Last evening Scott got called in to work and in his hurry to get out the door, forgot his uniform. Unfortunately, he was already at the restaurant (a 25 minute drive) before he realized it. So when he called to ask if I could meet him somewhere in between, I could tell by the sound in his voice that what I needed to do was say the boys and I would bring it directly to him…no need for him to get back into his car. We’d come to him. As a bribe for the boys, (who were in the middle of some sort of Star Wars play), I’d let them get hot chocolate at the restaurant.
I pulled the car out of the garage and noticed the temperature inside the garage was definitely not even cool…it was downright cold. In fact, my car had acted like it wasn’t so happy to even be started. Our garage is detached and has its own heating system, which was obviously not working correctly. Yikes, we’d had 20 below the previous night, followed by a high of only 10 degrees. Scott hadn’t noticed it in his rush, and I just hoped that when I got back from the ‘quick’ outing, it would only be a simple adjustment to the thermostat and the problem would be solved.
We went about our errand. The setting of the restaurant in Keystone is breathtaking. Sitting and enjoying the ambiance, the view, and the New Year greetings with Scott’s coworkers was relaxing and seemed like a perfect way to begin 2011. The task of dealing with a frozen garage and dinner preparation had conveniently left my mind.
Ah, balance. Being present in these moments. A gorgeous sunset, happy boys…
Moment gone! We arrived home, the temp had dropped to 4 degrees…I pulled into the garage and looked at the shelves packed with paint, caulk, and who-knows-what other supplies Scott has for his handyman business. And they were all about to freeze….I mean really freeze! I pictured Scott coming home after midnight, tired and obviously not at all in the mood to deal with a frozen garage. And well, I just couldn’t let this happen.
I checked the pilot light and fan and both were running…so I allowed myself a brief debate: is it something bad with the thermostat? Did something freeze? Who knows, and at this point who cares? I can’t pretend to be a plumber!... so I quickly made my plan, and the next hour went something like this:
Pull the car out of the garage; grab a pizza from the freezer (which is in the frozen garage and the whole thought makes me laugh…sort of.)
Inside the house: Coat and boots off. Start the oven, get the boys in pajamas and decide I’ll do my ‘desperate, very distracted mom’ move: turn on the tv. I switch it to “Dogs 101”.
After putting coat and boots on again: back to the garage. We actually have a teeny tiny wood burning stove in here. Let’s see...the last time we had it going was the garage sale in the fall of 2009. Better check that nothing is living inside of it. All clear. Pack it with paper and bits of cardboard, light it. Gotta warm up the chimney, right? Do I remember this correctly?
Back inside the house. Off with the boots and coat. We are down another degree! Dogs 101 holding strong. Pizza goes in the oven; I even remember to set the timer!
I start to head out the back door again. Dog, Rex, is blocking it and looking at me like I should know what his problem is. Oh, that’s right, you need dinner!
Dog fed, I’m back in the garage. I find the stash of ‘garage stove wood’ and get a real fire going! But in this tiny stove, I probably only have 10 minutes before it needs some attention. Run back to house, and just as I get my boots off…
“Mom is the pizza ready? WE ARE STARVING!” (Only because there is a commercial break).
“Five minutes, it’s almost done…”
Why in the heck is the dog still looking at me? “Rex, you got a run today and you’ve had your dinner. Why are you stalking me?”
No answer from him, but from the living room I hear:
“Mom, you forgot to turn on the Christmas tree lights.”
Christmas tree? You mean it is still up? That was on my list of things to do today…distracted by this realization I just automatically go to turn on the lights. And in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘Okay, tree, but this is your last night, understand?’
Timer goes off. Whew. Pizza is ready and I’m doing the double-desperate mom move: they get to eat pizza AND watch tv at the same time. Because I need to make sure my fire is going!
Get coat and boots, and head back out to the garage. Fire is going well, but hasn’t even begun to take the edge off the cold. Add wood, make sure it is all going to actually start burning, shut the flue a bit more and hope I now have at least 15 minutes before more fire-tending is necessary.
Walk back into the house…start to take off boots and coat. What? There is water all over the mud room counter, and it is drip, drip, dripping down the front of the dryer. Where is this water coming from?
“Mom, I think there is a mushroom on this pizza!”
“Just a minute honey….there might be one or two… and really they are not so bad…but right now I need to find out where this water is coming from.”
I grab towels to start mopping while I try to solve the newest issue. Ah-the culprit! It is my camelback, which somehow got shoved aside and into the 'open' position so that it is now leaking everywhere. I had taken it on my run earlier, and before I'd even taken a few sips it was frozen, so the once very FULL camelback is now lying nearly empty in a heap, its contents all over the counter and rolling right into the cabinets at this point.
Just water, and not a frozen pipe. Good news, right?
Matter resolved, so back to the dining room: surgically remove all mushrooms and other unidentified vegetables off of the pizza. Take a bite of pizza with all discarded veggies and glance at Dogs 101, since it sure seems to have Zach and Benji mesmerized. On the screen I see a happy, fat, sweet yellow lab puppy that certainly seems like Rex about a year ago.
I look away from the television to watch the boys’ expressions. They are eating pizza and watching a puppy on television, so their faces are of course already lit up…but then I see the lights of the tree reflect in all of the windows surrounding us. I love the glow it adds. As it turns out, having the Christmas tree lights one more night is a blessing. That magical feeling they bring gives me pause, and I feel some quiet, and some peace, for the moment. I tell myself that in this new year, I must remind myself as much as possible that even those few moments of ‘balance’-- wherever they are in my day--can sometimes trump a day’s worth of chaos.
Tonight, January 2…Christmas tree ornaments are slowly coming down. But I’ll let the lights stay on one more night.
Thanks for listening.
