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The new topic for April's Storyteller is up!
Momentary Thought
I wish I could find somebody to babysit my phone while I go pee. Sure as shootin' Calvin will call as soon as I get away from my desk...
High/Low
High: The motorcycle's being delivered tonight!
Low: The antibiotics I'm on have produced a certain condition which is the bane of women everywhere. Dammit all to hell in a handbasket. It happens *every* time I'm on antibiotics.
Current Obsession
Countdown to Calvin: 1 sleep down, 4 to go.
Grin Source
My site is creeping up on 5,000 visitors and should hit that number sometime this week. Heh.
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There it is, folks. In all it's speedy glory. Calvin's brand new Honda CBR 929 RR. In fact, the bike is *so* brand new, Calvin hasn't even ridden it yet.
To summarize the weekend:
Friday after work I picked up Michael and Michael's friend, Marie and Marie's friend at X(f)'s. Then Calvin, Michael and I went to the dealership to follow up on the deal they were supposedly working for us. The customer service at that place is sub-standard, to say the least. We'd begun original negotiations the weekend before, and damned if it wasn't nearly impossible to get ahold of anyone to help finalize things. We even tried out another dealership, but ended up going back to the original folks. So! The three of us went to investigate the goings-on. We gave them additional information which they didn't originally request but were apparently necessary to firm up the deal. Then we had to leave to play bus to Marie and two of her friends. The rest of the evening was so quiet that I can't even remember what we did.
Then on Saturday, Marie added two more friends to her slumber party. So, we had a total of five girls (including Marie) spending the night, plus Michael and his friend. Calvin was on the phone quite a bit, fussing with the dealership. I dropped the girls off at the movies, and we lamed around the house until it was time to pick them up again. Calvin went to get them, as I took a little nap so as to be refreshed for a late night. The pickup time usually takes about 20 minutes. I started to get worried after about 40 minutes had passed, and called the cell phone. He picked up, exasperated because he'd had to wait for the girls for a long time. (This detail does have relevance.)
As soon as they got back home, Marie and I decided to take a trip to the store to pick up a few things. As we approached the shopping plaza, we could see a lot of commotion and flashing emergency lights at the intersection. We counted seven fire trucks, *three* emergency helicopters which had landed in the road, countless police cars and ambulances. They had floodlights set up, and we could just make out one car being peeled open by the jaws of life. There were several clumps of paramedics huddled around victims, and a huge crowd of people along all four corners of the intersection, watching. It was a horrific accident, involving three or four vehicles. All four streets leading up to the intersection were closed off. The noise of the sirens, generators, and helicopters was immense.
The immediate thought that flashed through my mind was, "My God. Calvin and the kids were driving through that intersection not five minutes ago. The accident must have happened immediately behind them."
Marie got quite upset, playing all the possibilities through her mind. She railed at the unfairness of not having control over accidents, and not having control over who dies, and when. She worried about a carload of her friends, coming from the same theater, who left soon after she did.
While we were in the store, and on the drive home, we talked about what a responsibility it is to care for someone, and how risky it is because it hurts when they're taken away. We talked about how awful it would be for someone to receive a phone call telling them someone they cared about was in a horrific accident. She even exclaimed over how awful it would be for me, at home, getting a call like that and having to call the parents of her four friends, and X(f). And I kept giving her hugs and telling her that I love her and I'm glad that she's here with me.
When we got home, I went immediately in and gave Calvin a hug. I explained to him what had happened, and he went out to see Marie. She just clung to him and cried, she was so upset about what she had seen and where her mind had taken her. Her friends were all worried, and started making phone calls to the friends who were on their way home at the same time. Everyone they knew was okay.
It's a very rough thing, though, when a twelve year old comes to recognize the face of her own mortality, and the mortality of her loved ones.
Sunday morning we got up early to finish Calvin's packing. We finally got the call we were waiting for from the dealership - the deal was firmed up and they had our motorcycle. That produced a mad scramble to get the girls in the truck, drop everybody off at their respective houses, get to the dealership to sign the paperwork, and get Calvin to the airport for a 2:00 flight. Oof. The finance folks had us waiting quite a while to do up the documents. The salesman himself went down to Tucson (a two hour drive) to pick up the motorcycle and bring it up. So it was decided that they would deliver the bike to me at our home later on in the evening.
Poor Calvin had to go away for a week without even *seeing* his purchase, let alone taking it for a ride.
We did the airport thing with Calvin, and Marie and I went grocery shopping. Both kids, who were supposed to go to their mom's to spend the night, decided that they wanted to stay with me. I found that to be highly complimentary.
And we got a call from the salesman saying that they couldn't drop off the motorcycle until we had proof of insurance on it. So, that's what I did this morning, and they're dropping it off after work tonight.
I made a pasta salad, and Marie and I walked the dogs (always a struggle). Kye pulls if she's behind the other dogs, and walks in circles around the walker if she's ahead of the other dogs. Gypsy is pretty well behaved unless she smells *something* and *must* *investigate*. Gadget is a total freak and is constantly going full tilt at the end of his leash, trot-trot-trotting back and forth, back and forth. Yeah. We have well behaved dogs.
Phew. What a weekend.
If you're interested, here's the recipe I made:
Laura's Soon-To-Be World Famous Greek Pasta Salad
1 12 oz package rainbow spiral noodles1/2 cup red onion, slivered
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced
1 whole large cucumber, peeled, sliced, and the slices cut into quarters
12 jumbo black olives, sliced (or use kalamata olives)
1 5 oz can artichoke hearts, drained (optional)
1 large firm tomato, diced
1 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
3 tbsp extra light olive oil
3 tbsp red wine vinegar
3 tbsp water
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
Boil noodles according to directions. Drain and rinse with cold water. Put noodles in a large bowl and combine with remaining ingredients. Mix well. Chill pasta salad for at least an hour in the fridge before eating. Since I'm the only one in the family who likes Feta, I leave that out and just top my own serving with it. Enjoy!