Dearest Rachel –
You’ll forgive the title, honey; while I’d like to think of myself as something other than ‘wicked’ (although let’s face it, scripture says otherwise), I certainly know better than to try to apply itself to its polar opposite, ‘virtuous.’ If someone else wants to slap me with that label, I would be grateful, but I’d still know I was thoroughly undeserving of it. This has the virtue (ha!) of being both alliterative and more appropriate.
You see, as I headed out to the ‘office’ yesterday morning – late, as usual, but since Mom had the auto dealership picking up her car to do some work on it, I thought I might do well to stay out of the way – I filled Daniel in on my plans for the day and evening, including the fact that I had leftovers from Tuesday I needed to polish off (and that he probably wouldn’t want much part of; pizza is one thing, sure, but once you get into certain toppings, there are some that would require duress to get him to partake in. No sense wasting it on him, when he wouldn’t enjoy it, and I would). At which point, he asked if I was really going to bother with eating dinner at home when it was going to be provided at church while we set things up for tomorrow’s seasonal Family Fest.
Oh, darn; I’d forgotten all about that.
Daniel immediately backpedaled, and began apologizing for having brought it up, but I assured him that his apologies weren’t necessary. I’d made the commitment, for the both of us, to help with the setup, and he was good enough to remember it – and keep me on track to ensure that I fulfilled that commitment. It’s embarrassing to have to admit my forgetfulness, but I’m proud that he remembers when I – for whatever reason – either can’t or don’t.
I’m sure you’d be proud of him, too.
At the same time, I’d essentially made plans for the day, and they were now suddenly upset; so you can see where the reluctance factors in.
Still, at least they would be serving pizza at church for the folks volunteering to set things up, so it wasn’t any real loss, in terms of dinner. I just wouldn’t be able to clear out the leftovers in the fridge until the weekend comes and goes; this is why I’ve never been a fan of leftovers, as I hardly need to remind you, because it takes forever to find a time to get around to them.
But even before getting to the evening, there’s the day to deal with first. Mom had gotten a dashboard warning about her tire pressure sensor (not the tires themselves, mind you, but the sensors), and needed to have it looked at – for the second time in two weeks, I should add. Thankfully, the dealership was willing to pick the vehicle up to bring it to the shop, but she, too, had a day planned out for herself. Since I don’t have a lot pressing to deal with at the ‘office,’ I offered to chauffer her around to her errands, but stipulated that I needed an hour at my desk to write you, which she agreed with.
The idea was to get her to the village hall for her to cast her ballot, and from there to get greeting cards and other groceries, and finish with a stop at the butchers’ that she and Dad used to (and I guess apparently still) frequent. Probably an hour’s worth of stops, if done efficiently, and depending on the line at the polls. Nothing to really be concerned about; although evidently, Mom’s ballot was considerably longer than ours was, running to seventeen pages of names (then again, I don’t recall how many judges’ names I had to page through, myself). Meanwhile, I passed the time chatting with several of the various poll workers, who acknowledged that traffic had been steady but not overwhelming; they were not looking forward for Tuesday after next.
While Mom was working her way through her ballot, she got a text message from the service department at the dealership; they found several problems – both the sensors and the battery needed to be replaced – which she needed to approve before they would make the necessary repairs. I walked her through the online approval process, at which point she concluded that they would be done that much sooner, and she would need to be home to receive the car back. So she suggested we cut the errands short, and only bother to pick up meat; she could fetch groceries and greeting cards on her own later on.
While driving out to the butchers’, she got a call from the dealership, but her hearing aid was giving her issues with regard to reception. Once in their parking lot, we tried to determine what needed to be done, but neither the service department nor the cashier could be reached; the young lady offered to call back, but I was concerned that this would just be as difficult for Mom to hear as the first phone call, and stayed on hold until we thought everything was resolved. Thus presumably assured, Mom made her purchases (offering to pick up something for me as well, but I honestly wouldn’t know what to ask for, so I declined), and we made our way back to her place.
We assumed that she’d made the payment for the repairs online, and the car would be delivered once the work was done, so once I got her home, I took off, figuring that I ought to be out of the way when they came by with the newly repaired car. Unfortunately, the online payment hadn’t been completed first time around in the butchers’ parking lot, and she had to call in herself to take care of it; she finally got her car back before five in the evening, but I hadn’t been there to help walk her through the process.
Then again, since our attempt together didn’t seem to work out, I’m not sure she would have benefited from my ‘help.’ Anyway, all’s well that ended well, I suppose.
As for the evening, though, there was still a lot to be taken care of…
Most of the setup was actually made pretty light by so many hands, although the pumpkin issue meant that we were among the last to finish up (after being several of the first to arrive, mostly due to my lack of work schedule). I think I’ve finally discovered how to blow up – and more importantly, tie up – balloons, although I’ve yet to be able to pass that skill on to Daniel. Hey, he’s got a good twenty-odd years to go before I have to consider him a slow learner.
It’s more crammed into a single day than I’d like – and considering I won’t feasibly be able to leave church between the Bible study, the finishing setup, the actual Family Fest, and the evening service, today’s going to be another such day, only more so (and with the added temptation of candy and the like to work against). So I’m definitely going to have to ask for your eye on me (and Daniel, although he’ll join me later and leave earlier), and wish us both well; if we ever needed it, it’s now.
