Overheard

We had a pretty wild week here.

Monday we got the vet bill for our dog Bob's final expenses. And it was like reopening a fresh wound.

Tuesday we spent some time in the hall closet as a tornado hurtled toward us and then broke up before reaching us. Boy am I glad my husband built that pantry closet under the stairs. It's safe, entertaining and there's food in there. The kids and I played with magnetic letters on the freezer and ate goldfish crackers until the storm passed.

Wednesday I got my second speeding ticket in six weeks. By this time, I was feeling a little sorry for myself, which is actually unusual for me. Doing the math on two speeding tickets, a possible insurance hike and a large vet bill got me down. Math is just so depressing.

But Wednesday evening, as I drove home from a meeting, I saw a mom and two small children waiting for the city bus at 8 o'clock at night. And it hit me. We can pay our bills, even the unexpected ones, and still put food on the table, have cars in the driveway and a roof over our head. Things could be worse. 

Thursday was better. I took the kids on a two-mile hike down the Tobacco Trail near our house in the gorgeous fall weather.

Anyhow, enjoy ...

He's not a bad cop, mom. You were going too speedy.

I know that I never said [standing Owen's pack and play on end] is not allowed, but let's not do it again. And now I will go add that to the list of rules I never knew needed to exist.

What's this song about? "Tainted Love" was playing on the car radio.
Um, potato love. It's about a guy who loves potatoes. Or someone who has a love-hate relationship with potatoes?

ARGH. Why are we waiting here? I got stuck at a stop light at a crosswalk with NO ONE in it.
Green light, Danny replies matter of factly. Great. I have a traffic cop sitting behind me.

Please don't turn out the light, Danny. 
No, no, your computer might glow [with the light out]. He likes to see the little apple glow on my Macbook.
Yeah, and my head might just explode if you turn out that light. In my defense, it had been a long day and I was just trying to get some work done on the laptop

You did not put that toy away; you just moved it to another spot. Cleanup time was not going so well that night.

Those guys are stupid, mommy, Fiona tells me while we were watching some dogs singing in "All Dogs Go to Heaven."

I like that girl, mommy.
Why?
Because she's singing. Oh, so singing girls are good. Singing dogs, not so much.

What's the problem here, guys? Fiona was wailing in the bathroom just as Owen was leaving with a plastic knife in his hand.
Owen put a knife in the toilet, she wailed. And apparently, this was utterly tragic for her.

... it's raining now and the house is in the car wash, Danny says. And this is at the tail end of a diatribe about getting the tires rotated on the van. Not sure how we got from rotating tires to the house in a car wash.

Excuse me, Danny, Fiona says.
Good job saying excuse me, Danny responds.

Sometimes I say excuse me, and sometimes I don't. Then I wait for you to move, he tells his sister. Mommy thinks she may be dreaming at this point.

Here, Fi Fi, I want you to enjoy this, Danny says. He had given her a piece of his pasta. Who is this child?

I want to do that, mommy, Fiona says as she watches older girls flip off a vault into a foam pit at gymnastics. Of course you do, baby. (Lord help us. I just hope she doesn't try to do it at home.)

I saw some plastic containers like ours at the thrift shop, but they had no lids. I thought about getting them just to drive you crazy, Jim says. Aw. Isn't that sweet?

He even used his sirens this time, I told Jim about the cop who pulled me over.
Of course he did. You're a known felon.

Have a great weekend. And drive carefully. I know I will now.