This is how I know I am different than normal people. We’ve been having a great time… really nice. It’s New England. It’s fall. It’s stability and schedule. Come on Universe… throw me a bone… There hasn’t been a disaster, emergency, catastrophe or even a fiasco in ages. How do people live like this?!
The people at the farmer’s market know my name and which lollipops my kids like. One day at the grocery store the check out lady asked me what I’m doing up here on an extended stay from Texas. So tell me this – how did she know?! I wasn’t buying alcohol so I didn’t show her my license and she couldn’t see my car. Have we really been here long enough for there to be gossip about us? Ugh – boring.
I can tell you where I’ll be and what I’ll be doing 3 Wednesdays from now. While not altogether unpleasant, it’s not entirely pleasant either.
That was my frame of mind when a tropical storm knocked out power for 3 days last week. Finally! A little challenge! No electricity. No stove/oven. No fridge and the air outside is not yet cold enough to keep food cold. No lights. No toilet. Hooray for a situation that required just the smallest amount of grit! I can breathe again!!
That sentiment was not universally shared.
Mom, my foil…. She had a bit of a Teriland emergency. You see, Tuesday is hair day. But she couldn’t take a shower on Tuesday because the water pump doesn’t work without power. That put her in a real bind. She had day-old “dirty hair”. Once that threshold is crossed, all sorts of new rules get activated: can’t go to stores because people might see her, can’t go to restaurants, needed a hat while going for a walk, etc. I’d say it’s at least a DEFCON 2 situation.
I had no idea. I go around with dirty hair all the time. What must people be saying about me?!?!? (My level of concern hovers roughly around zero.) Rhetorical question, by the way. No need to provide specific responses.
My mom headed up to my aunt and uncle’s house early on Halloween to use the shower. Being that this is the second time in 20 years that we’ve lost power for multiple days and my aunt and uncle’s house is where we headed both times, this is now our official Power Loss Hair Response Plan (PLHRP). Obviously, it took on a whole new level of gravity considering the ongoing Dirty Hair situation.
Halloween was a blast. Evie and Jack both dressed up like bats. The former chose to be a fairy bat and the latter chose to be a red bat. They trick-or-treated with their cousin Leo (a black bat). Both are delighted that they got “a mountain” of free candy (and toys… when did people start handing out bags of toys?!?)
I now understand why adults may not enthusiastically embrace Halloween. It was always a mystery to me – what’s not to like?! How about a sugar high that lasts for days? Sugar is the new smoking. They each essentially have a bowl full of cigarettes in the kitchen and I’m dolling out one smokey treat at a time. That’s deep right there.
I’m trying to make the candy slowly disappear but that’s doing nothing for my own healthy eating efforts.
