The Missing Glove, A Neked Possum and a Playdate

I don't even know where to start. I just don't. I'm still shakin' my head about this day.

This has been a much anticipated day as I had scheduled Eli's first playdate with a boy. You see, we have NO little boys around here and I have prayed desperately for him to have his own friend (not one he has to share with Sarah or makes him dress up and who never invites him over for sleepovers). Well, duh, it finally hit me that a couple Josh and I have come to know through some of our associational church stuff has 5 boys!!! I also concluded that one of them had to be close to Eli's age. I checked and sure enough, Zippy is 5. Don't you love that name? Kate says "Sippy" and I just think it's so cute I'm considering renaming one of my children.

Anyway, Eli thought this playdate was a fair reason to cancel school as he finds a reason to want to cancel school pretty much everyday. He was not happy that we did have school and for the next 5 or so hours he and Sarah became the whiniest two people I have ever heard in my life. ARGHHHH!! I cannot handle whining. It does something to my nerves, y'all. Well, eventually it was time for Sarah to go to dance and Eli to have his playdate. (PRAISE THE LORD!!) Sarah hitched a ride to dance and I went to pick up Zippy. I wasn't sure that he would be willing to come on a playdate with total, complete strangers, but I told him we were going to the park. Parks and candy will make you any kids best friend just in case you didn't know.

We squeezed a 3rd booster seat into the backseat (and I mean squeezed) and headed off to the park. We were disappointed that the one we wanted to go to was closed, but we just headed to another one. It was SO fun listening to the boys talk in the back. Eli told him how old he, Sarah and Kate are. Zippy said how old he is. Eli talked about how boring dance is for him. I had been really nervous that Eli would be super shy, but he wasn't! They had a blast playing at the park even though we don't really have a good park. I've named it the "ER Waiting to Happen" Park because it's all of the old, metal stuff that just screams "Broken bones!!!!" Kate even got in on the fun. She loves the merry go round. It was while I was helping Kate climb one of the dangerous metal jungle gym things that I saw something that immediately caught my eye. A black hand. I just knew it. It looked just like a black hand laying in the grass. I tried to tell myself it was a bird or a piece of trash. I cautiously walked over and do you know, it was a black glove. OJ's other glove is at a park in Louin, Ms.

After the park we headed back to the house so the boys could play trucks and ball and all of that boy stuff. Just moments after we got in the door I got a phone call from a friend I hadn't talked to in a while. We had a lot of catching up to do. Well, sure enough the battery in my phone started to die (I know, those of you who ever talk to me on the phone are probably rolling your eyes out of frustration because my stinkin' battery dies EVERY TIME I am on it!!!) Well, our charger for the house is broken (have I ever told you that everything we have is broken?) So, I had to go sit in the jeep. You have to understand, I had to. I had to finish this conversation. Eli came to tell me that Kate had pulled the whole roll of toilet paper off the roll. While he was sharing this with me Daisy escaped. While the boys took off after Daisy, Kate came wandering outside with no pull-up on screaming "DAISY!! DAISY!!" I ended my phone conversation and ushered everyone (including Daisy) back inside.

After a few more minutes of playing and some ham sandwiches it was time to take Zippy home. Eli gave Zippy one of his stuffed lions. Not THE stuffed lion, but a lion nonetheless. Stuffed lions and toaster streudels are Eli's love language. He made a friend. :)

I tried to give myself plenty of time to get Zippy home because I didn't know where his house was. You see where this is going don't you? I knew when I was depending on a five year old to tell me where I was that I was in trouble. I also realized when it was the time I was supposed to be picking Sarah up and I was in the middle of nowhere that maybe I should call Zippy's mom. I dialed the number and when a lady answered I immediately said, "Hey, I'm lost." I knew when teh lady on the phone said "Excuse me?" in a sweet Paula Deen voice that I had not dialed the right number. So, I responded, "I'm sorry, I'm lost and I have the wrong number." She was nice enough to offer help, but my phone lost signal. I made my way back to town to pick up Sarah 15 minutes late. I know her teacher thinks I am the worst mom ever. This is the second time I've been late. Just a couple of weeks ago the battery in the jeep died and Eli and I pushing Kate in the stroller and carrying two booster seats walked a mile up the road to borrow a van. Oh, I forgot to tell you about that?

Well, I finally picked up Sarah and when I did I couldn't find the piece of paper with the phone numbers on it. I asked Zippy if he knew his phone number. He didn't. I made a mental note to attach such information to my children in case they ever ended up with a friend whose mama is as crazy as me. I finally found the number and assured Zippy's mom that I was really bringing him home tonight.

After dropping him off the floodgates opened and I thought we were going to have find an ark. Speaking of the ark, I saw an animal that probably scared the other animals on the ark. It was a gray, completely furless possum. Have you ever seen such a thing?

After a stop by Sonic we made it home. The kids went to bed early. I sat down to write this and one of our church members came over to see if I could help him read some numbers on a broken urinal that needs to be fixed at the church. I can say that was another first for me, standing in the men's bathroom with a flashlight writing down numbers.

I don't suppose I will ever forget Eli's first playdate. Who knew that two boys would be the calmest part of the day?????