An Act of Kindness...No Matter How Small...Often Gets Screwed Up!

You know, even as a child I could never do anything sneaky...the reason...I'm just not good at being sneaky.  This week just proves that theory.  The other day, I read something sad on our friend's Facebook page.  She posted a story about how some evil little vandals came into her yard and broke some things, including her prized gazing ball decoration.  I was so sad to read this, because she is such a nice person, and she is always doing kind and generous things for other people.  Well, Ken and I came up with another one of our "good" ideas.  We decided we would surprise her by buying her a brand new gazing ball and anonymously place it in her yard.  Well...that was the plan anyway.
 
So Ken and I went to Walmart and purchased a shiny new gazing ball and stand.  After we left the store, we slowly drove into her neighborhood and parked the van a couple houses away so that we could take time to unwrap it and set it up.  After that step was completed, Ken drove slowly up to her house.  He then quietly tip toed out of the car and into her yard and gently placed the gazing ball next to her front porch.  Giggling all the way back to the car, he hopped back in, and we zoomed away.

Finally, after all these years I've finally pulled off a sneaky act without a hitch...or so I thought.  After we got home, Ken and I sat down to eat lunch, still giggling at how much fun we had.

 While munching a mouthful of food, I said to Ken...."Are you sure we put the gazing ball in the right yard?"

"Oh, I'm 99% sure." he said.  

"What do you mean, 99% sure? " I replied with great concern. 

"Well, I've never been to her house before, but I heard it's blue, and that is the only blue house on the corner. " he said as his smile started to disappear.

To make a long story short, later that day we discovered that her house was not blue.  It was light tan.  It didn't take these two detectives long to figure out we had placed the gazing ball in the wrong yard.  Now....what to do....

Our first thought was...well, we'll just go take the gazing ball out of the neighbor's yard and place it in our friend's yard.  But then we thought...oh no...wouldn't that be stealing?  Then we thought...it "technically" wouldn't be stealing...it was "technically" ours until our friend "technically" took possession of it...But then, what if the person in the blue house didn't see it that way and they "technically" thought it was theirs and thought we were "technically" stealing it...and how would we ever explain all these "technicalities" to the police???? Bad bad idea.  How...how...how do we get ourselves into these situations?  We were only trying to be kind. Ken decided the best solution would be to just go to the store and buy another gazing ball and stand...Oh, and since HE was the one who put it in the wrong yard in the first place, he was willing to pay for it out of his monthly fun money allowance...so that even sweetened the deal! 

But, a strange set of circumstances then occurred.  The neighbor in the blue house saw the gazing ball in their yard, thought it was the stolen one that belonged to our friend, and returned it to her! Oh joy!

The moral of this story....If you're going to do something kind...and you are going to be sneaky....just don't get me involved! 

Common Sense

You know, every day I learn more and more about just how sweet Ken can be.  This guy is such a humanitarian.  He has such a soft spot in his heart for all living creatures.  How do I know this?  The other day while pumping gas, he noticed a group of a dozen or so beetles and about half of them somehow ended up on their backs and were wiggling their legs frantically while trying to get back up.  (Sort of reminds me of when I was pregnant with the kids) Anyway, my sweet, sweet hubby stopped what he was doing and took the time to flip those little beetles back over.  What a guy! 

Anyway, on an unrelated note…What in the heck ever happened to good ol’ fashioned common sense?  Oh, my goodness.  Picture this…Four cripple people come into a national chain restaurant to have dinner.  Three of the four are using 160-pound power wheelchairs.  The other brandishing a five-pound wheeled walker complete with beverage cup holder.  Upon arriving, the host person grabs four menus and politely says…”Will that be a booth or table?”  Now, does it take a rocket scientist to figure out that three 160-pound power wheelchairs cannot in any way park on the seat of a booth?  Next time, Ken is going to say…”Booth, please!” and see just how long it takes for the host person to realize that it would really not be a good idea.

Anger Issues

Hello everyone!

Things around the Davert house have been busy as usual.  We dropped both of our sweeties off at camp on Sunday…and I miss them sooooo much!  But, I know they are in good hands and having a great time. 

While they are gone to camp, Ken and I thought we would take the opportunity to have a little vacation.  So, on the way home, we zipped over to Frankenmuth for an overnight stay.  For those of you who don’t know what Frankenmuth is, it is a little tourist town with a German flair.  We had a ball.  We went swimming and had the best old-fashioned chicken dinner at the Bavarian Inn.  The Bavarian Inn is a huge restaurant.  As amazing as it may seem, when the waitress seated us, it was the same table we sat at last year! 

This weekend, I realized that I definitely have some anger issues that need to be addressed.  And I do believe this vacation was a good first therapy session.  Whenever things don’t go my way, my first reaction is to get angry about it.  And then I typically stew about it for at least a day or two.  There is probably some deep rooted childhood thing that is associated with my behavior, or maybe it is just a bad habit of mine, but all that doesn’t matter.  I just know I need to be a much more patient person today.

After we checked out of our hotel the next morning, I went over to a concierge desk to ask about our Perks Club points.  I was anxious to get going, because Ken and I had a lot of sightseeing to do that day.  With only one lady in front of me, I figured it wouldn’t take long.  Boy was I wrong.  This lady was the most chattiest person I ever met.  (Is there such a word as chattiest? Oh well, it fits this story so I’ll use it!)  This lady talked about all her ailments, about her friends and their names and ailments, about where she was going next on her vacation and who she was going to visit…and she went on, and on, and on, and on…

I turned back to Ken who was sitting about 30 feet away and gave him a confused and angry look.  He shrugged his shoulders.  I turned back, and the lady was still going.  I then came up with the brainy idea that I would skooch my power chair up closer so I could be seen in her peripheral vision.  Maybe if she knew someone was behind her, she would politely end her conversation.  Well, that didn’t work either.  I learned more about her family, and the people who worked for her…on and on and on...  Then, “angry” kicked in.   I was not only getting angry at that lady, but the concierge behind the desk.  I was getting angry at the lady’s mother who gave birth to her, and everyone who did her wrong in her life who were the subject of all these stories she wanted to tell. 

I was about to blurt out a rude comment in the hopes that they would finally notice my displeasure… when all of our sudden….I remembered something Fr. Bert talked about in church last weekend. (See I was paying attention!)  He reminded us that our job on Earth was to be kind to others, even by simply giving a smile or a kind word.  I realized that I had two choices:  A) to allow my anger to make this a bad situation or B) I could shed a little sunshine in the world.  As difficult as it was for me to hold back my anger, I chose B.  I continued to sit patiently. 

All of a sudden, the lady looked to her side and saw me sitting there. “Oh, my goodness!”  she exclaimed. “I’m so sorry. I’ve just been going on and on and you have been waiting for me.”  I touched her arm gently and said, “Oh, that is okay, it feels like I've known you for a long time!” and I smiled back at her.  “Here, let me give you a gift!”  she said as she started digging through her purse.  “Oh, no, no, no, that is okay, you don’t need to do that.”  I said, as I started feeling really guilty for being angry at all with this really sweet lady.

She pulled out of her purse a crocheted doily she made and gave it to me.  “Here, you take it. Now I made it out of cotton, so you can set a really hot pan on it…” And she proeceeded to tell me all about that doily in great detail.  “Thank you,” I said as she walked away.

Well, I decided, I’m keeping that doily in a special place to remind me about how controlling my anger can make much more positive things happen.  Thanks, Fr. Bert, for your words of wisdom!

Have a great day!

Missy

Breakfast Compass

Ken just said to me, “I don’t know why I’m so tired tonight.” 

I said in reply, “Well, let’s see.  Maybe it is because we didn’t get much sleep last night and we have been on the go all day.”

Then he mustered enough strength to say, “Oh…yea.”

What a day it has been!  There is no way I can tell you everything that happened, but I’ll share some of the highlights.

All the craziness started this morning.   I realized our dog, Sammie, has a special talent.  He is a breakfast compass.  You know how a compass works…no matter how you turn it, always points north.  Well this morning, no matter where I walked around the kitchen munching on Michaela’s leftover waffles, Sammie continued to point his nose in my direction. Then, he had the nerve to look at me with those big brown eyes (see the slightly embellished photo above), trying desperately to pull at my heart strings, so I would share it with him….No way…Call me selfish, but it was mine…mine…mine!

Ken had to go out of town today, so I was in charge of picking up the kids.  Sounds simple enough. I had some extra time before school got out, so I took my rolling grape and my super sleek and wonderful power chair to my Mom’s house for a visit.  When it was time to pick up the kids I grabbed my coat, said goodbye to my Mom, and headed out the door.  Just then, I realized that I had my super sleek power chair with me and my car will only fit two power chairs.  Yikes!  What was I to do?  I could just leave one of the kids at school for the rest of the day, but I decided that wasn’t the best thing to do, so I hurried back home to drop my power chair off in the garage and zoomed in my rolling grape (within the legal speed limit of course) to school to pick up the kids.

When we got home, there was a mysterious black car parked in front of our house with a man sitting inside.  I pulled into the garage, and all three of us got out of the car.  As I was closing the door on the van, I noticed a second car pulling up in front of our house.  A man got out of the first car, and a second man got out of the other.  One appeared to be caring a large back bag.  They both started walking up the driveway.  Slightly frightened, I zoomed in my spiffy power chair out of the garage to meet them at the end of the driveway. 

“Can I help you?”  I asked as my knees were shaking.  They gave me their names, and I gave them a stare like a deer in headlights…not knowing who in the heck they were.  “Didn’t University of Michigan tell you we were coming?” they said.  Oh, oh….All of a sudden the light bulb came on.  I instantly remembered that some men from a national publicity company were suppose to come up from Detroit to interview the kids about a possible television commercial for the U of M hospital.  Somehow I forgot to put this very very very important appointment on our calendar.  This was NOT good, because I realized that our house was a total WRECK before I left home. 

We had junk all over the place.  There was a 20-pound bag of dog food on the kitchen cupboard, right next to the moldy bread I forgot to throw away.  The kitchen table was a mess, along with my kitchen cupboard.  And the floor…the lovely floor, it looked like a NASCAR race had occurred just moments before, because there were super spiffy power chair tracks all over the place as a result of the rain and snow the past couple days.

They were really nice guys, and they asked the kids all kinds of questions.  Just then, I felt a sense of doom…they asked me if they could take some photos around the house to take back to their producer.  Michaela gave me the evil eye, because she really wants to be in the commercial, and she was quite certain her chances were slim to none after they saw our house.  Our only hope…maybe, just maybe, they didn’t notice the disaster that surrounded them.

As they were leaving, they said they would contact us in a couple weeks to let us know if they wanted to include the kids in their advertising campaign.  When the door closed behind them, I gave Michaela a look, very similar to the look the dog gave me in the above photo.  She grabbed me by the shoulders, pulled me toward her, and said, “Mom, let this be a lesson to you…you need to do a better job cleaning the house!”

The moral of this story…Always keep your house clean, for you never know when publicity people will be stopping by.

Go Blue!

#35 - Kroger Calamity

Hello Everyone!

It’s been another blog-filled day!  Michaela and I pulled into the garage with the rolling grape oozing with junk food.  Ken met us at the car to help us out, and with his super sweet and cheery voice he said, “Well, how was your afternoon?”  I looked at him with my eyes glazed over and said  ”Ken, I just spent four hours grocery shopping with two cripple people and a Mom with an injured foot, need I say more?”   Let’s just say it was a shopping trip I won’t soon forget.

My Mom injured her foot a few weeks ago, and she needed someone to take her grocery shopping.  Have you ever gone grocery shopping with a wandering Mom and a daughter with a power wheelchair?  Let me tell you, it’s like spending four hours trying to herd cats.  Every time I managed to gather them both up, something would catch their eye and off they would go.  Thank goodness for cell phones, or I’m sure I would have lost them forever.

Mom had a very long list of things to buy, and we needed nothing.  However, NOTHING is NOT what we bought.  Michaela and I broke the most important rule of grocery shopping…NEVER GO GROCERY SHOPPING WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY.  We were both a bit hungry, and everything on the shelves looked so good to us.  As my Mom hobbled along gathering meat and vegetables, Michaela and I zoomed along in our stylish power chairs grabbing only the things that looked particularly tasty…you know, things like ice cream, cookies, candy, pizza, and the list goes on and on.  We even bought the dog some goodies. 

As we were zooming along in junk food land, Michaela decided she wanted me to stop by Taco Bell on the way home to buy her some nachos and cheese.  I gathered the small amount of patience I had left for the day and replied to her with a soft and happy voice, “Michaela, we have a grocery cart full of junk food and frozen ice cream, we are not going to stop by Taco Bell.” 

Well, do you think that was the reply she wanted to hear?  I think not.  “Mommy….Taco Bell,” she repeated again.  “No, Michaela, no Taco Bell,”  I replied.  Well, for the next several aisles, all I heard was this sweet little voice behind me…”Mommy, I want nachos, Mommy I want nachos, Mommy I want nachos….”  “No, No, No,” I replied.  “Mommy, I want nachos…Mommy…....oh....look at this adorable Teddy Bear!…Can I have it?  I’ll pay for it,”  she said with delight.  “Ah, why, yes…yes, you can… IF you promise not to ask me to stop by Taco Bell again,” I said with a commanding dwarf-like mom voice.  “Oh, I promise Mom!”  she squealed.  She grabbed the big squishy cuddly blue thing and gave it a big ol’ hug.  Finally peace and quiet.  Well, that lasted about two aisles when I heard, “Mommy, can I have Taco Bell?” again.  Well, my patience had grown weary by this time, and I took the little sweet cuddly Teddy by the neck and said, “Michaela, I’m gonna put Teddy up here on the shelf with the canned vegetables if you ask me one more time!”  Ah, quiet once again.

All of a sudden my Mom comes limping around the corner with her basket and in a frantic voice she exclaims  ”Help me find the tooth soakers!”  “Tooth soakers?  What in the heck is that?” I said.  “You know, tooth soakers!” she replied in dismay.  After several minutes of looking down the toothpaste aisle, I finally figured out she was looking for Polident!  You know, I think older people just like to confuse us, just so we don’t realize they are the ones who are confused!

Just a few minutes later what to my wondering eyes did appear?…The checkout counter!  Oh, what a beautiful sight!  Finally, our shopping adventure is complete….or so I thought.

My poor Mom started unloading the groceries…one at a time, upon the conveyor belt.  It was a tedious and long process because she was having difficulty managing with one foot.  I was not any help at all, because I knew if I tried to help, I would end up head first in the grocery basket with my feet sticking up in the air.  The line behind us grew longer and longer.  Not because it was taking us so long, but also because the other customers were laughing and finding us amusing.

As soon as Mom finished loading her groceries on the checkout counter, she started loading ours.  When Michaela saw her cute little cuddly Teddy bear headed down the conveyor belt… she knew he was “officially” hers…And guess what she blurted out?  You guessed it…”Mommy, can I have Taco Bell?”  Augh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After Mom was all checked out, she looked at the cashier and said “How much is hers?”  The teller looked at Mom with confusion and said, “I don’t know Ma’am, I haven’t checked out her groceries yet.”  I looked at the lady waved my hands over the groceries and said, “Well, why don’t you just take an estimate and that will be good enough.”  I guess that is not their policy.

Well, there was one more problem I hadn’t yet thought about….How were we going to get two carts of groceries in my little rolling grape with three people and two power chairs?  My first thought was…why don’t I just leave Michaela there, that would solve the Taco Bell problem...but she didn’t like that idea too much.  So, I looked at the bag boy and said, ”Do you have any bungie cords? Maybe we can tie some of these bags to the luggage racks.”  But he didn’t like that idea.  I’m sure he looked at my rusty old car and realized he wasn’t going to get a tip big enough to warrant that much effort.

So after we loaded Michaela and Mom into the car, the bag boy stacked and stacked and stacked the groceries until he could stack no more.

The final step was to fold the wheelchair ramp up.  As it closed we heard squish, crinkle, snap, smunch as it pushed the groceries in as far as they would go.  We looked at each other, smiled, and had a good laugh!

Just another ordinary day!

Love,
Missy

#35 - Duke of Hazard

Hello Everyone!

Well, it’s been an interesting day!  I had plans to visit my Mom this morning, so I packed up all my stuff, jumped in my sleek, shiny and sporty power chair and headed for the garage.  Not to my surprise, my car (which I call the rolling grape due to its purple color and grape-like shape, would not start (because I hadn't driven it in about a week).  Augh. 

So, my wonderful husband said he would give it a jump for me.  The problem was, he had to move the car out of the garage in order to reach the little do dahs (or whatever you call them) under the hood.  So, he put my car in neutral, hopped out, and with all his might proceeded to push the car in reverse.  His face got red, the veins popped out of his neck, and he proceeded to make the funniest grunting noises I ever heard.  The car just wouldn't budge.  What were we to do? 

Suddenly, I got a brainy idea.  I later discovered I shouldn't have acted on it...but too late, I did.  I zoomed my nice sporty super powerful power chair in front of the rolling grape.  I figured if my power chair is strong enough to haul me around all day, it could probably push that two ton minivan.  So, I lined it up carefully with the front bumper and threw it in reverse.  Much to my excitement...and amazement...the car started to roll.  I smiled at Ken and said...well, are you going to give me a hand? He grabbed the front end and gave it a final push...out the garage it rolled! 

Oh joy........oh joy......oh NO!!!  We forgot that the nice new driveway is on an incline.  And as we were celebrating our incredible feat…the car rolled faster and faster toward the ditch!  It didn't take too long to realize we had to do something...fast!  I think my husband has been watching a few too many 80's reruns lately, because for a moment, he thought he was Bo from the Dukes of Hazard.  He went running for the car, and as it was rolling, he jumped inside the open side door!  As he was working his way to the front of the car to slam on the brakes, the car proceeded to roll toward the ditch. 

For a moment, for a brief moment, the thought came through my mind that I should zoom my sleek sporty power chair behind the back of the car...after all...that would surely stop it!  But fortunately, another thought came to mind...what if it doesn't stop and my rolling grape flattens my sporty new chair...and me as well!  Bad...bad...idea... Just then, the car came to a stop!  Ken had saved the day!!!  Oh joy!

He hopped out of the rolling grape, pulled his van in front of mine, and grabbed the jumper cables.  "Here, will you hold these? And don't let the two ends touch each other." he warned, as the shakes from his cerebral palsy kicked in full force.  I almost peed my pants as he handed them over to me, because I thought he might electrocute himself...and me!  I'm sure our guardian angels were working overtime this morning.  But, he managed to get the job done...as he always does!   He clipped the cables to the do dahs in his car, and then to mine.  The next thing I heard was the sweet sound of the rolling grape revving its engine!  My hero.

I don't know why the neighbors subscribe to cable television...anytime they want some good entertainment, all they have to do is open their window shades and look our way!

Oh, and the dog...he chomped down another whole loaf of bread this morning.  Not sure how our 50 pound beagle keeps getting up on our kitchen cupboard lately when we are not home.  But I guess if he keeps eating this way, eventually, he will just be too porky to move at all and our problem will be solved!

Have a wonderful day!

Love,
Missy

#31 - Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!

Hello Everyone!

What a fun day today.  I knew as a parent, there would be a time when my kids would come up to me and say, "Mom, can I buy a car?"  Well, I kind of expected that to happen when they are about 16 or 17....but low and behold, about a week ago, Austin came to me with that very question.  He wanted to buy a Ford truck.  An F-150 to be exact.  We're pretty fortunate though, because the car he wanted to buy was built by Fisher Price, uses a rechargeable battery (no gas!), doesn't require insurance, and only cost $300!  Well, we made a deal with him...if he paid half, we would cover the other half as an early birthday present.  He was so excited!  So day before yesterday, Ken, the wonderful Dad he is, went to Walmart to make the purchase. 

It wasn't long before we realized we had several major problems...One...it came in a huge box with many, many parts!   The other problem...How could four, non-union cripple people build a car with no assembly line and only a power screwdriver?  Well, never under estimate blue collar disabled people...they can do anything!  Everyone was assigned a job...Austin managed the wheel inventory, Michaela was the official photographer, Ken was chief power screwdriver operator, and I was in charge of holding the shaking man's hands still while he operated the power tool.  What a team!  Within just a few hours, we had a beautiful mini-sized F-150, complete with racing stripes!  He couldn't drive it right away, because we needed to charge the battery.  So, Austin and I just decided to sit in it, play the radio, and look "cool" for the rest of the day. (See attached photo).

Another problem...we realized that Austin's legs were about 7 inches too short to reach the gas pedal...so we called his friend, Super Dave.  Dave is a genius...he can figure out anything, and he is a mechanical whiz...just the kinda guy we needed for a job like this.  So, today, we loaded the truck into the back of my van, and drove it to the airport hanger where Dave keeps all his handy dandy tools.  Dave took one look at it and knew just what to do.  While he was crafting away, fabricating the special part for his car, I thought it would be a great idea to let Austin try out the car to make sure he could steer it.  Well, someone needed to operate the gas for him, and since I was the only person brave enough who could fit in the car with him, that job belonged to me.  I guess there are advantages to being a mini mom!

Well, anyway...we both got in the vehicle, braced ourselves, and put the pedal to the metal.  I hit the gas, we were tossed back in our seats and we took off with about 10 g's of force!  This car has the knobbiest tires I've ever seen...what a rough bumpy ride!!!  As we are zooming down the taxiway, it reminded me of when my Dad taught me how to drive.  What a special...but scary...moment!  I was putting my safety in the hands of an 11-year old.  But, this was no 11-year-old...this kid can fly a plane.  So that thought put me at ease as we booked all over the airport and baha'd through the grass.  What a great place to learn how to drive...nothing to bump into, except an occasional plane that would pass us by.  I never saw my kids giggle so hard.  Michaela was giggling because she thought we looked so funny, and Austin was giggling because he was having so much fun. 

Dave needed some extra time to finish the part, so we brought the car home.  Austin wanted to drive some more...so tonight we hopped back in and zoomed down the street...giggling and waving at all the neighbors.  We must have been quite a sight, because they were all laughing too!  What fun!  The part for his pedal is suppose to be done on Sunday, and he can't wait to take off on his own.  My only concern is he wants to buy a GPS for it and extra batteries...Should I be concerned that he's planning some kind of cross-country trip?  Well, if you see him giggling and waving past your house...please send him home, will you?

Love,
Missy

   

#23 - One Scary Joy Ride

Hello Everyone!

A few weeks ago, we cleaned out our garage.  Under all the rubble, low and behold, I found my old bike!  I hadn't ridden it in years.  It was covered in bird poop and cobwebs, but I've been on this fitness kick lately, so I thought, gee, since we have a paved driveway now, this would be a good time to start riding it.  So, I pulled it out from under the pile.  Now remember, I have this brittle bone condition...so, training wheels are a must for me...well, it's a little embarrassing calling them training wheels...so I think I'll call them my safety gear.  As I inspected my bike, I noticed that one of the "safety gears" was missing.  So, I went to the local bike shop to get a new set.  I brought them home the other day, and struggled and struggled to get them on...but tonight, I finally had success.  Ah, I can finally ride my bike.  I use to ride a bike all the time as a kid...but I forgot...I'm not a kid anymore.  I went to get on the bike and instantly remembered...my Dad use to pick me up and PUT me on the bike.  Hum...what was I to do now?  Well, I wiggled and waddled and tried to get up on that bike.  All the while, shaking like a leaf, because I remembered the last time I fell off a bike, I broke my arm...So, I did the only thing I knew to do...I called Ken for help.  What a sweet man.  Another new challenge...I forgot Ken has cerebral palsy...Well, have you ever seen a shaky guy try to load his wife on a bike with training wheels? …I thought not.  Well, you should have seen us, because it was hilarious.  It didn't help that I was laughing so hard I was practically crying.

He finally got me up on the bike, and then we realized the tires were flat.  So, my wonderful husband went to get the tire pump.  I decided, since it took about an hour to get me on the bike, I'd better just sit there and wait.  He filled the tires, and stepped back.  Oh wow...I couldn't believe I was up on a bike!  I couldn't get my feet on the peddles...so Ken lovingly placed my feet upon them.  "You are ready to go," he said.  "No I'm not" I'm thinking...But after all that work, I figured I might as well give it a try...So, off I went...out the garage and down the new driveway...what a feeling of freedom....wind blowing in my hair...it was glorious...and so easy because the driveway goes downhill.  Everything was going wonderfully, when all of a sudden the kids and Ken started screaming...."Your wheel, your wheel!!!"  Ohhhhhhh gosh...I threw on the breaks and stood there as I froze with fear...."My wheel fell off????????"  I don't know how to balance a bike!!!!!!!!!!!!  The kids were laughing so hard, they were screaming...I never heard them laugh so hard....I started screaming, help, help!  This wasn't fun anymore!!!!!!!!  My guardian angels held me on that bike until Ken came running out to grab me.  I don't even remember how he tried to grab me, but I knew it wasn't gonna work....he started laughin, I was practically cryin, the kids are still laughing hysterically, and the neighbors are driving by waving hello!  Oh, gosh, what a calamity!  Ken finally found a gentle way to gently set me on the ground...the lovely ground...Actually, my family overreacted a bit, because my wheel hadn't fallen off, but it was just about to.  That was enough exercise for one night...Do you think I should try this again?

Love,
Missy

#22 - Give me that flippin fish!

Hello Everyone!

We'll it’s been an interesting day. Last night, Michaela found out that Justin Bieber will be performing at the Palace in August.  Who is Justin Bieber you might ask?  Well, he's kinda the Elvis Presley of the new millennium.  Michaela discovered that tickets had already gone on sale, and she decided she wanted to make Justin's concert one of her summer activities.  So, she begged and pleaded for us to try to get tickets for her.  This would be no easy task, because usually if you do not stay in line overnight to get tickets for these concerts, you ain't gonna get any tickets....  But, what the heck, I thought I would give it a try.  I called the Palace today and asked if there were any seats available.  "We are all sold out of that concert, ma'am" he said.  "Oh, no...No tickets, not a one?"  I said in dismay!  "No ma'am."  He replied.  "What about handicapped seating?  Do you have any seats open in handicapped seating?" I pleaded.  "Well, let me check into that" he said.  "Why yes, I have just two tickets left in that section!  You have the LAST two tickets available!"  Wow!  How exciting!  If I was the scalpin type, sitting on the right street corner, I could probably pay for her college education with these tickets!  But, I think she would rather skip college than miss this concert!  Baby, baby, baby OH!

On a different subject, we learned a valuable lesson tonight...never pick a restaurant that has no cars in the parking lot during dinner rush hour...there is a reason for that...We went to a local restaurant...a nice family-style restaurant...It took me about 15 minutes to decide what to have.  But I finally settled on the pasta with alfredo sauce...yum...I love pasta!  Sometime later, our waitress came by and exclaimed "Ma'am, we're out of that"  Oooooh, I just hate when that happens!  It takes me so long to decide what to have and then I get my taste buds all set for this wonderful pasta...and then I find out they are out of stock!!!! How can that be?  She handed me a menu and said, “Would you like to order something else?”  So, I grabbed the menu and began the grueling task of trying to change my craving.  As I am sitting there with the menu, the waitress brought Ken's and the kids' food out to them.  Oh, now I was really cranky.  "Just forget it", I said.  The waitress was quite insistent that I order something else...so I finally asked for a bowl of broccoli soup.  After all, how could they get that wrong?  Well, they could.  It wasn't really soup...it was more like broccoli pudding.  Yuck.  But I chomped it down and tried to be grateful for what I had. 

Just then, to make the meal more interesting...Ken had a tremendous cerebral palsy induced shake attack...he accidentally flipped one of his fish fillets in the air and it landed on his booth seat.  Looking down at the fish...we all wondered what his next move would be...will he pick up the fish and toss it aside?....Will he pick it up, scrape off any and all germs that might have fallen off the dairy air of the person who sat there last?.... Or, will he just eat it?

I'll let you just wonder which of the three options he selected!

Have a great day!

Love,
Missy

#20 - Random Acts of Kindness

Hello Everyone!

I am so thankful for these blogs, because some days are too amazing just to keep to ourselves!  Let me tell you a little about our Saturday...

I woke up early this morning...still basking in the delight that I won a ribbon for my quilt at the quilt show yesterday.  After stretching a few times, I had to jump out of bed right away...because we had lots of plans.

                                                                                                                               

First, we traveled to the Airport, because our buddy Dave was hosting a bi-plane fly-in event.  Due to the weather, there weren't very many people "flying" in today, but we had a great time.  Dave made homemade donuts and homemade pizza for everyone...yum yum! 

Then, it was back home for some rest and relaxation before taking off for a "live" interview at the Covenant Hospital Telethon at the TV-5 studio.  That was a lot of fun...the kids did a great job, and everyone made them feel like real stars.  Lots of fun times today...

Then something incredible happened...On the way home from the telethon, we decided to stop at Bob Evans for dinner.  There was a long line of people waiting to be seated, but we were hungry and didn't feel like cookin, so we decided to wait it out.  While in line, a very sweet lady came in with her grandson who appeared to be 7 or 8 years old.  What a sweet boy he was, and I could tell his grandma loved him to pieces.  The grandma asked the boy to sit down on the bench and wait, but he wanted to stand up right next to me.  Overhearing their conversation, I could tell that he had some type of disability.  I smiled at him and asked him how he was doing and what his name was.  He looked at me IN THE EYES and said "My name is Cameron."  "That is a nice name," I said.  "I really like the name Cameron."  He smiled back at me, and so did his grandma.  "He never looks people in the eyes when he talks to them," said his grandma in amazement.  Wow, at that moment, I felt a real connection with him...and it made me feel good that he felt comfortable talking to me.  What a special moment.  Then we were called to be seated, and we said goodbye. 

We sat down at our table and proceeded to eat an incredibly delicious meal.  Everything was going great, until a nasty fruit fly was buzzing around my face.  It was a pesty ol thing...and it wouldn't go away...until...zoop... the darn thing flew right up my nose!  No lie!  Augh...I guess it thought I needed some extra protein with my dinner...When we were so full that we couldn't fit another bite into our bellies, we asked for takeout boxes.  When the waitress brought the boxes to us, she dropped a handwritten note on the table.  The note was from the grandma we met in line.  It said, "My grandson, Cameron, just started talking not too long ago.  He has autism.  He called you the "Bob Evans lady!  Thank you for your kindness..."  And then another amazing thing happened.  We found out she paid our dinner bill.  Wow.  All I said basically said to him was "hello."  You know...you never know how a little gesture of kindness can affect someones life. 

Before I read her note, I thought it was ME who benefited from our little conversation...How cool is that?

Love,
The Bob Evans Lady!