Sunday, October 3, 2010

Garbie & the Blocker

Ella, Noah, and I took a trip to Wal-Mart the other day.  (Yes, I seem to find myself in Wal-Mart a lot.  You're welcome, Walton family!)  At the end of the trip I made a promise to myself NEVER (at least not in the next few weeks) to take both of the kids to Wal-Mart by myself again if I had more than three things on my list. 

The morning started off wrong.  I thought I was going to get to catch up on some work that was starting to pile up on me.  However, that plan had to quickly morph itself into a new one when I listened to a voicemail from the previous evening.  The voice on the phone said that Noah had a well-child check for the following morning at 9:15.  (When I listened to the message it was 8:15am.)  This quickly threw me into a panic because I can't seem to get anywhere on time even when I am planning ahead, much less when I only have 45 min. of prep time to get myself, the kids, and the diaper bag ready.  Somehow (with the help of a hat and my amazing husband) we made it to the doctor's office at 9:20.  (That's pretty good for us!)  We waited in line only to have the receptionist tell me that Noah didn't have an appointment today.  She said it was the next business day.  (Great!)  I told her that someone had called and said that the appointment was today, but I got the feeling she didn't really believe me.  (Did I not look credible?  Maybe it was the hat??)  I decided that while we were here I might as well pay a bill that was due instead of mailing it in.  So, we went around to the other window to wait.  We had to wait forever because the woman in front of us must have been making follow up appointments for the next five years.  Then we got passed by another lady, and had to wait even longer.  (I guess she thought I was just hanging out with my 3 yr old and 9 month old in the doctor's office hallway?) When we finally made it to the window it took another year for me to get the bill paid, and in the meantime Ella about pulled Noah's leg off and informed me (and the whole office) that she had to go potty. 

(Enter the Wal-Mart trip) After the 45 min. non-appointment for Noah, the kids were already getting pretty tired, hungry, and Ella still had to potty (of course the doctor's office hadn't had any toilet paper for their potty.)  I decided to push on through and go to Wal-Mart anyways since we needed some pretty important things like pull-ups, (yes, if you read the blog from a few days ago...these are the same pull-ups I forgot about 3 Wal-Mart trips ago) formula, baby food, and milk.  After transferring the kids and all our gear into a cart, we made it to the Wal-Mart potty, which, thankfully, had plenty of toilet paper.  We were then ready for our trip!  We visited the medicine section, the household goods, and we were headed for the baby section.  Ella started to reach her limit of sitting in the back of the cart, and wanted out.  I quickly told her no, and tried to distract her since we were passing by the toy section. 

Ella: "Ooooooh!  Garbie!" (translation: Barbie)
Me: "Ella, it's Bbb...arbie."
Ella: "Gggg..arbie."
Me:  (Ok, I guess it's going to be Ggg...arbie, but I don't think Barbie would be too happy with her new name.)

I kept that cart moving because I was sure that if we stopped that one of two things would happen. 1 - Ella would jump out to chase Garbie, or 2 - We would end up with some clutter...I mean, toys...to take home with us. 

As we entered the baby section, Ella started pointing and waving frantically.
Ella:  "Look, Mama, the blocker!
Me:  "What?"
Ella:  (still pointing and waving) "The blocker!!"
Me:  (I'm looking in the direction she is pointing, but I truly don't see a blocker of any sort??) "What are you
          talking about?"
Ella:  (exasperated with me and my ignorance at this point) "NOAH'S BLOCKER!"
Me:  (Is she speaking another language?)
Me:  "OH!"

I finally saw it.  She was pointing to a WALKER that looked just like the one Noah has been zooming around in the house lately.  It must've seemed like a miracle to her precious 3 year old mind that Noah's walker was sitting on that shelf instead of at home where it belonged. 

We made it through the rest of the Wal-Mart trip without any more language-barrier issues, although we had a few other issues that I'll just give you the quick verion of...
--Noah cried because he was hungry
--I had to open up a no-mess bowl package so that I could give Noah some puffs to eat.(we bought it of
   course, but, yes, I am one of THOSE people.  It's like I told the cashier - It was either do that or go
   home.)
--Unfortunately, Noah left a trail of puffs all over that Wal-Mart floor.  I was praying they'd forgive us
   since we almost single-handedly keep Wal-Mart open.
--Ella left with an "Auwowa" (Aurora) doll in spite of my best (yeah, maybe not my best) efforts.
       

In spite of all of that, the thing I left there thinking about was mine and Ella's communication issues. 

It's not too far from the communication issues that I feel like I have with God sometimes.  Of course God has no problems with communication...I'm pretty sure those are all on my end.  Just like Ella was trying to tell me about "Garbie" and the "Blocker," I know sometimes God is trying to tell me something, and I just...don't...get it.  I'm so thankful He is infinitely patient (way more patient than Ella was) with me, and continues to show me truth...even when it takes me forever to finally get it.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

The Swiss Army Knife Car

My car is an interesting place to find yourself.  Not because I am a bad driver, (althought I have to admit some people might argue this point...getting sued after being in an accident doesn't neccessarily mean you are a horrible driver, right?) but because of the...um...landscape.  It used to embarrass me.  Ok, it still does embarrass me sometimes, but I'm learning to love my car.  (I will post a picture of the last time I "cleaned" out the car at the bottom of the page for your viewing pleasure.) It feels...comfortable.  It's comfortable because it's got everything you could ever need in there!  It's like a swiss army knife (only not.) 

It has plenty of food, should you get hungry:

- A half-eaten breakfast bar (Ella never seems to finish her "snack" that her belly was "so hungry for")
- Some of Ella's animal crackers that escaped an early death and are now hanging out in the "car 
   organizer" (at least it is organizing something, even if that something is trash!)
- Noah's puffs in his carseat (cause, really...1 out of 10 make it in his mouth, but he does try hard so he is
    probably destined to get some"Best Effort" awards, just like his mother)
- A banana peel.  Oh, wait...guess you wouldn't want to eat that. 
- There is usually a half-filled water bottle or fast food cup filled with a liquid-like substance sitting
   somewhere.

It is well-stocked for all your cleaning emergencies:

-  Wipes
-  Wipes
-  More wipes
- Wadded up kleenexs (Clean ones!  Although...it does get difficult to tell the dirty from the clean if we're
    being honest!)
-  Grocery Bags (because you have to throw everything somewhere, right?)

It has something for your entertainment:

-  It's a great place to play "I Spy"
-  You could easily do arts and crafts with all the fun stuff laying around
-  You could even play hangman in the dust on the dashboard


So, tell me...what's not to like about our car?  I think it's just perfect.  The "landscape" may not look like "everyone" says it's supposed to look, but it serves our family well.  I think following God is like that sometimes.  (No, you don't have to be dirty to follow God.)  In my car, I have exactly what I need and I get to where I need to go...even if it doesn't look how "everyone" says it should.  When you follow God, He gives you exactly what you need and you're going exactly where you want to go.

  The LORD will guide you always;
       he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
       and will strengthen your frame.
       You will be like a well-watered garden,
       like a spring whose waters never fail.

                                  Isaiah 58:11