Shaun came wandering out of the kitchen peeling a banana.  As he stopped by my chair to spy on me see what I was up to, he asked me if I wanted to smell his banana.  I rolled my eyes at him and told him no.  Then he politely asked me if I would like a bite of his banana.  Once again I declined.  Shaun merely shrugged his shoulders and sat down across from me. 

I didn’t really want to chat with him as I was busily working on a crossword puzzle something  very important, but I thought it was best to spend some one-on-one time with my husband. (This may have something to do with the fact that I knew he would never leave me alone until he had shared some fascinating tidbit with me) We chatted about this and that for a little while.  Shaun was doing more talking than eating  and I started staring at that perfectly ripened banana being waved around in his hand. 

When my Beloved paused for a breath, I jumped in and mentioned that I was starting to get hungry.  Shaun asked if I would like him to bring me a banana.  A banana sounded really good to me, but being mischievous seemed even better.

“No,” I told him “I’d just like a bit of your banana….but you don’t ever want to share your food with me…”.

Shaun’s mouth dropped open.  He was completely flabbergasted  and started to sputter. “I…I…I just…..”

I, of course, had started to laugh so hard at his outrage that I could barely breath.

“I can’t believe this!” Shaun continued.  “You weren’t listening to me! I just offered you a bite of my banana!”  He turned to glare at me and realized that I was laying on the floor, cackling like a madwoman.  Shaun finally stopped being indignant long  enough to realize that I was messing with him.   He grinned at me sheepishly and  brought his banana over to me.  After all that, I had to take a bite. 

There are times when it’s really fun to drive your husband bananas…

This was taken from notes jotted down…oh about a month ago.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, one of the first signs of fall is the start of soccer season.  A few weeks before school even starts, coaches are rallying up kids and working them through drills, strategies and joyful scrimmages. Mimi chose to switch teams this year.  The new team is a little further away, in fact, most of the girls on her new team to to a different school.  Of course this means that the practices and games are a little further away than we are used to as well.  With no one nearby to carpool with, I get to do all the driving.  (Or rather be the passenger while Mimi and her learner’s permit take the wheel) Instead of just dropping Mimi off, I chose to wait for my girl and bring a book to keep me company as I waited in the car. 

“Liam, tie your shoes again!”

I hadn’t counted on the gorgeous day to distract me from my novel.  It was a truely dazzling day and I realize that it would be foolish to waste.  I decided to go on a short walk.  Short, of course, is relative.  This particular field is actually a collection of sixteen soccer fields and called 60 Acres. I took a deep breath and started on what was surely 12 thousand mile jaunt. 

“OK girls, you need to focus.  How badly do you want to win the trophy anyways?”

There was so much going on in every corner of the fields.  Both girls and boys from the tiny ones  just learning to play to seasoned high school kids were out practicing.  Nearly every person out there was talking or yelling at the top of their lungs. It cracked me up as I found my self momentarily surrounded by a group of boys jogging by.  One of them was earnestly asking the others if they all used a lot of conditioner.  I started paying attention to the snippets that I heard as I passed by. 

“Mike, pay attention! Mikey, step it up! Mike step up! MIKE! STEP UP! Oh Mike…”

The leaves are starting their yearly metamorphosis.  They are still lush and green, but I can see the subtle change of color around the edges of them.  I admire the first scarlet leaves littering the grass.  Soon the ground will be covered with crunch leaves in vibrant hues. 

“All right Abby! That’s the way to dribble!”

A young couple ambles by pushing a baby stroller before them as they softly talk in French with their heads close together.  A mother gently tosses a softball to her young son while he valiantly struggles to catch it in what looks like a brand new mitt.  Yet another young woman cuddles with her child on a blanket in the grass as they read a book together.

“Bruce, what time is it now?”

I breath in the heavenly scent of freshly mown grass.  Then abruptly cough as the air becomes tainted by the sharply astringent stench of the Honey Bucket air sanitizer. I pick up my pace to get away from the well used Honey Buckets a little quicker to get away from it. 

“Ok guys, take a quick water break.  Everyone be sure to drink some, I want to keep you hydrated”

I pass a few other lone women and one man walking by in the other direction.  They are very focused on their Power Walking and barely make eye contact with me. I can only hope that they are able to notice what a beautiful day it is.  I have no idea if there are other people walking counter clockwise as I am…we are all space far apart.  It is a huge field. 

“Don’t touch it, don’t touch it! More zig zag ladies…that’s it!”

Mimi glances up, sees me, then ignores me as I pass the where her team is practicing.  I smile bitter-sweetly as I remember that once upon a time she would have abandoned her team mates and come running to greet me.  I chose to respect her teenage mind-set and pretend that I don’t know her either. 

“I got her this gorgeous pink plaid that was pleated perfectly.  I just know she’s going to love it!”

I finish walking the entire perimeter of sixteen soccer fields, hoping that I beat Mimi back to the car.  I was pretty shocked to find that only fifteen minutes had passed.  It seemed as though I had no choice but to walk around again. (Honestly, how could I resist?)

“Check out that hot guy over there.  No, don’t look now, he’ll see you!”

I pass a group of moms sitting in a circle in their soccer chairs absorbed only with each other.  They are talking about their dinner plans.  Not too far away from them a woman sits alone in her chair watching them.  She smiles at me as I pass by.  On my second pass I see that the woman has been joined by another and they are happily talking about their sons in Spanish.  It lightened my heart to see that she has a companion now.

“Did you hear that he had a heart attack?”

As I finish up my second lap, I started noticing how many parents were sitting in their cars waiting for their offspring.  I was so glad that I had chosen to get out and walk around the soccer fields.  I had no idea how much I had been missing out on. 

“Mom! Are you ready to go? Did you have a nice walk….”

I’ve been staring at my computer screen trying to figure out what to write for an hour and a half, yet coming up with nothing.  No…that’s not entirely true.  There were a few things I had to do first.  I had to check my email and Facebook, do my daily crossroad puzzle, start another load of laundry, feed the cat, help KT pick out her Senior Picture, dip my feet back in the blogging world by visiting some of my old haunts, check my email again….obviously I’ve been very busy with very important things.

It’s hopeless…..tonight, I’ve got nothin’….

I’m not sure if it’s just me, or if it’s Human Nature to only see what you think it’s important to see.  For example, a while back, (and I really couldn’t tell you when) a huge metal ballot box was installed in front of our library.  I looked at it curiously the first few times I went to the library after it appeared, but it finally just became another part of the scenery, much like the nearby bench and trashcan.  It didn’t really apply to me, so I no longer saw it.

The ballot and voters guide sent out by the county had a lot in common with that huge ballot box.   I glanced over the guide  inquisitively the first day that it arrived in our home (although there’s no telling exactly when that was) then sat them down on the counter.  I kept telling myself to go over the information and send my ballot in early every time I saw them …until I no longer noticed that they were still sitting there. 

That was until we realized that we were running out of time to vote.  Shaun carefully researched and filled out his ballot last night while I went to bed.  I had planned on doing the rest of my research first thing in the morning, but my day was unexpectedly filled up.  I found myself  searching for information at the nearly the very last minute.  I planned on swinging it by the library real quick on my way to yoga. 

I couldn’t help but laugh when I realized that there was a huge line of my fellow last-minute voters waiting to get into the library parking lot in order to drop of their ballots.  It was just over an hour before they would stop accepting ballots and  I (naively) was sure that it wouldn’t take more than a moment to place our ballots in that huge ballot box.  Apparently most of our neighborhood seemed to think that way as well.   I guess it’s just Human Nature…

As I write this, I’m sitting in the waiting room of our local clinic  desperately trying not to breath.  I can almost see the clouds of germs swarming through the air, waiting to attack me.  There are two kids sitting with masks covering the lower portion of their faces.  I might be safe from them…it’s the other three kids slumped in their chairs with miserable, glazed-over expressions and no face masks  that worry me. 

When KT climbed in bed with me in the wee hours of the morning, burning up and nearly in tears, I vaguely wondered if she had managed to  catch the dreaded H1N1 virus.  Other than feeling horrible and running a fever, she seemed to be doing OK as long as I was close by.  We spent a good portion of the day talking to the cats and watching old movies together.  (please tell me that’s not how Crazy Cat Ladies get started!)

When Mimi came home from school later that afternoon, she told me that she had a horrible headache.  Further conversation revealed that she had endured several dizzy spells throughout the day.  It took about two minutes for me to call the doctor’s office to make an appointment.  I explained to the receptionist that Mimi had bonked heads with another girl the day before and was woozy enough to be helped off the soccer field and taken out of the game. (Who knew that someone had a harder head than our girl?)

The receptionist at the doctor’s office apologized as she told me that they were booked solid for the rest of the day and most of the next day.  She explained that they were swamped with flu victims.  Then she asked me if I would like to bring Mimi  in the next morning at 8 AM.  I accepted the appointment while wondering to myself  if I should plan on taking Mimi to the Urgent Care or the ER.  I had said goodbye to the receptionist and was about the hang up when she suddenly asked me to wait a moment so that she could transfer me to the Triage Nurse…just to be safe.   Once the Triage Nurse realized that we were dealing with a head injury, she told me that she could squeeze us in if we could get there within the next fifteen minutes.  By some miracle we managed to make it there in the nick of time.

We ended up sitting in that waiting room, trying to avoid all the germs for nearly an hour before we were called in.  Mimi was examined and diagnosed as having “minor head trauma” (Yay, no concussion!).  Then the nurse told us that they had some of the highly sought after Swine Flu vaccine and asked if we would like it.  Mimi immediately declared that she would rather suffer through two weeks of the worst flu imaginable, rather than a ten second shot in the arm.  She absolutely refused to have the vaccine even after I pointed out how miserable her sister was and how awful all those kids in the waiting room looked.  Obviously Mimi had forgotten who she was dealing with.   I had to laugh when the nurse offered her a lollipop and a sticker for being such a good sport for getting her shots. (No, I would never tease her about the fact that those rewards are usually reserved for the under-ten set!)

On the way out the door I accepted that 8:00 am appointment for KT.  According to our doctor, Tamiflu really is effective in shortening the length of  flu symptoms. 

I can only hope that the waiting room is empty that early in the morning…

I just had a moment of panic.  I had finished setting up my coffee pot for the morning then looked at the clock over my stove that said it was 11:22.  I suddenly realized that I had a mere 38 minutes to come up with some sort of coherent  post before I blew the very first day of NaBloPoMo.   I rushed to feed a very loudly howling cat then sat down with my laptop and  simply froze.  I couldn’t think of a single thing to write.  Then I happened to look at the time on my computer and was startled to read that it was really 10:28.  Apparently I had checked the time on the only clock in the house that hadn’t been updated with the correct time.  I suddenly had an extra hour!

If  you are at all familiar with my blog, you may have noticed that I’ve been doing good to post once a month for the last year or so.  That, my friends, is about to change.  For the uninitiated, NaBloPoMo is a huge group of bloggers that commits to writing a post every single day for the month of November.  This will be my third year participating.  It’s going to be interesting to see how tough this is for me. .

Stick around and see what I come up with.  And I will come up with something every day…even if I only have 38 minutes to do it in…

“Mom” my oldest daughter said as she pulled a thick envelope out of her bulging backpack.  “I need to have this filled out to turn this in tomorrow.”  I gave her the Stink Eye and asked her exactly when she had received it as I accepted the  packet.  She merely shrugged in the way that only a teenager can do. 

I continued chatting with my girl as I casually spilled the contents out of  the oversized envelope out.  My words were suddenly stopped in my throat as I glanced at the papers on my lap.    Papers that I simply wasn’t ready to see.  I had to put them down for a while and think of something else until I was ready to deal with them. 

I looked at my daughter and marveled at what a delightful young woman she had become was becoming.  It seemed as though it was just last week that  I was dropping her off at kindergarten and trying not to let her wails of dismay at being left there break my heart. These days the conversation seems to be of SAT scores, college applications and dorm room decor. We joke that she will have to choose a college nearby so that she doesn’t starve.  Our KT’s  been getting ready to make that first big leap out of the nest.  Her father and I have been getting ready to let her. 

A few hours later I braced myself to look at the papers that had been given to every Senior at the high school.  It was time to order caps, gowns and announcements for the graduation ceremony that will be held  in June.   Of course, I knew that day was coming.  We’ve been talking about it and planning for it for ages now.  It just…took me by surprise.

Those simple order forms made it real for me.  Our baby girl really has grown up.  In less than two months she will be eighteen….legally an adult.  It just  never occurred to me that the years would fly by that swiftly.   KT has gone from a timid Kindergartener to a confident Senior in what seems like the blink of an eye.  I know these last few months of having a Senior in the house will only last a moment.

I can’t wait to see what comes next….

I am a firm believer in learning something new everyday.  Not that I actively search for things to learn about…they often find me. 

For example, I was in the main office at work today when James, our receptionist, suddenly got a confused look on his face and started making some strange hand gestures.  He was shooing his hands off to the sides and giving the “thumbs up” sign toward the glass front doors.   I glanced up at the empty doors and decided that he had finally gone off the deep end.

A moment later a police officer cautiously poked his head in the doors and asked if everything was OK.  Apparently the silent alarm had been triggered and the police had been dispatched  to save us.  (James later told us that the officer had been standing just out of  eyesight, with his gun drawn, questioning about what was going on with hand signals)   We reassured the officer that all was well and apologized profusely for the trouble that we had caused.

The silent alarm…the alarm that I had no idea even existed….the  alarm that was located right next to where I was working….was turned off and reset.  

Yep, that’s my motto, learn something new everyday…

Today was the last Sunday before school is started.  It was our last little taste of the freedom that summer vacation brings. Most people would jump at the chance to play with abandon outside in the glorious sunshine while it is still here. But not us. 

Nope, our idea of a Lazy Sunday Afternoon is to just hang out in our PJs (well, Shaun was in his Booger Robe) and do whatever we please.  This isn’t something we discussed…it just happened that way.  Shaun and Mimi were downstairs somewhere doing their own thing while KT and I were upstairs chatting and playing working on our computers. 

I noticed  a really loud motor roaring outside, but didn’t really think too much of it until the dogs started barking frantically and I heard footsteps on our front porch.  The next thing I knew there was a loud knocking on the front door.  KT and I looked at each other in a panic. 

I immediately told her that she had to get the door as I was in my nightgown with my hair sticking up every which way.  I simply wasn’t presentable!   As the doorbell rang, KT protested that she was indecent as well and couldn’t open the door. 

We glared at each other as the doorbell rang yet again.  Spontaneously we both got up to peer out the blinds like two old spinster women.  We were shocked to see a burly man with bulging arm muscles in a motorcycle helmet walking around toward the side of the house.  I had visions of him going through the gate and pounding at our back door only to be ripped to shreds by our fierce watchdogs.  Then having to figure out what to do with the mauled stranger (OK, I did say they were visions…) only to watch him march back to the front door.

“He knows we’re home!” I whispered to KT, “Go see what he wants…don’t worry…I’ve got your back!” KT looked at me like I was nuts then dropped to her knees.  She crawled around the sofa and peeked around it in an effort to see who it could be.  Eventually the stranger gave up and turned to leave before either one of us could catch a glimpse of his face.

While I’m fairly certain that the CIA won’t be recruiting us anytime soon,  I’m also pleased to know that we can successfully hide out from an unknown drop in visitor.   Of course, we could simply avoid the entire problem by making sure that we are bathed and dressed by at least noon…