What happens…

…when I go down to nana and papa’s for breakfast with the kids…

(and – this is always cool to see: “Another great column!!!!!!!!! 😉 Barry”)

Ew. No, seriously. EW!

Some days, I reaaaaaaaally miss my husband for a variety of reasons. Today? It’s because I want to SMACK HIM RIGHT UPSIDE THE HEAD. Seriously!

See, many moons ago, we got a second hand fridge from a friend that had an ice machine in it. So far so good. We got the fridge inside, and then Kevin and Bubba (oh man, are you lucky you are outa state now, boy!) installed the hose that brought water to said ice machine.

And lo, it has worked (sort of) for many years.

Then, last night, in the living room by my desk, a wet spot appeared.
And grew.
And grew.
And got wetter.
And wetter.

So, the search for what was leaking where, began. Now as here was no wet spot next to the wall, I didn’t think it could be the fridge. Then water appeared under the fridge. Hrm. And so I pulled out the fridge to find the hose had burst and was spraying EVERYWHERE.

Lovely.

And apparently, my house leans and thus the mysterious puddle of soggy carpet 2 feet away from the wall.

Oh Joy!

Now, up till here, there was no smacking warrented. Nope, it was just a matter of finding the valve and shutting off the water flow to the fridge. No problem, right? Because normal folks, they install copper pipe from the water pipe under the house, and then the shut off valve along the floor behind the fridge where it can be gotten too relatively easily.

Kevin and Bubba, they are many things – normal? Not one of them. Oh no, because they? just ran the tubbing to the water pipe UNDER THE HOUSE and installed it right there and ran just the tubing up through the floor. fifty feet of tubing!

So, guess who had to go under the house? Into a four foot tall crawlspace. Filled with piles of crap because Kevin’s idea of “de-cluttering” involved opening the crawlspace door and just shoving things down the hole and closing said door in a big out of sight out of mine maneuver. And then? Guess who had to find the valve, and figure out how to shut it off? And who discovered a puddle of water under the house where it’s been dripping down the hole the tube went through?

Oh yes. Me. All me.

So then it was to home depot, where I got a wet/dry vac to try and suck the water out of my carpet. So far, we’ve pulled no less then TWO GALLONS of water out of my living room carpet.

Two. GALLONS!

And my carpet? Ew. I knew it was dirty and trashed, but seriously. Ew.

This summer? I’m getting a new damn floor if it KEELS me.

And Mrs. Bubba? Smack Bubba for me, will ya? Since I can’t reach and all. Heh.

Thank ya.

—

In other news, the cats? recovering fine, and lazier then ever. Heh.

D-Day: The Aftermath

So!

I dropped him off at 8pm. At 9pm I got a phone call from the cell, but it cut out and so I didn’t hear anything. Hrm. Cue worried Mama. Then the phone rang again at 9:30, and he told me that she was avoiding him, that every time a slow song came on, she was hiding, and that he wasn’t sure what to do. So I told him duh – talk to his friends, hell, ask another girl to dance, but most importantly, ask her to dance some faster songs and quit putting so much pressure on himself.

I’m such a smart mom.

So he said ok, and hung up and I waited impatiently, while muttering things like “if that lil wench breaks his heart on his first date…” all ominously.

Then, at 10:40pm, he BURST into the house – scaring the bloody hell outa me, because I thought I was to pick him up at 11. *L* Apparently the other girl had to go home, so they cut out early, and gave him a ride. But more importantly, he came in looking like THIS:

Yeah, quite a difference from what I expected after that phone call. I looked at him and went “WHAT?” and he said:

“It was the BEST NIGHT OF MY LIFE! At least for the last 15 minutes!”

Well then. When probed for details, he said he hadn’t wanted to interrupt TGHLSB since she was talking to her friends, and so one of HIS friends had enough of it, grabbed him, and drug him over to TGHLSB and said to him “DANCE with your DATE!”

And she did. For the entire 15 minutes they remained there, non-stop. And my boy, he’s SO HAPPY!

And then his best friend asked him to spend the night, and so I said yes. Of course, this is TGHLSB ‘s brother, so effectively, I let my son go home with his date.

How trusting am I? Ha! I did tell him if he got a kiss goodnight it’d be all right, but THATS IT. NOTHING ELSE. He just GRIIIIIIIIIINNED and ran out the door.

So now, I’m going to mourn my son’s babyhood, and go sniffle. a lot. And quite possibly sob. and look at his baby pictures. And stuff.

Night!

D-Day: The Dropoff

Well. I have never, ever, in all my life, seen two kids so NERVOUS! It was HYSTERICAL! You have to realize (as I’m sure I’ve mentioned) that The Boy has literally known TGHLSB since he was born. Thus, they’ve been friends for almost 15 years! And they’ve done things together before, and hung out, and they have their lockers right next to each other even! By HER request! So what’s to be nervous about?

Apparently, everything. And he wasn’t the only one.

We got there, after he’d been pacing behind my chair for almost TWO HOURS! Then we had to check and see where in the school the dance was located for sure, and then meet up with TGHLSB and her friend.

And TGHLSB and Sean would hardly LOOK at each other. Even after the boy opened her car door for her. It was so bloody CUTE. And hysterical! So we all scooted inside, us mom’s armed with cameras, and got them into the light for pictures.

The boy gave her the corsage he’d picked out, and she fiddled and wasn’t sure how to put it on. So I had to whisper “pssst, put it on her! I showed you how, remember?” and he did, though his hands were shaking so bad he almost dropped it. Damn good thing I’d talked him out of one he’d have to pin on her!

So then we tried to get pictures, and had to remind them its OK TO STAND CLOSE TOGETHER! And so they did. Kinda. While us mom’s laughed at them.

So then, TGHLSB wanted her friend in the picture too, so pulled her over and PUT HER IN BETWEEN HERSELF AND THE BOY! Which nearly sent me and her mom into hysterics.

We finally said “Put The Boy in the middle so that he’ll look the stud” and so they did, and we made sure everyone had phones to call home, The boy had money to get them in, and we made our escape, while laughing together.

TGHLSB ‘s mom said TGHLSB was uber nervous too. Said that she’d told her she owed The Boy at least 3 slow dances and was met with shock “THREE? BUT mom! I don’t DO slow dances!” And I added in that I’d had to remind the boy that she already said yes – so he HAD to ask her to dance, and she’d say yes again! He was all blushy and shy and my god.

They were too cute for words!

So. I’m here at home, and I’ve managed only to sniffle a little bit (sniffle!) because my baby, even though nervous, is out on his VERY FIRST DATE! *SOB*

(But damn, aren’t they cute together??)

D-Day

Yup, it’s here. I’ll keep ya all updated as things go on, and naturally – first pictures here, as soon as I take em!

So far today: last minute hair appointment at the local Haircutters. Where he got the hair trimmed to a healthy length (still long! just minus the damaged ends) and blown dry and straightened too. He had her straighten out the curl I love so much! Harumph! But it looks good, and smells pretty (peppermint conditioner! hahha!)

Then, I asked him if he wanted to get her a flower, and he got all blushy and shruggy and “I dunno…” so I suggested we go to the flower shop and look around. Maybe something would stick out. So we get there, and the nice lady asks and I proudly point out it’s his first date, to a semi-formal dance, and she takes him through the flowers they just had delivered. And he whispers shyly into my ear “corsage mom? please?” and so we order a neutral and small wrist corsage, which we pick up a few minutes later and it’s beautiful – a red rose, and soft white shimmery ribbons and a white iris. He’s pleased, as judged by the size of his shy grin.

Now, we wait. Heh. And he gets more nervous as the hours pass. He’s brushed his teeth twice, he’s cleaned out under his nails, he showered (before the haircut) and he’s…. currently pacing and watching smallville.

5.5 hours and counting. *L*