Rubber Hits the Road

ALARMING START: Nothing like awaking in the pitch black to your spouse standing at the picture window yelling down at a man in the alley, "WHAT DO YOU WANT!?!" Ah yes, just another casual Friday around MPA.

Though I didn't hear the initial commotion, apparently at 5 a.m. a man began rapping on our basement door. He was trying to rouse us to tell us he found a cell phone (specifically Christian's cell phone) on our back stoop.

I'm thinking if spied a phone on someone's back porch, I would probably try to tuck it under the eaves (it was misting) but I probably wouldn't pound on their door at 5 a.m., unless their house was on fire. But hey, maybe the dude is just a LOT more helpful than me!

So Christian retrieved his wet phone, thanked the man, and put the phone in the oven (in hopes of reviving it - it was wet and DOA). And so started our day.

By 5:20, I was making cookies for a delivery later in the day. At 6 a.m. CJ stumbled out of his bedroom into the mostly dark house and asked, "Why are you making cookies in the middle of the night?!" :)

THE 'SPIEL: This morning at Musikgarten, the kids spent a lot of time getting to know their glockenspiel better. By the end, they were even (partially) accompanying one of the songs on their latest Musikgarten CD.

HIT THE ROAD, JACK: By 10:15 we were I-5 southbound, to drop off some boxes and Super Bowl cookies and for a whirlwind visit with G&G. The kids got in a couple of rounds of croquet, though tournament rules were definitely not in effect.
The car ride to and fro was filled with singing and creative storytelling on the kids' parts. We also played a few brain games, including hangman and the shopping list game. (You know, the first person says, "Kirby went to the store and bought hot dogs" and the second says, "Kirby went to the store and bought hot dogs and peanut butter" and with each turn, the list gets longer. I don't think we got past 5 or 6 items in all of our attempts.)

CRASH LANDING: Just before bedtime tonight, Annabelle was laying on her stomach on the top of the couch's back pretending she was an airplane. She apparently lost an engine or two and started shouting, "Mayday! Mayday! I'm going down!"

I asked her where she learned the term 'Mayday' and she said from watching cartoons. Then she asked me why people say Mayday.

Well crap, I don't know. For whatever reason, in my 44 years, I just never wondered why pilots or captains in distress say "mayday." But now I know. Apparently "mayday" is an anglicized version of the French m'aidez (help me).

I just asked Christian if he knew why people say "mayday." He replied, "Because of m'aidez or 'help me' in French." Now I feel even more lame.

WORK CREW: Tomorrow we're all scheduled for an Earth Corps work crew at Golden Gardens Park north of the Ballard neighborhood. We're scheduled to plant trees and pull weeds for four hours. In return, we're supposed to receive vouchers for free admission to a Disney theme park. If it pans out as advertised, that should save us around $320 when we visit Florida and Disney World in May. That's certainly worth four hours on a Saturday, plus it's good to get out and help improve the gem of a park we enjoy.