Silver Lining

Due to the FUBAR situation surrounding the sale of my sister's house, she and her family have been staying with us for the past week and a half. Way back at the start of the month, they had the moving truck half-loaded when they found out (less than 24 hours before the scheduled closing) that the buyer's loan hadn't made it through underwriting. Then they were told it would be approved at any second, so instead of unpacking, they simply moved all the boxes back inside. And then they waited.

It's been twenty-five days now, and the situation has done nothing but unravel. You see, it turns out the buyer's loan officer is his girlfriend, and she's been lying her ass off the entire time (for instance, the loan never actually went to underwriting), and...well....FUBAR. But the silver lining is that they've been staying with us, and it's been pretty awesome.

For one, Micah has playmates in the mornings and evenings, and he is LOVING it. Every day on the way home, he's talking about "Dandul an Awex, Mommy!" He's started imitating everything Daniel does, and has been surprisingly sweet to Alex. And he's picked up Daniel's habit of saying, "Okay!"

Two, my sister is a really good cook. There is no quicker way to the heart of a working mom (or dad) than to have a fantastic dinner ready when she (or he) gets home in the evening. In fact, Todd and I have even been accused of sabotaging the house sale in order to keep E and Josh with us, just for E's cooking. All I can say is, there's not a single shred of evidence to support such charges. I made sure of that.
Three, we kind of like those guys. And it's nice to see them a lot.

At the moment, they're unpacking everything to stage the house again and put it back on the market. Which, if there's anything more demoralizing than unpacking all your boxes right back to the exact same place, I can't think of it offhand. They're almost done, and I expect they'll head back to their house sometime next week, now that it's livable again. But when they do, we're really really REALLY going to miss them.

Two years

No time to comment on being the mother of a TWO YEAR OLD. Even though birthday totally happened 9 days ago. Life too hectic. Brain melting. Njhguisjshdjkgh.

The Almost-Birthday Boy

You know what's awesome about cooler weather? Morning overalls.

Adventures in vocabulary

Last night we were driving to my sister's house when a fire truck passed us, lights and siren going.

Me: "Micah, look, it's a fire truck!"

Micah: "Goin' ta pump da water!"

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Monday we were driving by a construction site, and Micah spotted his favorite piece of equipment.

Micah: "Ekakator! EKAKATOR. Pickin' up da dirt. Pourin' it out inna dum tuck! Beep beep beep."

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The other morning there were five concrete trucks lined up in our side of the neighborhood for an early-morning pour. I held Micah up in his window to see them before breakfast, and by the time we got outside to get in the car, he was beside himself.

Micah: "Oh. My. God. CONKEET TUCKS."

Todd: "Micah, say oh my GOODNESS."

Micah: "Oh my GUDNEZ. CONKEET TUCKS. Oh my gudNEZ. Oh my GUDnez, CONkeet tucks. FIVE conkeet tucks, oh my...."

[FIVE MINUTES LATER]

Micah: "....FIVE CONKEET TUCKS! OH MY GUDNEZ!!!"

Todd: "DUDE. All right, stop. Look, look over here. It's a school bus."

Micah: "COO BUSSSSSS! Coo busssss. Oh my GUDNEZ, Mommy."

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The other day, we were sitting at a stoplight when a loud car pulled up behind us in the next lane.

Micah: "Old tuck, Daddy!"

Todd: "That's not an old truck, buddy. That's a toolbag with a trashcan for a muffler."

The light turns green, and we pull away from the car.

Micah: "Bye bye, toolbag!"

This

"There is no satisfaction in the fulfillment of a fear. Instead it makes you question everything. It makes you see the people you love strung delicately on a strand of web, vulnerable to be broken off with a casual sweep of a hand. It makes you feel unsafe, exposed, and out of control."

- Eve in "Reflections on a Year"

 

I hadn't planned to mention anything else depressing, but then today Eve went and posted that. And it summed up so perfectly what I've been feeling these last several months that I had to throw it back out there as a sort of explanation.

You see, thanks to the last year or so, I now have a huge, irrational fear of losing Micah or Todd or someone else I love. Although I'm working very very hard to overcome it, it's been a definite struggle. For instance, when I freak out at Todd because I can't get in touch with him for hours because he's put his stupid-ass iPhone on silent and left it there again, and instead of thinking "duh, he's left his phone on silent," I jump immediately to imagining him and Micah dead in a car accident, and then when he finally calls me back, I find myself yelling, "Oh hi, I'M GOING TO MURDER YOU, ASSHOLE." Yeah, that's kind of why. Less amusing are the nightmares, the moments of panic, and the crippling self-doubt when dealing with things like minor childhood illnesses.

I figure at some point I'm going to stop looking over my shoulder for the universe-sized boot aimed squarely at my vulnerable backside. One day I'll regain the confidence to, say, handle a high fever in my sleeping child without the every-10-minute breathing check. But until then, yes, THAT.