This Post Is (Trying Not To Be) A Total Downer

First, you should know he's okay. Banged up and concussed, but okay. Second, then, is that my dad was in a car accident today. 6-car pile-up on a foggy, icy road outside Helena. Rear-ended by the truck behind him. My dad was going fishing.

There are several pieces of good news here amidst the bad. 1) My dad was wearing his seat belt. By all accounts, it saved him. 2) Things could be worse than a concussion, whiplash, and some cuts and bruises. 3) My dad has both car and health insurance. 4) A kind man at my sister's bank (bank?) tracked her down when the highway patrol called trying to locate my dad's family when he was knocked out and too confused to tell anyone. Later that kind man called again just to make sure my dad and sister were doing okay. 5) No one else was hurt. And 6) Let's just say it again, my dad was wearing his seat belt. By all accounts, it saved him.

Some life lessons are pretty clearly drawn from this. I'm taking them to heart.

I'm also eating chocolate chips right out of the bag and will probably be doing so all day.

Better Days

Sam had a really hard day on Friday. I know this because he kept saying, "I'm having a really hard day." I also witnessed him falling off his chair at lunch. Twice. The second time he busted his lip open and banged up his elbow. Later he said that he must have hit his nose during the fall too because it was really hurting him. "No," I said. "Your sister hit you in the nose before lunch." "Oh, yeah," he said. "I'm having a really hard day."

I felt for the kid that day. So we worked extra hard for him to have a really good weekend. I arranged an office for him in his bedroom, and he spent most of the weekend "working." You see, he's the Chief of Police for the City of St. Paul and he has to write a lot of reports. One was about a bear standing in traffic. Another was about a small elephant with big ears who escaped from the zoo. And several involved a baby sister who kept knocking things off the police chief's desk. 

It was a busy weekend. I mean, the city can't run itself. But for our little workaholic, things were very good.

It Was 79 Degrees There Today

Tonight at dinner Dave asked nonchalantly, "So, would anyone like to spend a year in California while I do a visiting professorship at UCSF?"

"Yes," I replied. "Definitely yes." And then I proceeded to reason out the pros of such a decision without getting (or needing) the details of the proposition. "The kids are young. They aren't in school school yet. I could stay home for the year. I've been thinking about wanting to be home with the kids more. I could write probably. I'm sure we could find a nice place."

I stopped talking, finally, to ask Dave. "What do you think? Is it a good gig? Would you like to do it?"

"Nah," he replied. Nonchalantly again.

I know Dave loves St. Paul. I do. And I know that he never plans to leave it. Ever. But I persisted.

"It would be a great experience for Sam and Eloise. They would love the weather. We'd all love the weather."

"Sam," Dave said,"Would you like to live in California or Minnesota?"

"Minnesota," he answered. No hesitation.

"But come on, we should really consider this," I added. "We'd look back on this as the great year we spent in California. Sam could go to preschool there. We'd find a great school, Buddy."

Then I had said too much. Sam burst into tears and wailed, "I don't want to go there. I want to stay here." And then I had to hug Sam for ten minutes while he cried and Dave told him over and over, "Mom was just joking."

For the record, I wasn't joking. But we're not moving to California. Or anywhere that's not Minnesota for that matter. I mean, other people might actually have considered this offer, right? But not my St. Paul boys. They're here to stay.

Pitch Perfect

Sam and Eloise both had their annual check-ups today. For Sam this was a delightful event where he got to tell the actual doctor all about being a pretend doctor and how he often has to work at least one night shift each week. For Eloise this was a traumatic, miserable event that involved finger pokes and leg shots and a resulting fever for the rest of the day (she's finally sleeping it off).

The highlight for me, though, was when the nurse did Sam's hearing test. "Each time you hear a beep in your ear," she said, "say beep." Sam interpreted this to mean that he should sing the "beep" in the exact pitch that he heard it in his ear. The nurse did her best to keep from laughing at my little soprano who, apparently, can sing notes only meant for dogs to hear. When the test ended and the nurse turned away to type in the results, Sam gave me a thumbs up as if to say, "I nailed it."

Oh, sweet boy. You did indeed.

Anniversary

It's 2015 folks. I've set a goal for myself to post on the blog a record number of times. Last's year's showing of 20 posts was pretty sad. I can do better. To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of this blog, I'm planning to surpass the 120 posts from my first year of blogging. This is very exciting.

The Visit

I'm visiting Sam's preschool tomorrow. I thought he would be excited beyond belief to have me there. But every time I bring it up he says, "Visitors only stay until we go upstairs." He must have reminded me of this 3 or 4 times now. I'm thrilled that he loves his school so much, but the kid could show a little excitement.

Meet Me In the Middle

I spent a good part of my day visiting middle school classrooms, and I have to say, I loved it. We have some talented teacher candidates doing fine work with kids while also learning how to teach. 

One of my favorite moments was when a teacher referred to a "recent" adaptation of a film that was produced in 2009. 

"2009?" One girl guffawed. "That's not recent." 

It's true. If you are eleven, 2009 happened when you were six. Almost half a lifetime ago. 

Middle schoolers always put things into just the right perspective. 

We're Bound For Better Weather

Life is eating me up over here. So much that when I accidentally deleted my bookmark to my very own blog several weeks ago, it took me until now to even think about the blog and fix that error. You should know, I do love the blog. What's the trick, I wonder, to posting more often? How do you super bloggers do it? Please let me know.