Keys!

We have a 1993 Saturn. We bought it while we were stationed in Italy, and it has been a great car. Even though the odometer is stuck at 173000, (after flipping at least once before we bought it), the temperature light and the check engine light are always on, and, most recently, so are the gas light (even on full) and the emergency brake light (even when it is not engaged). We did not pay a lot for the car, and we have not had to put much money into it, and with the right inspector (wink, wink), it still passes inspection. It rattles, and the a/c does not work, but the heat does! It is great on gas, and it’s fun to drive (once you have learned to ignore the warning lights). Mick and I took it to the shopping center last week to run some errands. Details follow:

Wednesday - 4:30 – I am pushing Mick in the shopping cart, having just picked out shoes for Jack, and am perusing the Halloween house wares, while talking with Tim on my cell phone.

4:45 – I am at the customer service desk exchanging Jack’s sneakers for a different size. Mick is pointing at the counter and trying to stand up in the stroller-cart, and I am shushing him while trying to transact my business and trying not to hear the lady behind me who is complaining that she was supposed to be next in line (in our house, “if you move your feet, you lose your seat”, or, in this case, your place in line, since she was no where to be seen when the customer service lady motioned me to the desk!). Mick is pretty insistently pointing at the counter, and I am thinking he just wants to see what is behind the counter, so I tell him we’re almost done.

4:53 – I am digging through my purse and not finding my keys, when I vaguely remember seeing Mick holding them while I was on the phone with Tim and perusing the house wares. Uh oh. I backtrack through the store, starting at the customer service desk (the lady mentioned above was thrilled to see me again, I’m sure). Asking Mick repeatedly “Where are Mommy’s keys?” Imagining that he flung them somewhere (anywhere), or dropped them into a display vase or something. I start at the tablecloths, followed by the towel section, Halloween display and sneaker section. On my hands and knees. No keys. Then I remember Mick insistently pointing at the customer service counter, and I go back there yet again to investigate. I find an opening between the counter top and its side, about 6 inches in height, about 4 feet from the floor. I say to Mick, “Did you put Mommy’s keys down there?” He shrugs. I try to fit my arm into the opening, and find that there is no way to see the floor between the counter front and back.

5:25 – I call Tim,(my knight) who comes to my rescue, despite the fact that he was just turning into the O’Club parking lot to have a beer with some old friends when he got my call. He picks us up and does not utter a single complaint, or admonishment (like, “Why did you not take your keys from Mick when you saw he had them?”) Again, I vaguely remember seeing him with the keys, I wasn’t even sure he had them at all. What a guy. What a great guy! Did I mention that this is not the first time I’ve lost keys (or the second, or the third…) He did say he wished we had copies of the Saturn key (we had to replace the steering column a few years back when the key got stuck in it, so the ignition key is no longer the same as the door key (of which we have two). I tell him that I am sure St Anthony would kick in and that the keys will show up eventually.

Thursday 6:45 am - I take Jack to his bus stop and drive by to check on the Saturn in the parking lot at Kohl’s, half expecting to see a homeless person sleeping in the back seat next to the trash bag full of clothes to go to Goodwill. I remove the Christmas presents I had in the trunk and transfer them to the van. I take the bag of clothes to Goodwill.

12:30 – I return to Kohl’s to see if anyone has found my keys. No such luck, so I leave my name and phone numbers on a piece of paper with a description of my key ring, and go home to pray some more to St Anthony.

Friday - I call Kohl’s again to see if my keys have been found. They have not, so I call a locksmith who says it will be $300 to come out and make a new ignition key. 300 BUCKS! That equals; 158 loaves of bread, or 60 jars of peanut butter, or 100 gallons of milk or 182 gallons of gas or 577 lbs of bananas or my electric bill budget for the month!!!! I’m not doing that! So I call Joe the Locksmith who quotes me a price of $200, which is a little better. But not much. I go back to Kohl’s, and the lady digs through the lost and found drawer and pulls out 8 sets of keys. None mine. Where are these people? They probably have copies of their keys…. The locksmith says he can come on Saturday.

Saturday – I call the locksmith again, who says he will be in the area sometime in the afternoon, and will call me. I return to Kohl’s yet again, patting the Saturn’s hood to reassure it that we have not abandoned it. By now, everyone in the customer service department knows me by name, and I tell them I think the keys might be in that opening between the counter front and back. A particularly helpful clerk tries to find a way to open the area up that does not involve dismantling the counter. It’s not happening. The locksmith never calls. I don’t want to give him $200 anyways.

Sunday – On the way back from the barbershop, Tim and Shane go to Kohl's and crawl around the toy department looking for the keys. I am sure to the casual observer, this looked like quality father-son bonding...

Monday – Back at Kohl’s, my keys still have not turned up, when I remember this magnetic extension tool I bought awhile back and think it might be useful in retrieving the keys from that hole, if indeed, they are there. Which they very well might not be! I tell the lady I will bring the tool back with me next time, if they will let me try it. She just said to be sure to tell someone behind the counter what I was doing before I did it.

Tuesday – Pop into Kohl’s on the way back from Fredericksburg, on the off chance that my keys may have turned up. The lady acts disappointed that I didn’t bring my tool with me and when I said I’d bring it next time, she asked me to come between 12 and 4, since that is her shift. I think she planned to photograph it or invite the newspaper or something…..

Today – 6:45am put tool in front seat of van. 3:30pm pick Jack up at his bus and drive to Kohl’s. When I get to the counter, the customer service lady actually looks glad to see me, and I get to work. I wedge my arm and my head (!) as much as I can between the counter top and the front of the counter. I pray that I won’t get stuck, because that would really be embarrassing! All I can see are feet walking past me to get to the customer service desk, and Jack is muttering “I can never show my face in Kohl’s again!” The customer service lady tells numerous customers, “She thinks her son dropped her keys down the hole.” People laugh. I hear various suggestions like trying duct tape, chewing gum, etc. The magnetic wand hits metal! It sounds like keys! Who is laughing now? ME!! Several times, I feel the magnet catch, and get the thrill of snagging the big one, but each time I try to lift it, the keys fall. The store manager shows up, and I pull myself out of position to show her my tool (after she says, “Have you thought of using a magnet?”) Duh. Then I see that the magnet end has come unscrewed from the tool, which explains why it isn’t catching. I ask the customer service lady if she happens to have a wire coat hanger that I could unbend and use as a hook. You would think that a clothing store would have at least one wire coat hanger. Not Kohl’s. So Jack and I search through house wares, and I find a wreath door hanger. I tell the lady I’ll buy it if it works, but it is too short, so I go back and find a garden flag stake. I give the lady $9.95 for the stake, take off the packaging, and put it together. Perfect! I reposition myself on one side, and Jack around the corner, and manage to snag the keys with the garden stake, and push them up along the inside of the counter, all the while thinking “If these aren’t my keys, I am going to be really ticked!” They get to the top where Jack can reach them, and he pulls them out. Guess what? They are my keys!!!! The sales clerk looks as astonished and as happy as I feel. People cheer and there is much rejoicing. I call my husband, and he is also very relieved. I go home, show Mick the keys and he shrugs again. Tim and I go out to dinner to celebrate. Tomorrow, I am having copies of all the keys made…... and buying a flag for my garden stake.

Thank you, St Anthony, for once again helping me in my time of need
Thank you, Tim, for your incredible patience and love
Thank you, Jack, for not making more of a scene than your mother
Thank you, counter clerk lady, for your encouragement
Thank you, Mick, for keeping my life interesting!

New site to be announced....

I just got a notification from aol that they are discontinuing their blogging service as of October 31st.  They are supposed to be working out a way to transfer all previous entries to a different blogging service.  If that happens, maybe my blog will actually have pictures and colors and stuff - maybe it will be more work to maintain?!  We shall see.....

252 sandwiches....

As I was making #s 246-252 peanut butter and honey sandwiches of the school year for lunches tomorrow and because choosy moms choose Jiff (I had a coupon), I was digging at the bottom of the jar and wondering why they don't package peanut butter in shorter, fatter jars?!  Skippy's 3 lb jar is a little better, but you still lose a good bit under the rim.  I am thinking if they put it into containers like the family sized margarine tubs, I'd be wearing a lot less on my knife hand!  I try once in a while to switch things up a bit - sometimes one or two will get pb and j instead, or a turkey sandwich, but I am told that lunch meat sandwiches don't hold up as well, especially when packed the night before.  It amazes me that most of them will eat the same thing day after day (or maybe they don't, since I am not there to see if they actually eat it....).  I found 5 lb jars of honey (now that is a lot of sticky stuff!) for a good price at Costco, which is my favorite place to stock up on school snacks.  Which I have to hide because the gremlins will get them if I don't.  I am turning into my mother - all the snacks are in my closet.  Megan actually told me the other day where she would hide presents (guess who's birthday is in 5 days?!) if she were me.  Do I look that dumb?!

Changed my mind

OK, so after trying to make sense of my blog when I started changing my family's names, my husband said they should all get to pick their own names - he would like to go by "Vlad".  As in "Vlad the Impaler".  Because he is just a bit strange.  Anyhow, I've decided that it is a huge hassle, and I have a hard enough time keeping their given names straight (not to mention that both Katie and Molly have adopted new spellings of their names).  So, if they should some day complain to me that they are out there for all the world to see, and are embarrassed by something I've written about them, I will either : 1.) apologize and delete the entry, or 2.) Invoke parental privilege (I carried them for 9 months, went through labor, provide food for them daily, drive them all over God's green earth, blah blah blah).  If I can't talk about them, I don't have much to write about..............!

Life Skills...

Kiley has recently learned how to blow her nose.  She practices all the time.  On the dish towels.  On my shirt. On my pant leg, on the clean socks in the sock basket.....

Perspective

We had lunch yesterday with some friends who just bought a beautiful, BIG new house.  When he saw the house, my 12 year old said, "Hey, no fair, how come they have a bigger house than us and they don't have as many kids as we do?!"  It truly is a beautiful home, in a very nice neighborhood, with a nice yard and a lot of nice features.  During our tour, all I could think was "Man, this is a lot of house to clean".  I suppose if you can afford a house that size, you can afford to have someone clean it, too!  Can you tell that housework is not my favorite thing?!  We had a nice afternoon, and as we got into the car to leave, my son said, "They are so rich!"

This is a child's perspective.  Our kids know that we have what we have because of what we can afford, or what we are willing to pay.  I can't speak for our friends - maybe they manage their money better than we do, or had more to start with, or whatever.  Everyone has different circumstances, and I try to teach our kids that you should be able to appreciate someone else's good fortune without being envious of it.  I don't think any of our kids are growing up with a sense of monetary or material entitlement.  They don't expect us to hand them keys to their own cars when they reach a certain age.  They know we will help pay for college if we can, but that they will have to pay for some or all of their college education and expenses themselves.  They don't get "pocket money" from us on any regular basis, but we will buy them ice cream when the ice cream truck comes along!  None of them are wearing rags or going without meals.  We take vacations when we can (although not expensive ones), and their needs and a lot of their wants are provided for.  But, we don't spoil them.  Presents are given on birthdays and Christmas - they don't get a new toy, or video game, whenever they want one unless they can buy it themselves.  I think we're raising them right - they aren't usually demanding or grumbly when their desires aren't immediately satisfied.  They get the satisfaction of saving for the things they really want, or the anticipation of waiting for the holidays.

But the perspective thing is funny - kids assume if you have a lot of "stuff" it means you are rich.  I will say we've gotten rid of a lot of "stuff" and most of it was junk!  They don't understand that people can have things without having the money to pay for them - that the economy and the housing market are in their current state because of people's desire to have bigger and better and more.  Easier access to credit, either in the form of credit cards, or mortgage lenders, has led so many people to buy things they can't afford to pay for.  And, it's easy to justify spending that way when you think your income is guaranteed, or that you can always refinance down the road. Sometimes, you think the satisfaction you'll  feel when you have what you want makes it worth the interest rates and extra fees you'll have to pay in the future.  But, more often than not, that satisfaction is fleeting.  Because, the credit card bills do come, sometimes just after that thing you had to have turns out to not be that great after all.  There will always be a better product, or a nicer house, or a car you like better than the one you have.  I wish I could say that we pay cash for everything, but we have our share of credit card bills.  I speak from experience.  But we did buy smart when we bought our home.  When we got back from our friends' house last night, I was walking up the stairs thinking "I like our 'small' home!"  It suits us.  Some would say "crowded", I say "cozy" (my husband might feel differently about that!).  There is not an inch of wasted space in this house.  There are no ginormous rooms that I have to buy furniture for.  I don't have to find art to fill empty wall spaces (in fact, we don't have all our stuff up).  No one gets lonely because they don't have someone to talk to at night.  I can comfortably go to sleep at night knowing where everyone is (because I can hear them through the air vents!), and three bathrooms are more than enough for me to clean! 

I am grateful for the friends we have who validate the way we live.  They, too, have 9 kids, stacked like cordwood into their own house.  They have more bare feet than square feet in their home, but there is no lack of love.  The kids are home schooled, and are all respectful and very smart.  Their faith and their attitudes are amazing. They are our inspiration! 

We love you guys!!!

Names have been changed.....

......to protect the not-so-innocent.

We had company this weekend.  My friend is a recent reader of my blog, and I told her that writing is cathartic for me, and she, as a friend and an English teacher (and mother of teenagers), said nice things about it.  I told her that I've read "anonymous" blogs, where moms make up their kids names, or refer to them by nicknames, or numbers, or whatever, so that their blogs aren't as potentially invasive of their lives.  I once told my kids that I am going to write a book about them, and that I would change their names so they could always pretend it wasn't about them if they were embarrassed.  So, in that vein, I am going to attempt to edit all previous posts to make them more anonymous.  Of course, all readers who already know our family personally will be able to identify which kid I am talking about!  But my kids can always deny the references.  They are good at that...........

You can call me Jane

One has flown....

Katie and Tim left for Denver yesterday morning.  The Colorado campus was approved as part of the fiscal year 09 budget, so she was able to start on time, much to her relief.  They weren't 2 miles down the road on their way to the airport before Malia was texting Katie, asking to borrow certain items of clothing she had left behind.   Katie told me a few weeks ago that she didn't want Molly going through her stuff, and I promised her I would put it up in the attic if she organized it for me.  But I hadn't had the chance yet.  So Katie called me back and told me what Molly could wear.  This afternoon, Molly was "off" saying she didn't feel well most of the day, one thing or another (she does have a follow up for her kidney stones on Tuesday).   Tonight, she said she didn't feel like going to CYO or "talking to people" because she felt sick, and asked me to feel her forehead.  She didn't feel warm to me, and I asked her what's really going on.  She started crying and told me she misses Katie!!!  I expected this and saw it from Megan, who is close to Katie, but I told Mollly I was surprised she felt that way, considering the wretched way she and Katie have treated each other for the past two years.  Maybe their spending time apart will give them a greater appreciation for one another.  Maybe there is hope yet!

I can't fully describe how I feel about Katie's departure.  I have had several friends call me and ask if I am OK.  I am!  I am so incredibly proud of and excited for Katie.  She will do well, and this program is such a good fit for her.  She is very gregarious, and I have no doubt she will make friends.  I don't think she will miss home much, if at all.  I hope she will make the most of her opportunities to see different places and experience life, and that she will come home with a sense of accomplishment, a broader outlook on the world, and a sense of her place in it.  I trust her to make the right decisions when faced with tough choices, and I know she is a good kid, with strong faith.  I can't help but think she will positively impact the people she encounters in the next 10 months.  I realize that this is only the first step towards full flight - I don't know yet, nor does she, what she will do at the end of her 10 months with Americorps.  But, she will figure it out. 

She and Tim have been texting and sending pictures of the things they are doing and seeing in Denver.  I am so glad he flew out there with her - it sounds like they are having a fabulous time together.  He has apparently already scoped out the "bad" areas of Denver and told her where she should avoid going.  He will probably worry much more than I will, as that is his nature.  I know it won't be easy for him to say goodbye to her tomorrow morning.  I know we'll have some emotions to share tomorrow when he returns.  It's hard to believe that our first born is old enough to be venturing out on her own.  All the more poignant because Kiley looks so much like Katie when she was little, so she is a constant reminder.  There will be one less plate to set at the dinner table, and a little less laundry.  Shampoo might last a little longer, and there will be less hair clogging the drains.  We'll have a little more room in the pew on Sundays. We will miss her!  Megan is already counting the days until Katie comes home for Christmas...

Crazy days....

I am trying to get a grip on my schedule these days.  Jack is managing the soccer team on Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri, and taking a workshop after school on Wednesdays, so I have been picking him up at his school after 5pm.  Megan just joined chorus and percussion.  She has to be at school early on Wednesday mornings, and picked up later on Thursdays.  Fortunately for me, my next door neighbor's daughter is also taking both things, so my neighbor has offered to do the extra driving.  The elementary school is offering language classes either before or after school.  Megan, Colleen and Shane would have the opportunity to take Spanish, German, French, or ASL.  But I can't swing the extra driving on top of the homework supervision required of me.  Things are pretty quiet around here from 8-2:45, but it gets very busy once the kids start arriving home from school.  I am thankful for the kids who get right to their homework and get it done with little or no help (or nagging) on my part.  Unfortunately, more of them need my help, (and nagging) to get it done.  And, with various projects, tests and quizzes, it is a lot to stay on top of.   Katie is so happy to be done with school for awhile!

I mailed Katie's linens and a few other things to Denver yesterday afternoon.  She got a call last night from an Americorps rep asking if she would still be interested in serving if the program gets delayed because of the new fiscal year budget.  She is supposed to leave for Denver on Saturday!   She should know by the end of the day tomorrow if she is still going.  I know she's a bit distressed, but I am pretty sure it will all work out as planned.  At least I hope so!  Talk about pins and needles!  We've already planned to eat out and go ice skating as a family tomorrow night - which is her "last night home" wish. 

There was an accident on 195 this morning, just south of here.  As a result, traffic was backed up on Rte 1 (alternate route), which I take to drop Jack off for his bus at our church.  I waited with him for as long as I could, but I could only stay till 7:20 in order to get back home and see that Timmy caught his bus.  Jack's bus ended up coming an hour late, (8:05) and the elementary school buses were late, too.  I had to take Mick to an ENT appt in Springfield, and brought Katie and Kiley with me so we could take the HOV lane, since we were running late as a result of waiting for the kids' buses.  Little did I know that the HOV exit was way past where I needed to get off, so I ended up doing a lot of back-tracking and got lost.  Needless to say, we were very late for that appt!  Katie kept calling the office from the road and getting adjusted directions, so at least they knew we were coming!  They fit us in shortly after we got there, and Mick had to endure having his ears cleaned out while I sat on his legs and held his hands down.  Both tubes are out, and I am praying he won't need new ones.  After seeing what came out of his ears, I imagine he can probably hear a whole lot better now!  Yuck.  I was all set to find a different (closer) ENT, until the receptionist gave me better directions to head back home, and we made it in good time (still 45 minutes, though).  Timing is everything around here, and I've learned that it is almost always better to stay in Stafford or go South for appts, if possible!