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That was the first thing Colter asked me when he woke up this morning. I knew immediately that he had had a nightmare.
I told him we'd never sell him to another family, not for a million, billion, zillion dollars. Then I asked him if he'd had a bad dream. He said he did and tried to tell me about it, but in the end we just cuddled and I kissed his forehead.
Continuing the car theme, I noticed a personalized license plate on my way home tonight that struck me as especially funny. It said, "HeyGod." As if God is in the next car looking for a sign.
I really enjoy personalized plates. My dad was the first person I knew who ordered one, and he had the same message for years on his license plate: Sam Sez. (My dad's name was Sam.)
I had one in North Carolina that said, "NOXTOHATE." It really stumped people I didn't know well, who would sometimes ask me if I was divorced, but friendly with my "ex." I explained to them that it meant, "No time to hate," a line from a Grateful Dead song.
Gary had a personalized license plate that said "TALETELR."
Here's a collection of some clever ones.
This morning, I needed to help Colter with his Sunday School homework, so I sat in the back seat and reviewed Hebrew with him while Gary drove us to temple. It struck me that whenever we go anywhere as a family, I almost always drive and we almost always take my car.
At first, we did this because I had the newer, more reliable car. But then when Gary had the more reliable car (actually, it was a van), we took it and I still drove. Does this mean something?
Related: In the driver's seat
If Colter had had a full day of school today, he would have eaten pizza for lunch. Friday is always pizza day at school, so from the time he was in kindergarten, we let him buy lunches on Fridays. The big mystery is why he wants to buy lunches all the other days, too. For years, we were sending him with his favorite sandwiches and snacks, and he didn't want them. Eventually, we gave in and let him buy lunch at school daily, but I just don't get it. What is the appeal of frozen chicken nuggets or ground beef surprise when you could have a lunch packed with love?
Just after my 39th birthday, I decided to make a list of 40 things I want to do before I turn 40. I suggested Gary make a list of 50 things he wants to do before he turns 50. He's way ahead of me.
Here's the beginning of my list, in no particular order:
Some days, I speed through life and feel like if I were a car I'd be a sporty red Mustang. Other days, I think I'm an RV. Colter, I'm pretty sure, would be a Jaguar.
Thanks to all of you who told me the right house would find us, it did -- yesterday -- and today we are officially under contract.
What sealed the deal for me: the combination of location (within walking distance of downtown Safety Harbor) and charm (terrazzo floors and lots of beadboard trim).
What sealed the deal for Gary: the extra space (it's three bedrooms plus a study) and the price (it was $30,000 less than anything we'd seen).
What sealed the deal for Colter: a banana tree in the backyard with almost-ripe fruit on it that the seller told us makes great smoothies.
We are one happy family.
I was remembering today how exciting it was as a kid to see my dad pull a wad of bills out of his pocket to pay for something. Sad to say, I have deprived Colter of that childhood joy. I almost never carry cash. I depend on my debit card pretty exclusively. This has made actual money even more exciting to Colter, since he rarely sees any.
Have I mentioned we're looking for a house? I hear you groaning. To update you, we submitted our third offer on a house earlier this week and it looks like this one isn't going to lead to a signed contract, either. I'm becoming a bit paranoid and gun shy, so I asked our wonderful realtor if this is typical here (we've purchased two other homes, but in another state). She wrote:
I think you have had some unusually bad luck because I definitely know it's not that you are ... being difficult to please. I think all of your offers have been very reasonable and you've been flexible with the sellers' needs. Odds would say you should be packing boxes right now, but you've just had some rotten luck.
We have been engaged in World War III with Colter over doing his homework the last few days, so imagine my surprise when I received this request in my e-mail box:
I'm Kaushalya. I'm currently a year 8 in Tawa Intermediate in New Zealand. For homework we have to interview someone about toys and games. So would you mind if I ask you a few questions? We can choose any person, but I thought I might interview someone famous.
I quickly wrote him back and let him know I'm not famous (in fact, I'm so obscure I'm not even sure how he found me), but he said that was ok, he just needed the answers as soon as possible. So, I sent them. At least one less mother will have to fight with her son over homework!
