Disruption of Property

It was about halfway through another loud lunch shift at school. I had just spent an hour in the office upstairs collating papers for eye exams, and was waiting for Mom to conclude her lunch shift downstairs. As I sat on the bench and occasionally observed the loudness, I saw one tall blonde-headed kid walk by the bulletin board, slip a thumbtack out of an ad for Covenant College, and begin to pick his teeth with it. No, it wasn’t Puck. Kids. Gotta love ’em.

Weekdays pass faster than they ever have before. Once again it was almost 2:30 and Yali and I were leaving the Big House to pick up Puck from school under a gray sky of spitting snow.

That’s when I saw the busted car window across the street at the neighbor’s house. We knew there had been some recent threats of vandalism from a disgruntled boyfriend, and I hadn’t thought too much about it when I saw a white car parked in the street about an hour earlier. So I drove up their driveway to inspect. Shattered glass all over the asphalt. I called Carrie-Bri to call the police.

“I will,” she said. “Just have to put on some make-up first.”

I eventually learned that the neighbor had refused to press charges. Go figure. So every time we see that white car in the street, “Call us,” says the police.

Siete besos for Heidi from Yali before carpool had concluded. Puck snagged a large empty Cheetos box from the recycling bin. That boy can never leave school without adding a new piece to his stash. And back on the road.

Four o’clock, home, and Puck and a neighbor buddy were deep in boxes of Legos. I heard them having a little chat together.

“Well, my mom is just heavier than my dad.”

“Your mom weighs more than your dad?” Puck seemed shocked.

“Yeah. … She had two kids. What do you expect?”

Meanwhile, Yali amused himself with the tortilla press.

While I cleaned up the kitchen from dinner, Oxbear began bathing Yali in preparation for surgery in the morning. He walked out about five minutes later with the toilet seat in one hand. Things break all the time around here, so it was no surprise, but I usually just have one question:

“How?”