The Warm Kind

We were in Great Falls Saturday and Sunday. Kate is playing soccer now, so we were able to get out of Columbia close to 2 pm and on up there. Once up there, we did a few projects. Remember the punch bowl and cups? Well, we finally got those in the dishwasher. Kate was a big help -- when she focuses in on a project, or as she calls it, "a job," she is golden. We also moved the double bed from upstairs, to downstairs, to make one big gigantic sleeping station to fit all three of us. This is lonnnngggg overdue. Remember the book, Flowers in the Attic by VC Andrews? Well, I was feeling a bit like those children, except I was being held captive by my own child. Kate and I have been sleeping upstairs in the double bed, while Scott's ownership of the master bedroom downstairs is only fitting since he lives there more than us. The master bedroom also has a double/full size bed, but has a large, rather functional bathroom (meaning, his toilet flushes without issue), and he's close to the coffee in the morning. Meanwhile, I'm held captive by Kate in a double bed (I'm thinking it's really about a three quarters size bed) and if I want to leave the room AT ALL, the first touch of my big toe on the floor creaks the wooden floors and wakes her up. And so I've been jealous of the life Scott leads downstairs. As he rises in the early morning, I imagine his routine and whereabouts as I lay in the double bed, paralyzed.....is he drinking coffee on the back stoop.....in the dark, quiet morning? But all of that changed when we brought the bed downstairs for a family sleeping section that worked like a gem! Once Kate got down, Scott and I ACTUALLY HAD A CONVERSATION IN THE LIVING AREA. Or well, maybe not, but I quietly finished my Yoga Journal magazine and retained some of the information in it, including a part about bringing out your "Kali" side (she's a godness, and is a wild, natural type). Although these days I have no problems with bringing out a state of natural conflict though I hope that side of me will ebb for a spell.

We walked to The Pig, which took all of about three minutes, quite literally. Kate thought that this was the highlight of the entire weekend, and later on Sunday would convince Scott's sister to walk there again. More soon about that. We bought a few groceries, and walked back. A very nice and easy walk, and using no gas!

We had supper at The House of Pizza. This is the only restaurant in Great Falls, and we are lucky it serves good food. Kate and I split a house salad and small cheese pizza, and I spotted bottles of wine on one of the two counters in the restaurant. I didn't think THOP served alcohol, but my attitude perked up a tad at this prospect. Scott found a tattered table tent with the wine list on it, and so I said to the waitress,

"I would love a glass of Chianti. Wine."
Waitress: "Would that be a warm one, or a cold one?"
Me: "Warm kind. Red. Chianti."
Waitress: "Now, how do you say that?"
Me: "Kee-An-Tee. C-H-I-A-N-T-I. It's got the wicker looking stuff around it."

So she brings me a large wine glass filled to the top with red wine. Chianti. So I say,

"Wow, that is quite generous. That is a lot of wine."
Waitress: "Well you're paying $4.95 for a glass of that so I thought you better get your money's worth."

When Scott and I looked back at the bottle on the counter, all we could see from the top of the bottle to the "wicker" was clear -- no wine. I probably easily had about one third of the bottle in my glass. When we had all finished dinner, I still had a half glass left. I should have asked for a straw, but knew I wanted to poke into the Family Dollar afterwards, and needed to be part of the solution, not the problem. Although I'm not sure it would have made a difference since I watched a guy go in and buy a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, and drink half of it at the counter. Which for me would be a complete problem, not any part of a solution. I'd rather be sick that drink that much Pepto.

Scott's Mom Patricia, sister Alison, and her boyfriend Roger came to worship at Mt. Dearborn. I first saw them by accident: as I took Kate out into the hallway asking her to "straighten up" I heard footsteps coming up behind me, and here's the whole family seeing me call down my child outside Sunday School. What a way to get busted! Discipline can be quite loose in her Sunday School class (there are only a handful of children), but it's tough for me to stay in there and watch her roll around on her back, showing her Gymboree underwear to the world. We really enjoyed having family come to Great Falls. Sometimes it feels like we are living two lives so much, that we need witnesses to come and see, so we know it's not a dream. When we're up there, it seems like we should be up there all the time. When we're in Columbia, Great Falls feels like one thousand miles away. And for my dear Kate, it felt even farther for her. After a nap on the gigantic bed, we planned to visit Vickie Martin, a church member who could not come to worship today because her back is having some issues. As always, Scott had work to do at the office (a.k.a. Pastor's Study) so we told him our goodbyes and planned to visit Miss Vickie before heading to Columbia. But Kate fell out crying because she wanted her Daddy. It was so sad, pitiful. She cried half the way home......most of us have probably done the slurping crying "I want my DA-DEE." It just kind of hit her all at once that Scott rarely spends any time playing with her while we're there. Of course, this was no revelation to me since sometimes I have felt like the VC Andrews Au Pair Extraordinaire. It's tough: it is Scott's job to be there, and Sundays are workdays, but he'll have to/we'll have to build in time for Kate. She wanted to "be with Daddy in his office. I want him to play with me. I am with you all the time." And it's true -- the Dynamic Duo of Kate and Mommy held fast over the summer and into this early fall. We'll do better. Going to Little Gym, soccer, and playing at home isn't the same. She wants to feel included as an important part of his world there too......she feels ownership in that church, and wants to play with her Daddy on their new turf. And help him eat the peach rings in his desk drawer.