Update and Adventures

It has been a while since I have given and update and our lives have been filled with adventure and intrigue, I must say.

Tony is bear hunting this week in Eastern Oregon (yes, hunting a bear). This is his first time and sadly(?) they haven't seen a single bear the entire trip. I guess that is why they call it "hunting" and not "shooting." That is why I call it "hiking with a gun."

While Tony was off on his adventure, his Mom spent a few days with us (which I am sure what an adventure for her). I took a few days off an had the adventure of being on conference calls or handling work issues while changing diapers, managing naptimes, and going through the drive-through at McDonald's (when I broke down and "Hamburger Friday" got extended to "Hamburger Wednesday"). We had several church events this week as we interview a new minister candidate (although they were a bit wasted on me as who can actively participate with two little kids under foot?). We twiddled the thermostat to keep pace as the weather swung from 100 degrees and sunny to 58 degrees and rainy. We hit the local library. We went to the zoo with some friends and must admit we fit in nicely with the wildlife. I did a bunch of stuff for the new business in between naps and errands.

The real stress happened yesterday afternoon, when we decided to get the kids bikes out for an neighborhood ride. We went into the garage and found the garage door locked (as we don't get into it much). We turned around to go back into the house and the door into the house was locked. We were stuck in the garage. Me and two little kids. My cell phone was inside the house. We had no spare key in the garage. The automatic garage door would raise maybe 1" off the concrete floor. I must admit I wasn't sure how to work the lock from the inside and found that no levers actually moved on the mechanism when I fiddled (pulled, pushed, leaned, banged) with it, so I assumed it couldn't be done.

Like Tom Hanks' character on Castaway, I did the math and took an inventory. What if we were stuck in there until Tony returned on Saturday? We had no food (although we have a freezer out there). No water (although we had a pile of empty bottles in the recycling bin). Tony's car was unlocked in the garage and I found some clean towels and some mostly clean moving blankets that could have made a make-shift beds, if we needed them. We had no diapers. We were surrounded by tools, most of which I don't know how to use at all. Made me wish I had paid more attention when watching McGuyver episodes as a kid. This all left me a little panicky. I started to cry. My dear son asked me if I was crying because we were stuck in the garage. "Yes," I said. He said that he would be brave and that all we had to do was wait for a "Ding!" (holding his finger up near his head to indicate inspiration). He went right into problem-solving mode. We even sat down and prayed about it. He later told me he had never seen me cry, which I find hard to believe, but still interesting.

So, we flew into action. Among our assets (remember Princess Bride?) we found a strip of carpet that was pretty rigid and a Sharpie marker. We wrote a distress note on the carpet ("HELP! Locked in garage" with an arrow) and pushed it out under the garage door. Since the carpet was close to the color of the driveway, we knew we had to do something more colorful and eye-catching. We found a nylon American flag and pushed that out as well to blow in the breeze. With those things in place, we would keep our eyes peeled for people who might hear or see our call of distress. When we'd be able to catch a glimpse of a person a few lawns down, we'd bang the garage door (in meter to me singing "Jingle Bells" which made it less disturbing for Claire who would join our little band) and yell for help. Apparently, what I lack in skills I make up for in creativity.

When we got tired of that, we'd sit on a moving blanket and read some Calvin and Hobbes cartoon books that I found in a box. Well, we'd mostly read them. I'd skip some parts, as I don't want to give my kids any ideas on how not to behave. They did like some of the pictures however, especially when Calvin pretended to be an astronaut.

We kept up with the periodic yelling sessions (did I mention that Douglas also wrote a help note that he pushed under the door, that we made paper megaphones to better broadcast our yells, and that he had an emergency potty break using one of the empty tea bottles in the recycling bin?). It was with one of these yelling sessions that we caught the attention of two kids who were out for a walk. They thought that some kids were making noise or making a joke, but had the good sense to feel it wasn't a "normal" sound and investigate. They called out "Where are you?" (thinking that we might have been yelling from the upstairs window). They were surprised to find us in the garage and went for help. A neighbor a few houses down came over and starting calling a locksmith. The kids brought back a parent, who ended up walking me through the door unlocking process from the inside. Throughout they kept reassuring us that things would be okay.

When the garage door opened, I am sure the neighbors weren't sure what they had found. I had been crying and had dark circles of mascara on my face. Claire looked like a little coal miner orphan child having found everything dirty and greasy in the garage. Douglas was wearing a cowboy hat, confident that we'd be saved exclaiming "Now, we could ride our bikes!" What a sight! Did we mention we are new the neighborhood and are already proving to be "high maintenance"? We hugged everyone. Told them they were our heros and an answer to prayer. The neighbor kids seemed really proud, as they should have been.

Though we were outside now, we still couldn't get back into the house (a better alternative, for sure, but still not ideal). The locksmith was on their way and the neighbor checked all the doors and windows to see if we had left anything open. With the urging of one of the kids, he tried his Safeway Club Card in the lock from the garage to the house, and strangely got it to work. Just like in the movies! Apparently, he was paying attention to McGuyver. The locksmith was cancelled and we were in! Sigh.

The whole adventure took several hours (which was stressful, but not nearly as bad as several days would have been). Last night, I was reminded of how blessed we are. Once inside our home, we had water to drink, food to eat, technology to keep us connected and entertained, a warm bath, and soft beds. We had a house to live in and get locked out of. We have great, caring neighbors (who didn't once call me an idiot for not knowing how to work my own garage door or for having the forethought to hide a key). I have a fantastic son who was such an encouragement to me, showing faith and level-headed strength beyond his years (that he must get from his Dad). Claire even was a good sport about the whole thing!

Friday has been completely uneventful (thank goodness) and Tony is home tomorrow. We've missed him horribly. Claire has left him the cutest, sadest messages on his phone and has had moments of pronounced "moppiness" about the whole thing. Tonight, she was carrying around a Woody doll (from the Toy Story movie) and calling it "dadda." Earlier in the week, she called my cell phone "dadda," I am not sure if this is better or worse. She and Douglas will be very excited to be reunited with their Daddy.

I am absolutely in love with my kids. They are terrific little people who teach me new things every day. I can tell you that I am certainly not used to the noise level that Tony has become accustomed to (and often have to remind them not to yell, bicker, hit, pinch, argue, tease, or taunt, while encouraging them to share, pick-up, put-away, stay calm, be quiet, sit, and relax). These few days have reminded me how difficult Tony's job is and how much I appreciate how he does it with such grace. I am also humbly reminded that perhaps I need him to write me a home manual or give me a training course or two, before he decides to head out of town again!