Miss the Bus Day

Yesterday was "miss the bus" day at our house. Of my three children, two managed to throw my day off kilter by daring to do this BIG "no-no". Fortunately, this doesn't occur very often, but when it does, momma ain't happy.

Nick managed to fall back to sleep after I had sweetly awakened him. Alix noticed that he was still snoozing at 7 am and kindly told him to get up or he was sure to miss the bus arriving at 7:20. As I was taking my own shower because of course, I HAD to be somewhere too, I heard the bus arrive, leave and Nick yelling through the door that he was not on the bus. GREAT! My whole schedule was going to hades in a handbasket. I prayed without ceasing that I would not lose my salvation when I conversed with Nick about his apparent problems with making his bus appointment, so that my life would not have to be rearranged and inconvenienced. Well of course Nick blamed his inability to get to the bus on that darn shower. The water stopped flowing in the middle of his shower about five times. Of all days for that to happen. The other part of his problem was staying up to watch the Colts beat the Jaguars which caused a few problems prying open his eyes that morning. At our house, it's always someone else's fault!

Very calmly, and nicely, I might add, I explained to Nick that he needed to get Maddie up and get her ready, so that I could apply my make-up before we left. Priorities are priorities, so I delegated Maddie detail to Nick, so I could concentrate on my face. After all, I couldn't drive to the high school and back with the "natural" look. That would be horrifying and might cause some accidents on the road. He graciously gave Maddie her pop tart, the breakfast of champions, while I laid out her clothes and finished in the bathroom. Ever have a 16 year old watching you get ready and urging you to hurry up? I was definitely not in the mood for that, figuring that it was his own fault for waking up late and well, maybe I just needed to put on an extra bit of mascara and blush this particular day. You know what I mean?

He made it on time to school and even wisely thanked me for driving him. After tossing out the morning mantra, "have a good day at school", he skipped into school joyfully to attend his first class (you betcha), while I raced home to madly dry my still wet hair and get another child on the bus to 1st grade. By this time it's 8:10, and Maddie's bus appointment is in 10 short minutes. I thought I could make it. The sinking feeling came when I was still putting the finishing touches on my hair, and I heard Maddie's bus go by. Big bummer! Now I had to drive another child to school in the opposite direction of where I needed to be at 9 am. This day had just begin, and it was already going downhill.

I expressed a sigh of relief after I dropped off this last child at school and headed toward the church for my Bible study. I knew I was going to be late, but I didn't care, because my day was going to start looking up. It just didn't matter that when I began walking in the downpour with my umbrella into the church building, it flipped inside out with the heavy winds and I could barely hang onto it. After an hour with Beth Moore and some friends, I knew I'd be feeling much better.

Guilty or Innocent?

Last night at our high school football game, free-spirited Maddie found her friend Daxton to play with. While Tony and I sit up in the stands, Maddie and Daxton love to run down the stairs and play, sometimes venturing under the bleachers, literally hanging around on the poles underneath. During one of the times Maddie and Daxton bounded up the stairs to check on us parents, I asked her what they were doing. "We're just playing halfway under the bleachers."

"No, I mean what are you doing under there?"

"Well," she says, "we're not playing boyfriend and girlfriend."

Hmmmmm. I think we've got trouble. She better not be "playing" boyfriend and girlfriend under the bleachers when she's 16. Guilty or innocent? I say she's guilty by reason of her admission of what they were definitely not doing!

The Two Shall Become One!

Tony and I fulfilled scripture in a very different sense this week...in a shopping trip. No, my husband is NOT a shopper, unfortunately. And, actually, I'd much prefer him not to accompany me on my shopping trips because...frankly, he makes me nervous. I feel the need to entertain him, make sure he's having fun, not bored, etc. Girlfriends are the best shopping companions aside from my brother-in-law, Steve, who is the only man I've met who enjoys browsing and buying!

Earlier this week Tony mentioned that he needed new dress shirts. Apparently, they have been shrinking in the neck to the point of almost choking him. Either that or his neck has grown a half inch. Not wanting my poor husband to suffer unduly, I made a trip to TJ Maxx to purchase some new shirts. As I was walking out with 5 assorted dress shirts in a bag, my cell phone rang. Guess who? Yep, it was Tony asking me what I was doing. "Shoot, caught shopping again," I thought. Only this time it's for a good cause. Save my poor, sweet baby from dying while in the middle of a presentation to a client. "So, what are you doing?" he asks.

"Well, I'm just walking out of TJ Maxx."

"Oh," he says. "I was just there earlier today."

Completely aghast and peeved, I spout, "You didn't buy any shirts, did you?"

"Why yes I did."

"Well, I just now bought you some shirts, too. I guess we'll just have to compare and see what we both came up with. This will be interesting to see."

Later that evening in our house, one might have received the impression that it was Christmas. I excitedly held my treasured purchase of shirts tightly concealed in the bag waiting to see how we matched up in our separate buying sprees. Would our two bags demonstrate unity in mind even in shopping, or would we remain separate entities, doomed to give each other gift cards for the rest of our days? We sprung the bags open to reveal the contents. The results were astounding. Two white shirts versus two white shirts; one blue shirt versus one blue shirt; one tan shirt versus one tan shirt! The only leftover was the extra maroon shirt in my bag. It was a joyous occasion in our household that night. We experienced a new dimension in our marriage relationship as we realized that we can shop for one another with an assurance that we have similar tastes. This, coupled with the excitement over returning all the extra, unnecessary dress shirts purchased, thus saving money, was cause for great celebration. And, you know my husband, he loves it when I save him moolah when I shop!