Jó Napot to the Magyars
Friday, June 29, 2007
Brit’s 31st birthday.
At ten o’clock that morning, Annamaria’s plane took off toward Chicago and then over the Atlantic. It was the first time the English family had two of their children overseas at the same time: one backpacking up the east coast of Australia, the other teaching English in Budapest. It was a traveling generation.
That morning, Mom called to see if Collette and Puck would like to accompany herself, Francis, and Linnea out to Grandma’s for a “field trip” day. At 10:30, Collette carted herself and Puck out the door into the waiting minivan under curtains of gray clouds. And off they went.
After arriving at Grandma Combs’ apartment, Collette and Linnea made hearts out of bright pink Play-Dough for Grandma (who was still at the senior center and would return shortly). Francis tuned the television to a special on Area 51.
Grandma soon returned. Their first stop was the Waffle House. Collette had never been there before. Puck stayed snuggled in his pumpkin seat and his knit blanket made by Aunt Petunia. The spread soon arrived of waffles, scrambled eggs, toast with butter and jelly, sausages, bacon, hashed browns, grits, coffee, and southern pecan pie (for Grandma).
Meanwhile, Francis showed Grandma his braces. A small gold chain had been attached to a tooth still embedded in his upper gums.
“The chain is pulling the tooth down,” he explained to Grandma.
“Well I don’t know about this now,” Grandma examined the tooth. “I think we need to hang something on the end of that chain. Like maybe a diamond or something.”
Francis agreed and laughed at the thought of more bling hanging from his teeth.
Then it was off to Nagle’s while Puck patiently snoozed between stops.
Nagle’s – the store that carried everything from bars of Australian mango butter soap, to elephant cookie cutters.
Francis and Linnea trucked around their shopping baskets aiming to cram as many trinkets into their five dollar spending allowance as possible. In the good old days, when Collette had visited Nagle’s as a kid, the limit had been two dollars.
Grandma and Mom decided that as a late house warming/early anniversary present for Collette and OLeif, they would purchase for her a diffuser – a glass vase of scent which (after being lit and blown out) would fill the room with the scent. Mom and Grandma would also bring home their own. Collette picked out a bright red glass bulb swirled with patches of glittering gold and dark green, capped with a scrolled top of gold.
Meanwhile, Linnea had settled on a little glockenspiel and Francis was debating whether or not to pick out packages of party poppers. For Joe they picked out college supplies, including a set of different colored Sharpies and two square erasers with small eraser beads packed inside. Rose would be given a hermit crab with its shell painted like SpongeBob. Francis and Linnea also took home hermit crabs: camouflaged and metallic violet/blue, respectfully.
And it was the first time that Collette had come away from Nagle’s without purchasing any candy. She decided that she must now be grown up.
Then home again it was. Puck, who had been a good, happy baby all day long, lying on his blanket on Grandma’s carpet, and smiling at everyone, decided that he would change his mood for his sink bath that evening. He was much better pleased after he had been wrapped snuggly in a great blue towel and tucked into his “footy pajamas” for the night.
After he was cuddled comfortably into his crib, Collette settled back for the evening and turned on “I Love Lucy”.