Denny, who now had her attention divided. As Emma climbed up on the bench, two things happened. The world slowed waaaaaay down, and Denny looked down and asked me to come up and get Emma.

I took off for the stand, ducking under poor Sister Gurr who was leading. As I went around the back of the organ, I stepped down on Denny's organ bag, slipped, and nearly went down like a sack of hammers. Them organ bags is slippery. By this time, any hope of surprising Emma was out the stain-glassed window, and she latched on to Denny's neck like Crusher Kowalski doing a full-nelson on a weaker foe (weren't they all weaker?).

In retrospect, I should have taken my chances with letting her stay on Denny's lap. Instead, I grabbed on and pulled, expecting her grip to give. It didn't. Must have been a fine sight. I'm told that those who were asleep or missed church are still kicking themselves. Denny's glasses were totally askew, and her hair was across her face. I had Emma around the waist, and she was hanging on to Denny's neck for all she was worth. A bizarre sight by any measure, much like a scene from Dante's "Tag team match from hell."

I finally got Emma free after nearly pulling Denny off of the bench. To her credit, and to the amazement of the whole congregation, she never missed a beat! Great work. Eye of the tiger. Battle zone organing.

Some poor soul had to then come up and give the final prayer amid the laughs. Emma then jumped down like nothing happened, and scurried into nursery.

There you have it. Use it. Share it. Change the names if you wish or quote verbatim. It's all true. My only hope is that it quickly fades from everybody's memory, or that something even more bizarre happens in church to somebody else. Fat chance. Ok then.

On Saturday I opened the door to a sweet note and gift.  I didn't think anything of it because it came from the RS President and that's the kind of thing she does.  When I checked my email a few minutes later there was the nicest email from some friends.  I did wonder what made them send such a note, but again, it wasn't out of character for them.  Then another friend shows up with flowers.  She said she brought them early so I could enjoy them before we leave town.  Again, a very plausible story, don't you think?  I still wasn't clued in that a conspiracy was in the works.

When the third person shows up at my door bearing birthday greetings I FINALLY catch on.  I decide that my decision to not take a shower that day would need to be rethought.  (I was recovering from a migraine from the day before and had planned on doing nothing but sitting and moaning).  I manage to shower and clean the front room before the next set of friends arrive.

Well, Dear Friends, you made turning fmghth not so bad.  Let's just say that my third decade of life didn't have the most stellar celebrations and I had declared, to a certain someone, that I was hoping to just let the next decade slide by.  Well, she didn't listen and I'm glad she didn't.  It was fun to be on the receiving end of a fun conspiracy and try to wiggle hints out of people as to who pulled it off.  (Here's a helpful hint, if you make people believe that you're in the know they reveal a lot).  :-)

Here is a sample of the birthdays I had in the past decade:
*Telling friends that I thought it would be fun to bike Solitude only to find out too late that the trail doesn't follow the nice meandering cat track.  I walked my bike the whole way down.  Can you say embarrassing?  Just what I wanted to do.  Go for a walk with my bike. On my birthday.
*Arriving in Ithaca for grad school 2 days before my birthday with no one knowing me or I them.  Yay, fun day!
*Spending the next birthday in Ithaca while Roland was doing his internship in Oregon.  Once again no one seemed to know and I'm not the kind to tell. 
*Being somewhere in Canada during our 6 week Canadian Odyssey.  This trip is where I camped myself out.  I honestly don't even know where we where.  Maybe, Prince Edward Island?
*Moving to the DC area then needing to spend 2 months in Utah to help settle Pappy's estate and get things in order.  The first holidays without a loved one just aren't fun.  By the time I got back to DC I didn't know many people.  Although, Roland had been set up with a nice lady for the ward's small dinner group.  I'm sure she would have helped celebrate if we'd asked her.

There were a some good birthday's mixed in, so it wasn't a total wash.  There have been a few years that we've been in one place long enough to have friends to help celebrate.  And, Roland did arrange a surprise party for me in 2005.  He would have pulled it off too if the restuarant I wanted to go to would have taken reservations.  Since it didn't he made plans for the place the "Bush family frequents".  I figured out he had something planned when I asked for the third time to go where I wanted and he said no.  Dead give away.  Not giving the birthday girl what she askes for.

So, wonderful people who helped to celebrate me, THANK YOU!  I think this decade is off to a great start!