New Mexico & McDonald's
Thursday, May 19, 2011
In which Joe launches off for the Southwest and a birthday is celebrated two and a half weeks early …
Joe got on the road at two AM. When Collette called to check the status of his awake-ness at 6:30, he declared need of coffee and change for the toll booth, which he would break shortly to find. And he was somewhere in Kansas. He thought.
When Dad had him called later, he facetiously reported that he was in ‘the middle of a pasture with cows’.
Over at the house in a dark green world…
Gloria dropped by to pick up the big old green thing for Izzy and the swing band.
Then, while Collette got busy working on Dad’s website with Carrie, Dad took Puck to visit Grandma Snicketts, after Puck had quickly devoured, in addition to breakfast, a banana, half an apple, and a soft-centered Werther’s caramel.
Linnea was busy watching Nanny 9-1-1 in preparation for watching a thirteen-month old and eight-week old for the following week in North Carolina with the Ryes and Cherry.
A quarter till twelve call from Carrie confirmed that Joe was on the road stuck behind a truck that was ‘leaking something that smelled funny’.
And Francis told Collette about how Puff ‘o Lump had gotten his ears pierced.
“It’s like having a translator to the female side,” Francis joked.
Francis had also snuck out a can of Slim Jims from the car before Joe had taken off for New Mexico.
Rosebud salve arrived in the mail.
At 12:30, Mom, Collette, Carrie-Bri, and Puck struck out.
There was only one car left between everyone, so…
1:00 foot doctor appointment for Francis.
While the girls and Puck waited in the car, Puck saw his Sun’s gold fingernails.
“You have to have these if you want to be a boss,” said Carrie.
“I don’t want them,” said Puck.
“Then you can’t be a boss.”
“Wuhl… I can jump. I drunk coffee. Yup. A long time ago.”
“Hmmm… that makes you half a boss.”
“Look, I can wink,” said Puck, pressing down one eyelid with a finger.
And Carrie taught him how to wiggle his eyebrows.
Then a 2:00 four year-old birthday party for Anneliese at McDonald’s.
Puck partied it up, sweating buckets in the jungle-gym, checking in with Anneliese after she tripped and hurt her foot and tripped again and bloodied her nose, woofing down a Happy Meal of chicken nuggets, apple wedges (sans the optional caramel dip), and a bottle of milk in record-breaking time, back to the jungle-gym, a bite of chocolate cake (while Collette partook of the key lime cheesecake option), foam clown noses and other favors, and an overwhelming pile of gifts for Anneliese, including The Sweet Touch and a package of rock candy from Puck.
Back at the house…
Puck was still hungry. Popcorn. Rain, so inside with some Minecraft.
Shortly after four, Joe called. Thirteen hours and forty-five minutes. He must have been booking it.
“But I only hit three tumbleweed,” he said. “And almost a roadrunner.”
He also spoke of surging high winds.
Rose returned from work.
“Onion!” Puck declared.
“Hi, Peanut Brain!”
OLeif eventually picked them up after work, while Carrie prepared a make-over for Mom, and Linnea continued organizing her room for Cherry’s arrival the following afternoon.
“Everything is determined, the beginning as well as the end, by forces over which we have no control. It is determined for the insect as well as the star. Human beings, vegetables, or cosmic dust, we all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible piper.”
— Albert Einstein (1879-1955)