No one said that to me Saturday, so either I experienced a delayed-reaction blessing or perhaps the Powers That Be decided to formally nod at my newfound attitude. My day was so full of blessings I hardly know how to recount them.
I'll start with a quick list:
I overslept, didn't get my camera battery thoroughly charged and it died before the end of the kids' last ballgame. I sunburned in odd, streaky patterns on my face, neck, and hands. My husband had to work and missed our kids' first games of the season, leaving me to wrangle a four year old and tape the games by myself. Then, he ended up working so late that he entirely missed our plans for the evening. My daughter locked my son and I out of the truck...with the keys in the ignition, the cell phone on the console and the truck running. An hour later, as we finally arrived at our friends' home, a leg broke on the grill and it fell forward into the back glass of my truck. It also caved in the grill lid and landed on the groceries I had just bought, including the eggs. My husband didn't leave work until almost midnight and we didn't get home until about 2am.
It's funny how things work out, isn't it? As it happened, I really needed that extra half hour of sleep on Saturday morning to carry me through to the wee hours of Sunday. We all made it to the field on time, the kids won their games, and about the time the camera died the coaches decided to play their third-stringers to let them get a little action so I didn't miss any of my kiddos' on-field time. Also, I didn't have to wrangle Sarah alone; her future husband took care of her for me. Hmmm, I guess I'd better explain that one...
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Sarah became quite taken with Patrick, the older brother of one of Tori's teammates, after he toted her around and played with her at practice a few times. I didn't realize that nuptials were planned, however, until a conversation we had after Sarah came home from preschool last Wednesday.
"Mom, I need to wear a dress to practice," she informed me as I tossed her school outfit into the hamper and handed her her play clothes.
"Mm, I don't know; you'll get it dirty. Plus, you might get itchy from the grass tickling your bare legs. Why don't you want to wear pants, anyway?"
Sarah placed one hand on her hip, cocked herself to the side, and tossed her other hand up in the air as if completely exasperated with my simple-mindedness. "Mom, I can't wear pants! I'm getting married...," she slowly drew out the syllables of that last word as though speaking to a child (or an idiot), waving that little hand and waiting for me to get with the program.
"Oh, well, um... yes. I guess that changes things." Aware that she was watching my every move, I tried desperately not to laugh. "May I ask who you are marrying, Miss Deen?"
"Patrick," she snapped with a distinctly unspoken 'duh' attached, "he said I could marry him and Daddy so I said yes."
I turned, unable to contain the laughter shaking inside my ribcage, only to be stopped dead by her next words, spoken softly and with such sincerity:
"I love Patrick."
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Patrick, apparently, loves Sarah right back. It soon became obvious that he is both patient and accustomed to a demanding younger sibling. He carted Sarah around on his hip the entire morning and didn't complain once, even when she smeared gummy candy in his hair. I could do worse for a future son-in-law.
I may even have wondered how soon the joyous occasion would occur after Sarah locked the truck door later that evening. My son and I stood around with the usual crowd of good Samaritans, all making futile efforts to jimmy my door open, for over an hour. However, I got to meet and form an opinion of the new sheriff, I saw several people I hadn't visited with in ages, and I learned how to gain entry into my truck should I ever find myself in such a position minus the multitude of rusty-armored knights at my disposal. I also shifted most of the groceries over at one point to allow a gentleman unobstructed access to my back glass (a pointless errand on his part as it was locked). This simple action saved everything, down to the last egg, from a severe squishing in the Great Grill Debacle that followed.
Due to the precarious position of the grill, I came to a complete stop before turning onto my friends' road. Unfortunately, one leg ripped loose from the frame and the grill came tumbling down. However, it hit the back glass just at the edge of the rubber guide across the sliding center-section, so no harm done. Also, the grill's lid and leg were fixable and Coach Lockeby had it all patched up in a jiffy, complete with some Tim-Taylor-worthy adjustments. We kindled a few flames, opened a few beer, grilled a LOT of meat and had a really enjoyable evening. I missed my husband terribly, but we are saving for a trip and the extra hours mean that we inched that much closer to our goal. Also, his timing was perfect. Without going into specifics, the odd set of circumstances led to my narrowly avoiding a very nasty situation. It was the biggest blessing of the night.
We made it home safe, sound, and together. Life is good, and I am thankful :)
We made it home safe, sound, and together. Life is good, and I am thankful :)
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