Tales of a Castle

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Lawsuit Time!

Hi. It's me. Not sure if you remember who I am. . . I am certainly putting the spaces between the blog posts, huh?! I'm still alive - - last I checked anyway. (And to think that one woman at the park had the audacity to tell me that allergy season is over! I kindly asked her to inform my sinuses because at that point, they were not aware.)

Thanks for the kind comments, phone calls and emails. It's always nice to know that someone is wondering. :-)

Back to my post title. . . Due to the world in which we live, I thought I was going to see some lawsuits unfold right before my eyes. (Then I could rank with Carrie and her peanut butter!)

Sigh. . .It's just been one of those weeks. To be honest, life's ups and down don't usually bother me - until they are accompanied with a constant physical ailment, and then I feel whiny. So, for all the people who think I am constantly cheerful, I am sorry to dash your hopes. :-)

It started on Sunday when I was too sick to attend church. . . The doorbell summoned me, and I lumbered through the house to find two neighbor kids with "some news."

"Ma'am, my sister was riding her bike with one hand, and she rode right into your mailbox and broke it in half."

"She what?! Okay, never mind. I am really too sick right now to care what happened. Thanks for telling me." I then lumber to the window to find the mailbox and half of the post on the sidewalk and the other half of the post still securely in the ground. Nice!!!! Then it occurred to me - - I know who is going to have to fix the mailbox! Troy is gone sunup to sundown, so that leaves me. I promptly ran back to the door and summoned the bearer of bad news.

"Is your dad at home?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Would you please ask him to fix the mailbox? My husband goes to school and works two jobs and really doesn't have time."

"Yes, Ma'am, I will do that."

It was fixed by the dad, and Troy personally thanked them when he arrived home.

Monday rolled around, and I don't even remember what happened that day. Tuesday was "The Day." I should have known not to walk out the door, but that is our library and shopping day. When Tuesday arrives, everything is due, and the kitchen is like "Mother Hubbard." By the time we got in the van, I had already dealt with one brother who decided to poke the other with his breakfast fork, and I had already cleaned the blue crayon off the carpet after Ethan decided to play "Michelangelo" or something. Those were signs to stay put!

First stop - bank - smooth.

Second stop was lunch at:

I was placing my order when a teenager walked up to the counter, held out his fry container and said, "Look what was under my fries." I'll admit I was dying to see what "it" was." Mouse head, tadpole, finger, toe. . . Wow! I have never been this close to a lawsuit! Had I not left my camera at home, you would have enjoyed a bird's eye view of the guy - seriously!!!! The cashier is disputing that she did not put "that" in there. . . She finally says, "Those are potato chips." Sigh - and here I thought it was going to be big!!!! The kid then laughs and says, "I put them in there; I just wanted to see what you would do." The gals behind the counter didn't think it was very funny!

Lunch done. We head out.
Oh yes, one interesting note for the day - I have been slowly trying to take Ethan off the meds and consequently he looked like a raccoon. All the way through this store,

he keeps clapping which was beginning to annoy me because the sound was crashing through my head! Picture me - feeling lousy, trudging through the store, trying to think of making food when nothing sounds appealing, clapping raccoon in the cart and another child that keeps talking in "different languages." (These languages actually sound like babbling!) When Seth finally breaks back into English, he decides it is the day to read every sign in the world, and by this time I am in no frame of mind/body to explain concepts to a seven year old!

"Mommy, what does 'A quarter will save you dollars' mean?"

"Mommy, what does 'Eat vegetables, stay green' mean?" (Or something like that.)

"Mommy, what does. . .?"

"Mommy," what does. . .?"

"Seth, I am sorry, but please do not ask any other questions because I think I will drop dead any moment!" (Have you ever been there? :-)

Whew! Finally get done and head to:

I needed to get a few groceries and prescription refills. Annoyed, frustrated, tired, sick, sneezing, sniffing, miserable me is at the pharmacy counter when suddenly behind me there is a CRASH!!!!!!

I whirl around, and to my astonishment, my kids are on the floor and the cart is on top of them! Due to the loud noise, crying, exclamations of customers, we now have people from aisles around standing over us enjoying the Cart Catapulting Event!

Let us all pause until Angie gets done laughing and being relieved that it was not her boys. . .

Apparently, Seth was standing on the cart facing Ethan and decided to slowly start arching backward to enjoy an upside down view of the store. Well, that quickly ended when their combined weight flipped the cart! Seth received the most damage since the cart landed across him. Ethan had been in the seat and received minimal damage, but was quick to inform anyone who asked what part of his anatomy was injured! No, I will not type it here either! :-)

Excitement dies down, people leave, I get the meds and as I walk away, I am stopped by someone saying, "Ma'am, you can't leave yet because we need to find out if we need to file an accident report."
Oh great! Walmart is going to file a lawsuit against me!

Minutes later. . . "We do not need to unless you feel it is necessary."

"No," I whine, "I just want to leave. My boys are fine. I just want to go home! Thanks for your help."

I made it home. Had supper. Put the kids to bed early. Prayed. Played out my frustrations on the piano. Leaned over my neighbor's back fence and let her be the first to enjoy the cart episode. She loved it!

posted at 11:08 AM
15 comments

15 Comments:

At 12:35 PM, Les said...: The sad part is YOU could have filed a suit against Walmart for their faulty carts. I must admit to laughing (not at you), but it makes me realize that my kids are normal. Sometimes I wonder!

Do you think you're going to live?
At 1:06 PM, Janette said...: What a week! Hope the rest of your week goes a lot smoother and that you are feeling better!
At 2:20 PM, Jana said...: Oh, Oh, Oh,...a day in the life of a mother...need I say more???

Those falling carts scare me something awful!!!
At 2:33 PM, The Dickinsons said...: Bless your dear heart! Whew! I hope that your alergies inform you REALLY soon that the alergy season is over with...=) (I thought that that was mighty kind of that lady to inform you that the alergy season was NOW OVER...as you continue to sneeze your head off! HELP! ;) AND, I trust that your week is far less eventful than your shopping day, cart up-side-down, hurting kids...in certain unmentionable parts...etc. =)

Love, Heather
At 3:55 PM, Angie D said...: Sorry for laughing, but Kent just poured an entire glass of water all over the upstairs hallway. At least mine wasn't a flying shopping cart... It just has to get better from here, doesn't it?! Maybe we'll make millions writing books about these kids!
At 4:58 PM, Tamra said...: This definitely has to be a boy thing! It sounds like something Bryson would have tried. It's a wonder you didn't have any feeble, old ladies telling you how you ought to make your kiddos stay seated. I just love it when that happens.
At 7:50 PM, Martha C said...: LES,
I think I'll make it if you promise to keep a stretcher handy for me during my visit!

TAMRA,
Ha. I know just what you are talking about! I have pretty thick skin until someone whose children are long grown gives me unasked for advice! :-) I especially love the "My Daddy only had to take us out of church one time" line. Grrrr. :-)
At 9:16 PM, Les said...: I also forgot to comment on what Ethan had hurt! Knowing you so well, I'm sure that was the worst part for you!
At 9:30 PM, Greg & Stephanie said...: This post left my cracking up! Having boys just 14 months apart, there is never a minute where something insane isn't happening. After a few years you get beyond being embarrassed, and just hope you survive. Keep sharing the stories, and I'll keep feeling I'm not alone!
At 8:32 AM, Carrie said...: I don't even know how to comment to this post! It's all too real! (shudders)
At 2:54 PM, Unknown said...: I love the way you write! I could just picture the cart incident as it played out! I really hope you start feeling better soon though. Dan suffers with terrible allergies and I know it's no picnic!
At 3:52 PM, Martha C said...: Well, Les, you know he wasn't using medical language! :-)
At 11:25 PM, Lavy Country said...: I found you -- I've been looking and finally found you. You were on someone's blog that was on my sister-in-law's blog... Actually, I heard someone having a sneezing fit and thought it sounded like you :0) I love your blog -- I can just imagine you telling the story with all the expression! I'll stop by again.
Wilma
At 12:42 AM, Vicki said...: wow....what a day ;) I hope it goes better!
At 1:08 PM, Anonymous said...: Love it! A couple of weeks ago, I walked to Meijers with my two little gals, and Faith got her leg stuck in the stoller. Some Spanish? guy was trying his best to save the day. I was dying. It took forever for me to relize that I just needed to push back on the pastic footpiece... All these people were walking by feeling great pity for the stuck little child and the dumb mom who was sweating bullets... trying to hold one baby, while some stranger tried to free her other... Did I mention this is the same stroller I bought of of you. Yep, shopping a Mother is a real trip! Feel for ya! SARAH COOK