Monday, November 2, 2009

my internal clock is outta whack.

this is the only explanation i have for the whackiness i feel at this moment.

it all started when i decided to wear white shorts today.
let's start first with the "white" part.
yes, i know you're not supposed to wear white after labor day.
but i coupled it with a purple top and a brown sweater...doesn't that make it fallish enough?
second part to address:
i was wearing SHORTS today. sounds groovy right?
well, it is. and i know i shouldn't complain about this wonderful weather i'm having. in fact, i'm not complaining about it. i love it. but i think my internal weather clock is all messed up with this perpetually-nice-weather-junk. every morning i put on some jeans and a shirt and a sweater...a very fallish combination in my opinion....only to be dripping in sweat by noon and wishing i had decided on a better clothing ensemble 4 hours earlier. my face is one giant zit from all this sweat (gross, i know). i feel all weird that the Holidays are coming because the weather hasn't even felt a glimmer of "crisp" outside. how can you eat "apple crisp cobbler" if it's not "crisp" outside? i don't want to think about eating warm apple pie in 80 degree weather.
and now with this fall back (even though it's not even fall here yet with all this 80 degree weather stuff) stuff, i'm starting my day bright and early at 4:00 am...because that's what you do when you are out of whack. you wake up even earlier than you would've before you fell back...and all of a sudden become the early bird who is not only getting the worm, but the whole worm farm.

anyway.

so my day started with some not-so-good karma as i headed out with my white shorts/brown sweater combo.....to my first stop: gas station. well, as many of you moms know, getting gas isn't just a leisurly activity anymore, where you think about your family, what you are going to get done that day, and what you think you might give Harold and Bertha for Christmas. no, no, no. it is now a multi-tasking-one-man-band event for your little tots. you see, you have to keep those kids entertained who are strapped down to the now-stopped-vehicle so that you dont' have to suffer long stares and embarrassment from other people hearing the yelps, whines, and screams of your bored child. and so, i was busy doing some entertaining when i heard the gas knozzle "click," letting me know that it was done. so i finished "wheels on the bus" gave Ellie one more "tickle" and one last "goochie goo" and went straight for the handle.

i've always been a little over-zealous.

you see, the click must have been from my neighbor's knozzle...because mine was still going...full force. SPLAASSSH. SPRRRAAAYYY. GASSSPP. (and maybe a four letter word...maybe). yeah, i got soaked in gasoline. smelly, icky, gasoline.

i mean, really, i wasn't expecting the whole "never been kissed" scenario to actually happen just because i wore some white shorts. give. me. a. break.

so, i nervously looked around to see if anyone noticed (or if anyone DIDN'T notice is more like it), and hopped into my once-clean-car....and then was almost suffocated by the intoxicating smell as i debated whether or not to go home and change...you see, getting out the door is a feat in itself...we were now out the door, almost to our destination....did i really smell that bad? oh well. it's only an hour. who cares.

so stinky-gasoline-marci takes Ellie into Target to do some post-Halloween shopping and grocery shopping. Ellie wasn't too pleased with the experience. i'm sure she was having trouble breathing with all that gasoline she was inhaling. poor thing. so i hurried as quickly as i could with some of my little red-lined treasures...and went to the cashier. by this moment, Ellie was d-o-n-e. how did i know that, you ask?
well, i think the lollipop Ellie chucked at the cashier's face, which then landed behind the cash register, was a pretty good indication of her done-ness.
to top it off: my wallet was left on the drivers seat of the car after my gasoline incident, instead of being in its designated spot in the diaper bag. "um, sir, can you suspend my order, after you wipe that stickiness off your face, while i go get my wallet, p-p-please?"

yeah. not the best string of events.

luckily, i came home, plopped the kid in her crib for a nap and some alone time,  and regained composure by gawking over the sexiness of Jude Law in the Holiday while eating a whole jar of Trader Joe's Salsa and a bag of chips all by myself (second time this month).

when Ellie woke up, i was recharged and rejuvenated (thanks Jude) and decided to make us a little comfort food for dinner: spaghetti. well, as i tried to slurp my noodles as politely as possible, i looked over at Ellie, who was not politely eating her food, but rather smashing it with her fingers, throwing it on her lap, and simultaneously inhaling it through her mouth and nose....and all with a big smile on her face.

the thought came to me then...like a pile of bricks whacking me on my outta-whack-head: i need to be more like Ellie and enjoy the mess...because sometimes, the mess is the best part.



xoxo

15 comments:

Ashley said...

Your messy gasoline, sucker throwing days give me solace. Love you.

Mat and Brooke said...

oh marci, how i'm all too familiar with those kinds of days...i'm sorry! but you definitely did have a point at the end: sometimes the mess IS the best part...and you get to the end of the crazy day and think, "well, i guess that wasn't TOO bad...!" that's what kids do to you. they bring you back down you earth and just give you the picture of pure joy. besides, the "mess" is what gives us all character! good for you. :)

Kristy said...

Bless you. This sounds like a day I had last week. But I agree--the mess IS the best part, and if we can just remember that, things would be a lot more fun!

Anonymous said...

oh man, sounds like you had a VERY fun day. Love you Marce.

Paris Bucklew said...

This is too funny (and also a great message). I feel like my house and car are constantly taken over by crumbs and the second I pick them up, there they are again. I don't think this will change anytime soon.

So great to finally meet you and your sweet Ellie in person. I need your e-mail address. I think I already gave mine to you, but it's paris.bucklew@yahoo.com. Look forward to seeing you soon.

bartonbeat said...

oh boy. thank goodness for chips & salsa. miss you guys!!!

Jons and Celeste Leigh said...

Your words are beautiful. I love you a lot.
Seriously, sometimes we just have to step back and laugh at the mess. I mean, if you had a picture perfect day, whatever would you blog about? ;)

anne said...

Don't worry. You are not alone in gasoline getting ALL over you. In fact I did that one about 4 years ago down here in St. George and I don't know what I was thinking but I just pulled it out while it was still going and I looked over and there was Mr. Fawcett from good ol' Fairfield Jr. just staring at me. I'm sure he didn't remember who I was, but I was sure embarrassed because not only did I just get gasoline EVERYWHERE, but I did it in front of my old math teacher from ...years ago. Bah.

Good times, good times. You will look back and laugh...one day. :)

mere/tay(xoxo) said...

hilarious. seriously, hilarious. utterly and perfectly hilarious.
xoxo

Amber said...

Thanks for the story. Today was one of those in the car out of the car 20 times days. With three carseats, that gets a little tiring. So thanks for letting me "see" you in all your mama glory.

Savannah said...

mama said there'd be days like this :) and thankfully, we have those little spaghetti mashing dears to entertain through the car window while pumping gas, it's definitely much better than just standing there watching the gallons tally up, don't you think?...thanks for refreshing my perspective on the joy of the "mess." xoxo.

Shaylynn... a girl, a story, a blog said...

Oh I've had the gasoline thing happen to me. Its horrible:) Ruined a great pair of jeans, that's what I remember. Mommies have the toughest job in the world...

Unknown said...

Hey Marc! I'm sorry, your story made me laugh. Mainly because I can totally relate to it! Some days all the forces of the world are against you and as bad as you want to simply get and do a little Target shopping its nearly impossible to do and enjoy. I can totally relate marc. And I've totally done that thing were you think your wallet is in your purse but you leave it on the seat cause you just got gas. I can relate sister...hang in there!

Amy W said...

Yeah, Marci! So glad you found my blog, so now I can read yours! You are h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s! Just want to give you the heads up that not wearing white after labor day is totally gone in California. You can wear white shorts year long and be totally hip!

Jenny said...

so glad you commented on my blog so i could find yours! of course after park day i went home and could not for the life of me remember "ballroom and biscotti." anyways, i love the blog and have to tell you 1. i LOVE the grape lady video- it is one of my all time favorite you tubes. 2. i LOVE glee and was totally hating on the world series too 3. hmmm...there was something else i wanted to tell you but i already forgot. typical.