I woke up early…7:30 on a Saturday simply isn’t right, but I
couldn’t get back to sleep because too much would hopefully be happening
today. After an hour or so, I woke up Maggie, much to
her dismay, so that she could slowly to get awakeness (new word!) before we had
to grab Ethan at 11:30. We were both in the
bathroom, getting ready and she wanted to show me a Maroon 5 video. It was one I had already seen, the video in
which the band visits every wedding in L.A. they can find in a day. I lasted about 3 seconds before the tears started. These types of videos (i.e. proposals/wedding set to emotion-filled music) make
me cry without fail and I’m not really sure why. I’m thinking it’s because of my “romantic”
side which has been left to it’s own for fear of being hurt. I love romance…just don’t wanna participate
in it. <sad face> Then, I asked Maggie about an incident at
their school. A student had brought
alcohol to school and (from what I read) a few students drank it, some without
realizing what was in the bottle. Maggie
told me who brought the bottle – I wasn’t really shocked, but sad for this
student because I have watched for years at the life this child has grown up in
with divorced parents. It makes me sad
for the student. I was very shocked in learning which student
drank and suddenly, a lot make sense. Maggie
told me she had asked Ethan if he had some and the way she showed me of his
facial expression made me so proud of my child.
Peer pressure sucks. It is extremely hard to say no to it (says the person who
started smoking at age 14 in CH and gladly consumed alcohol because of her “standing”
in speed/consumption).
We loaded up the car with canines and headed to pick up
Ethan. Annie started right away. Dear.Sweet.God. She is so verbal with her excitement of Going
Somewhere or Doing Something that it makes me want to swerve the car off the road. Something will have to be done. We grabbed Ethan at his friend Michael’s and
as we left, I talked about the drinking incident. Again – Ethan’s immediate reaction when I
asked if he had participated let me know he had not. He isn’t the actor Maggie is. We headed to
Petco to see about a barking collar for Annie, but as no one was there to help
us, we left. Somehow, we ended up
heading towards the river, instead.
Initially, we threw the ball for Mabi. Henningson-Lotus Park has such a huge field
that she had plenty of room to run. Annie followed her enthusiastically. After a bit, we converted to Frisbee, then
basketball, but by then, Mabi was too exhausted to ”dribble” the way she does
when the basketball is the first featured.
Somehow, the tennis ball found it’s way out again and soon, a baseball
game of sorts (with a tennis racquet) had started: One pitched, one at bat, the other in outfield. Mabi and Annie were various positions. We had such fun! We still had a few hours to
kill. I had asked Brian Duby to see
about giving us a ride to wherever in Sac we were to meet the truck driver and
he had graciously agreed to help. Ethan
had wanted to go up to the mountains for a bit, so We dropped the dogs off at
home, collected some things and off we headed to our hiking area. For about 45 minutes, Ethan and I enjoyed
Nature as Mags slept in the car (she isn’t a fan as much), then we headed to
the little grill and got hamburgers. I
heard from the truck driver, Joe, I think…or Mike I forget, that he had a
delivery in Folsom!!! It was getting better and better!! 
Brian honked the horn and we raced outside. He was helping us by “needing our help as his
mom was having a car delivered and I needed to drive one of the cars.” It was a great cover-story. We drove to the Folsom auto-mall and just as we pull in, truck driver dude
calls me and says he was delayed by a delivery (they have to wait on the client
to get there) and that he wouldn’t be in Folsom til 7. Oh, dear.
I texted Brain to tell him the news and we ended up going to Folsom to
do a little shopping. I felt bad. Now there was a 1.5 hour delay, but Brian was very gracious about
it and even let me listen to HairNation on his Sirius XM. Ethan was very tired from his night out and
his attitude was showing it. My little
Maggie was piping up about “Brian’s mom’s car delivery.” It was cute.
Eventually, it was closer-to-the-time and we were back at the auto mall,
cruising around, trying to avoid the “men in the ties” who would come out to
see if we were interested in buying a car.
The Volkswagon dealership was interesting…not one VW Westy in
there. Hmmmm…. Naturally, Mags had to pee, soo we headed
back to McDonald’s. We headed back and…there
was a transport truck with a Westy on it.
It was surreal. Ethan said – “There’s
a bus…” as I said I’d see about getting it, and I hopped out. Maggie quickly followed me, saying she wanted
to tell Ethan about every 3.2 seconds. I
needed to think. The trucker said they needed
to get the Folsom delivery car off in a rush, so we waited…and I told Mags to
go ahead and tell Ethan. The whole time
Brian sat there, patiently waiting.
Wow. I am so very grateful to
him. Ethan finally got out of Brian’s
car after Maggie told him, but he stood far back, observing. Maggie and I were trying to open doors and the
driver got inside to help slide open the door, and broke the handle. No big deal (at home I looked through the parts
manual and found the handle for $12.89).
Eventually, the driver was paid, the kids were inside, and I
was driving. It was tricky finding third
(I eventually found it as we were on Spring Street in Placerville – I had to go
wayyy to the upper right with the stick
shift). The bus was loud, but she was on
fire. 70 mph on the 50. A Subaru engine would zoom her to the next
level! I asked Ethan how he felt, and he
answered he didn’t know yet. At home,
we grabbed the lantern and headed out to explore our Lizzie Mae. I’d like to paint her yellow. We will see.
We explored and adventured – I presented the kids with quilts my mom
made them several years ago. These
quilts would be for our bus adventures. Ethan
was excited now. We had such fun putting
the pop-up up, climbing up into the loft, looking at this glorious bus. It is
very emotional when a dream like this is realized. I am so very grateful to Julie Strickler –
without her posts, this would NEVER have happened. I am grateful to Dusty and Julie McAdon for
checking out the bus for me in Atascadero, and I am so thankful to Brian Duby
for taking us on this adventure to “pick up his mom’s car.” Wow.Wow.Wow.
Now I have to get dressed and go check out Lizzie Mae in the daylight!!! <3
Pictures: Maggie captured the Bus being unloaded. I couldn't watch; Ethan entertaining the dogs. Maggie had gone off to the river for some alone time; "Smoke on the Mountain" Ethan and I in Nature; The kids at the Knotty Hole Grill as we wait for our burgers; Driving my dream bus!!!; The kids exploring our Lizzie Mae. <3 Thank you, Thank you to everyone who made this possible!!!! XOXO
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