A Funny Thing Happened

A Funny Thing Happened at the movie on Friday night...the screen went blank. We had a derecho. <http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=Derecho>

Everyone will have plenty of stories to tell about that for years to come. Where were you when the lights went out?

We all have stories we love to tell but that our family may be tired of hearing. This is my space to retell some events and to embarrass myself in perpetuity. 

A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the shoe store. We were in Bristol at Christmas, visiting the in-laws. Yancey was 14, and I was taking him shoe shopping. We went down the street half a block to drop off my step-son (both boys were in the back seat). He got out of the car, and Yancey and I proceeded to the shoe store about five miles away. It was dark and I was talking to Yancey, thinking he was being pretty quiet. I pulled up the store and DUH! Yancey was not with me. He had gotten out of the car at precisely the same time as my step-son. I had left him standing in the street when he hopped out to get into the front seat. I sheepishly drove back and entered the house, full of my in-laws! I would not admit that I had driven all the way to the store before I noticed I had forgotten my son. My mother-in-law had even called the store, like I would walk in and say I am here to shop with my son but, uh, had forgotten him! It has taken years to live that one down.

I also forgot to pick Yancey up after school one day when he was 16. I left him waiting outside the school for two hours, in the days before cell phones. Maybe I was unconsciously preparing him to survive life in New York City. What a kid--he never complained. If it’s not one thing, it’s his mother!

A Funny Thing Happened at the funeral home. I went to a visitation for a co-worker’s family member, walked into the parlor and signed the guest book, then looked to the front of the room where the family was gathered, and did not recognize any one! Oops, wrong family. What do you do in this situation? It would have been bad to scratch my name out, so I stand as the mystery woman. Was I a long-lost daughter, a lover no one knew about, or just a crazy lady who went to funerals to meet new people?

A Funny Thing Happened at the parking garage when my van got stuck. Have you seen those yellow padded bars that hang from the ceiling and have a maximum height posted on them? They are there for a reason, but some people seem not to notice, namely me. And I got stuck--van would not budge. Had to call Manly Man. He let some air out of the tires and had me stand on the front bumper while he got me unstuck. (I hunkered down in the front seat while he drove me out of there!) Thank goodness that vehicle is off the road, but its roof is now decorated with two strips of duct tape.

Can we all say Ditzy?? Silver is the new blond, and some days I’m the leader of the pack.

A Funny Thing Happened ... to be continued.