Jun 1, 2010 | Stories, Travel..ling Tuesdays
I told you guys a while ago … or better put I’ve been telling you for a while, that I see too many coincidences to believe in coincidence any more. God is actively at work in our lives in marvelous and mysterious ways.
This month’s mystery? The case of the big paycheck and the roaming potato.
Say what?
Well, this month we had a bigger than usual paycheck. We didn’t run out to celebrate and blow half of it, mind you, we just trusted it was there for a reason (if nothing else to pay off more of Mr. Potato Head!) and we didn’t change our pace.
So last week we were busy at a Samaritan’s Feet South Africa staff meeting. All two of us. In the cafe at our gym with the Bear in the nursery (where they let him watch Barney and paint and colour and jump in the big ball pit — perhaps more aptly named Toddler Heaven). Only our meeting was interrupted by a request from the front desk that the owner of a certain Citroen with licence plate number lalala should come to the desk.
Hero Hubs said “Hey that’s our car!” while I was completely oblivious and busy typing.
When he didn’t return after, say, ten minutes or so, I thought, Hmm, guess it wasn’t our headlights. I asked at the front desk what had happened and decided to pack up our laptops to further investigate.
What had happened, yo?
Well, Mr. Potato Head apparently felt a little lonely and went on an adventure. His handbrake wasn’t pulled, and the seemingly invisible to the naked eye gradient of the gym parking lot was enough to get Potato rolling. And rolling. And rolling.
You need some visuals?
Well, here’s where we left Tato.
And here’s where Tato ended up.
Yes, I am standing where Tato should be. And past that parking guard, and that stop sign and that red car turning left, there in the distance with the crowd of people is where Tato’s solo adventure ended.
Against the front of a BMW.
It went a lil something like this.
Oh yeah, and then the BMW’s adventure ended. Against the side of an old Fox or Polo or something.
Apparently this parking guard was attempting to direct reversing Potato for some time before discovering Potato was an unmanned ship. I really wish I could’ve seen that go down.
Meanwhile the police officers who arrived on the scene struggled to piece together the exact details of this unusual incident…
Ugh, what?
It’s a considerable distance, I suppose.
Ya know, I saw cars kiss while we were in France…
Yes, they were really parked like that! I suppose carkisses around these parts are a bit ‘rougher’…
But at least the mystery of the big paycheck has been solved! Deductible! And thank goodness for car insurance — we have TOTALLY scored considering we’ve only had it for eight months. Unfortunately, those folks just bought that beamer last year. We sure do wish they didn’t have to be a part of our mystery!
That my friends, may have been a bit of an usual Travelling Tuesday for the books. But when Mr. Potato Head goes travelling of his own accord, I think it’s worth documenting. So laugh with me. Potatoes do roam.
xCC
Keen to join in the Travelling Tuesday fun? Well folks, don’t try this at home. Just kidding. If you’d like to post your own TT (let’s hope it’s a bit less expensive) just paste the link to your scrumdiddlyumptious post in the Magic Link Robot below. Whether it’s an adventurous accident or a well-planned outing, we’re jonesin’ to see it! Make sure to drop a link in at your post as well. Or Potato might roam in your direction. 🙂
Apr 22, 2010 | The Good Word, The Parenthood
We went up Table Mountain Tuesday. Our visitors ended up staying an extra day and a half thanks to the issues with air travel in Europe, and the weather cleared up, so the timing was perfect. And one of our co-workers offered to pay for our tickets to the top, so we were there! Thanks, Courtney!
Table Mountain is a beautiful flat-topped mountain in the middle of Cape Town. Here’s a view from the top, looking towards Cape Town City Bowl. Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent some of his 27 years of imprisonment, is the little island you see in the background.
I had a good Mountain-Top laugh Tuesday. If I manage to pull a Biblical lesson out of this one, I think you should consider me a magician. It’s really just a funny story, and I thought you might enjoy laughing at with me.
At the top of Table Mountain, they have some special toilets. When you have a toddler with a soggy diaper on your hands, you might not have an extra moment to read the special sign on the way in that explains that the toilets are similar to the ones designed for use on airplanes. Such was the case for me. I saw something about a Boeing 747 and that the toilet paper was “green” even though it was brown, but I didn’t care. I was just looking for the Baby Changing station.
After the Bear had some clean duds, I decided to take the opportunity to use the potty myself, since I didn’t know where we were headed next or how long it would be before I had another opportunity.
The toilets were strange to say the least. They reminded me of a porta-potty. Once you opened the stall door, there were two big steps UP to get to the toilet. I hung the diaper bag on the door, stood the Bear on the middle step and then stepped up to quickly tinkle. The Bear often comes to the loo with me in public and stands there politely while I use the potty. He usually appreciates it when he gets to be the one to flush.
However, on this particular occasion, he seemed a little uneasy. Maybe it was because the ginormous airplane-like toilet was five feet up in the air and just plain weird.
So.
There I am going for a tinkle, when the Bear decides he’s totally not cool with this ginormous mountain-top toilet scenario. He decides to step down from the middle step where he was standing. Now did I mention that each of these steps is like a foot and a half high? As you might guess, when you are about two feet high, a one foot drop might as well be a jump off the high dive. Clearly the Bear hadn’t thought this through.
He takes his leap of faith and falls forward, and his head hits the door, causing it to swing w  i  d  e open. And he is lodged between the foot and a half high step and the wall of the bathroom stall. Crying, and as it appeared from my view four feet above, pretty darn uncomfortable.
So I do what any Mom would do in such a situation.
I stand up, reach down to grab him, and pull him up to sit on my lap.
Meaning.
I am sitting on this big old potty five feet in the air with my trousers around my ankles, a wailing baby in my lap, and the stall door wide open for anyone who would care to venture a look in my direction plenty of time to snap a shot with their iPhone. I console the Bear, and I can only smile and giggle, because
#1 This is motherhood at its finest. And #2 No one is around to enjoy the moment with me. Praise the Lord.
I’m really quite thankful the restroom attendant had stepped out at that point. I wondered if the men outside the loo trying to use the pay phone heard a thud, a wail and a big squeal. I was too busy giggling my way back to Hero Hubs to tell if they stared at me when I walked past.
I suppose sometimes, when you find yourself in a situation where it would be easy to freak out or get flustered, it’s a good idea to decide to laugh. The Bear survived without a bruise, and I didn’t end up flashing anyone. And if that’s not a good reason to be of good cheer, I don’t know what is. You know, a cheerful heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22)
Perhaps we should all take a moment to have a good laugh today. Even if you have to have a laugh at my expense, it’ll do your heart some good. 🙂
xCC
Here’s another mountain-top shot, with a Bear who was none too keen on being photographed. I’ll share some more soon.
Apr 10, 2010 | Stories, The Parenthood
See this little guy?
The one you’ve (hopefully) come to love because you see pictures of him all the time, and we tell you how great he is?
Well, yesterday he decided to give a big glass of a very red drink a shake to see what happened. And it just so happened that the very red drink was right next to … my laptop. Hmm.
So. We drained it out, let it dry, and it started up later that night, which was very exciting.
But then it didn’t start this morning. Sigh.
So, we’re letting my MacBook dry out. Which is kind of a bummer because I was excited to tell you a really cool story today. I had it all written out and everything. But instead, I have this story for you.
The story of the Bear, the MacBook, and a very red drink.
If you don’t hear from me for a few days, you’ll know why. (I’m on Mark’s laptop right now, in case you’re wondering.) Please say a prayer for my MacBook. And another for the Bear.
We still love him!
We just hope he doesn’t try that trick again.
xCC
Note: No Bears were harmed in the damaging of the laptop. If it had been Da-da’s laptop, however, it might have been a different story. 🙂
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