Do you ever wonder what people will remember about you when you're gone? I imagine people will say all sorts of nice things like Lynn was so sweet and fun and creative and caring. Or not. In fact, the last couple days I have wondered if I might be remembered more for the silly things I've done, or worse... I'll be remembered as the mother of that boy who ___ (fill in the blank).
I went into the gas station near the boys' school yesterday. We frequent the store inside at least once a week for candy or coffee or the last minute lunch to take to school. So why not remember me as the woman who gives you lots of business? No, instead, the owner or manager, says to me: "Hey, you're the lady that had to borrow the gas can. Haaaa haaaa haaa. Yes, you're the one who ran out of gas a block from school. Haaa haaa haaa. And your kids had to run down the block when they were oh so close. Haaa haaa haaa." Seriously. It's not that funny and it's not really that embarrassing. Everyone runs out of gas now and then, right?
But not everyone gets a phone call from their child's teacher because he wants to "tell me what my son announced at school that day." I'll try to condense the story here....I pull in the driveway and see a pink slip on our door. Oldest Son runs to the door to see what it is. The water company has shut off our service b/c we hadn't been paying our bill. We had been paying a bill, but it just happened to be for our old house. Some sort of confusion on the water company's end. So for one night we went without water. Five boys (one being a man-type) and a woman needing to do their business with no flushing capabilities is just not pretty.
So, Oldest Son goes to school the next day and says to his teacher: "Guess what? Our water was turned off yesterday and my mom said that we should try not to poop because we wouldn't be able to flush. But everyone has to poop so there was just all this poop sitting in the toilet. It was gross."Nice! In Mr. P's years of teaching fifth graders, that was a story he had never heard, and he wanted to make sure I knew how much information my son gives out at school.
I am beginning to think that people think of me, and our family, as the wacky ones who always have some story. In case you need a little laugh, I'll share one more from yesteryear...When I was a little girl, my brothers and I were playing at a hotel pool. It was one of those indoor/outdoor pools where you could swim underneath a glass wall and get to the outdoor pool. We had been playing with a beach ball and somehow my brothers pushed it under the wall to the outdoor pool. Well, I wanted that beach ball so they had me swim out there to retrieve it. Immediately I spotted the ball and swam toward it. I was pretty young, and not a strong swimmer, so I closed my eyes tightly and paddled myself to the middle of the pool to grab the ball. When I got to it, I reached out with both hands to grab it tightly. It felt very hard and weird. And it moved. I mean by itself. I let go quickly when I realized that my beach ball was actually a lady's head inside a bathing cap. I don't know what ever happened to the beach ball because I was never seen going close to the swimming pool for the rest of the vacation.So there you have it. One of my most embarrassing moments for all the world to remember me by. Or at least the 5 people who may visit my blog today.