I tried to go to bed but it didn't take.
It took for the other members of my family. Evie, after a long hour of telling adventurous stories and a trip to the potty, succumbed to the magic spell of dreamland. Andy, approximately 8 seconds after laying his head upon the pillow, was breathing slowly and his right leg twitched.
What a day. What a week. What a month.
Take a deep breath.
Evie and I stopped at a garage sale today. I say Evie and I because she was in the car with me, let not the reader mistake my words for suggesting that she would have stopped willingly had she been behind the wheel.
I stopped at a garage sale today. What a lovely drive it was through the winding roads, the landscape decorated with homes that might have rivaled Super Target for square footage. The peaceful drive was narrated by the girl in the backseat who did NOT want to shop.
This garage sale was actually a driveway sale. I stopped the car at the end of the driveway and told her it was time to get out of the car. She fussed so I offered her a deal.
"You can stay in the car,"I suggested. This idea was met with hesitation at first until I offered her the alternative: shop with me. "I will stay in the car," she agreed.
I think they must have been redecorating their mansion. The items were arranged like settings from a home store, except with large pictures propped up against couches and tables due to the lack of walls. No expired toothpaste or used underwear here. I admired a few things and passed a kindly greeting to the man tending the sale before turning back to the car.
There was the car. There was Evie. They were not together. They were not on the same side of the street.
There, across the road and in a field of dandelions was a girl in a heart jacket, bent over, picking handfuls of bright yellow flowers. "EVIE!" She turned at the sound of my voice then came back to meet me at the edge of the street.
She handed me the bouquet with a smile,"I picked these for you, mom."
I was not charmed.
"Real motherhood is different. You find yourself alternating between feeling like your friends talked you into some sort of pyramid scheme so you could share in their misery and thinking this is the most fulfilling thing you've ever done in your life." -Melanie Shankle
