It Don't Take Much To Amuse Me

How is it that Saturday and Sunday fly by but Monday and Tuesday take forever to creep on by? That is, unless Monday is a holiday like Memorial Day, then it flies by real quick, too.

Mike and I spent the day Saturday just messing around Joplin. Before Joplin, though, we started out the day tramping through the woods at my parents' house looking for wild onions. About ten years ago there were tons of them in this certain spot. We got there, turned that last corner and nothing. Not a wild onion in sight. We ended up finding a few here and there down by the creek, but not enough to keep. Sycamore Creek ended up receiving the few we'd picked. I did have a wonderful time walking around in the woods, watching the creek flow, even if it is running lower than it should be at this time of year. It felt so good to walk there again. To feel the soft earth give way beneath each step and knowing that it was years of trees falling, rotting away and making fresh dirt for the new trees to grow. Years ago, when I was about Shael's age, my Dad let loggers in on the land to take out a certain type of tree. They weren't allowed to take anything but that one type of tree. They came in and made such a huge mess that my Dad regretted that decision immediately. My brother and I had a tree house started in this one big tree and the loggers came in a ripped down all that we had done so far and cut the tree down. I was mad then. There use to be a road that my Dad had carved out to wandered down to the creek and the loggers left such huge branches lying in it that it was never used again. They knocked down this one tree and left it. I guess it wasn't the type that they could take. I'm thinking he told them they could have the oak trees, not sure. Anyway, where I was going with that before the rabbit trail took over, that huge tree that the loggers left right in the road, it was completely gone. Rotted away where you couldn't even see where it was. (Diva remember that time you did something at my house and we went down there and destroyed the evidence? I'd forgotten about that till just now) I felt good there. I closed my eyes and just breathed it in I don't know how many times. The smells, they haven't changed since I was a little kid. The sounds are all the same, too. Birds cackling, squirrels nagging when you disturb their holiness, the creek bubbling by. But a lot of silence, too. You can even ignore the cars and trucks going by on the highway and over the bridge if you want to bad enough. And if you cross under the bridge and get deep in the woods on the other side, you can't even hear the highway traffic. It was that silence that I needed. Even though Mike was there with me, I felt like I was at last left alone with some peace.

From that peace filled event, we went to Joplin and to Academy Sports to find Mike a new sleeping bag. He found one, and a few other things while he was at it. I got me some new shoes. Yes, sadly, I succumbed to the trend, not because it was the trend, but because my feet, legs, and back have been hurting for a couple weeks now. Pain is always a good motivator to do something you wouldn't normally do. I bought some Crocs. The ugliest shoes in mankind's history. I was wearing my boots and my feet were really starting to hurt so I took them off in the car and put my ugly shoes on. I felt so conspicuous the rest of the day, like people were staring at my feet. But hey, I was comfortable.

After all that shopping, we were hungry so Mike took me to one of his most favorite places to eat in Joplin. A little place called Stogey's Coney Island over on 7th. It use to be a Pizza Hut and it sits right next to the day old store. I had me a hamburger that brought me back to the days of the Pepsi snack shack at Green Corn. N...you would have loved it. Grilled bun and everything. They even offered chili pie, though I doubt they would serve it in a Frito bag. And of course, after we ate we had to go to the day old store. Naturally. Mike tanked up on junk food since I never buy it and I got myself some raisin swirl bread and some wheat germ.

While we were eating lunch, my Mom calls me and tells me that she's taking Shael with her to Vinita to Emily and Luke's Java and Jazz that their show choir is putting on. I'd forgotten all about it. My sister told me about it Tuesday night, I think it was, while we were chatting and once that chat box closed, I never thought of it again. I'd wanted to go. Mike and I talked it over and I called her back and told her that we'd meet her there.

From there we went to the car wash. Very cool car wash, I might add. I'm telling you, it don't take much to amuse me! This car wash offers a free vacuum with each purchase. These vacuums could suck the ugly right off of Janet Reno. While Mike did the drivers side, I was working on the passenger side. We got in the back seat of the Suburban, put the back seat down and started working on the third row seat. Then, Mike goes "I gotta go. I gotta go. Oh. I mean it, I gotta go NOW!" and he jumps out the back of the 'burb, hangs his vacuum hose up real quick and it getting in and driving off and I'm still struggling to get my vacuum hose back on the rack. I jumped in as he was backing up to drive off. Then he was saying "Where can I go? Where can I go?!" getting all panicky and stuff. Target was right across the street so I told him to go over there. Their bathrooms are right by the front door, too. An added bonus. He gets to the front door, sort of, people were milling about and wouldn't get out of his way fast enough, but he jumps out of the Suburban (after putting it in park, thank God!) and tells me just as serious as could be "Keep your phone on and with you, I might need you to go buy me a new pair of pants" The whole time from the car wash to Target I was trying my hardest not to laugh, but I couldn't help it, a few snickers escaped and my shoulders were shaking. When he said that, though, I had to laugh. He left the Suburban just parked right in the middle of the road, so I got out, and drove it off to a parking space kind of between Target and Michael's. I shopped around in there for a long time before he called me wanting to know where I was. He'd made it. Thank God, that would have been so embarrassing to take a pair of clean jeans to the men's bathroom and knock on the door, "Here ya go, babe" and what would we have done with the messy ones? They are too expensive to throw away like we use to do with Shael's panties when she had a serious blow out when she was potty training. Gosh, can't take him anywhere, can I? Must've been that Junk Yard Dawg from Stogey's. A foot long with sour kraut is never a good thing in my opinion.

After that fiasco, we went to Mike's other favorite place to go...Best Buy. Mom and Daddy gave him this gift card for Christmas that had an ungodly amount on it and he is still using it. Buying a cd here and a cd there. He walked in and stopped in front of the cd's and drew a complete blank at what it was he came in there for. He couldn't remember the name of the band to save his life! He looked through all the cd's methodically, wouldn't allow me to speak even. When I'd try he'd "sshh!" and hold up his hand. I finally started walking around looking at cd's like I knew what I was looking for, singing along with the music they were playing (Big Dog was there..oooohh) I overheard one salesman mention watching something on PBS so I looked up so see what he looked like. Yep, he looked like a PBS watcher. Cute in that nerdy way that I like. Cute nerdy guy finally got to Mike's area and asked Mike if he was finding everything alright. Mike told him no, he was looking for a band but he couldn't remember the name. The guy asked if he knew the name of the album or even the name of a song and Mike kind of laughed and said "No, but I remember one line of one song and if I could sing I would sing it for you" then he proceeds to say the one line of the one song. Cute nerdy guy ponders for a blink of an eye and says "Well, there's blah blah (and he rattles off some hard rock band I'd heard of but can't think of their name right now)" and Mike goes "No, not them" and then Cute Nerdy Guy ponders it for a couple more blinks then says "Or there's System Of A Down" and Mike finishes his sentence with him "....A Down! Yeah! That's them!" Cute Nerdy Guy takes him right to where he wants to go, even though he couldn't find the box set Mike said he was looking for. He found both cd's that were in the box set and Mike got them both. Cute Nerdy Guys knows his music if he could figure out what Mike wanted by just one line in one song.

By then it was 5:30 and the Java and Jazz started at 7:00 so we left Joplin and took the turnpike to Vinita. We got to the school by 6:30, plenty of time to find a good seat and visit before things got started. I felt very underdressed in a pair of jeans, a sloppy Hard Rock San Antonio T-shirt with a hooded chambary shirt and those butt ugly shoes. I saw lots of other people in jeans and t's so I didn't feel too bad when I started looking around. My own brother in law had on a pair of jeans and a chambary shirt, so I really felt better when I saw that. The evening consisted of drinking coffee, eating pie and watching the high school show choir perform. They were very good. Emily looked like she really enjoyed herself the whole time. She danced and sang and smiled the whole time. Luke, on the other hand, had me laughing into my hand. The boy was stifling yawns! He was yawning during a performance! I think he was pretty nervous, too. But, they both did an excellent job. *I'd like to take this opportunity to say....I taught them everything they know*

After that was over we went over to my sister's house and took a gander at her new carpet and tile. Man, it's OH SO PRETTY! (I couldn't resist putting it that way) It really is very pretty and snaps are deserved for my sister for that tile and mosaic. While we were over there my Dad told me of a good place to pick wild onions. I knew what I was going to do after church the next day.

Yes, after church, and after a lingering lunch at Pizza Hut with two ladies from church and my Mother, I went and picked some wild onions. They were a pain! The earth did not want to give them up. Normally, they come right up without a hassle. But, I guess because it's not rained much, the ground was still kind of dry and I would snap the tops right off and leave the bulb in the ground. I know that for every onion I picked, there were 20 tops that snapped off. Talk about frustration! I had taken a brown paper grocery bag, the big kind, and filled it about half way. I wanted a whole bag, but I ran out of time. Once again, I was truly left alone in the woods. When I walked out of those woods, covered with stick tights on my grubby sweats, hands filthy with dirt, fingernails looking like a car mechanic's, I felt more like myself than I'd felt in a long time. I had to go in and pay for gas at the Turtle Stop and I was sure hoping I wouldn't see any old boyfriends or something like that. I at least didn't wear the sweats with a big hole in the crotch. No, I reserve those for at home.

Picking wild onions is only half the trouble. When you get home with them you have to clean them. I cleaned for about half an hour until it was time to leave again for church. Shael had gone with my brother and his family after church, so I knew I had to go so I could pick her up. I cleaned myself up and went to church. We got home right at 9:00 and Shael went straight to bed and I went straight to cleaning onions. I went and got Mike and he helped me for about 20 minutes then he went back to bed. Wussie. I was up to 10:30 cleaning those onions. The least Mike can do is cook them for me tonight. He's going to bring home the bacon and eggs tonight so I hope he gets started as soon as he gets home. Eggs and onions. A family tradition. My favorite Indian dish since I can remember. I will no longer look at them the same, though. From now on, when I hear of someone giving someone some onions, I will know that it's their way of saying to them "I love you" without saying the words. Because saying the words? That wouldn't be the "Indian way" now would it?