Look, Ma! Friday Fragments!

Our lives are made up of fragments, aren't they? Big fragments like weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, births, and funerals. Then there are the gazillion, everyday fragments such as

-" How I Spent my Summer Vacation Day"

- "What we Ate Where and with Whom" 

- "Delayed Gratification,"

-"I Don't Feel Very Good"

-"Repeat as Necessary"

-"Look, Ma, No Hands!" 

and 

'This Will Be Funny Someday."

All of the above fragments happened in one Friday,  thus an appropriate segue into Friday Fragments.  

How I Spent My Summer Day  (on a late June Friday)

My husband just absolutely loves guitars. His favorite pastime, his way to relax and learn something and worship God, something this quiet man loves to talk about with other musicians, and the job he loved most (and hopes to retire and get back to) was selling guitars in a music store.  For his birthday last month,  we took a  2-hour ride  north up to Nazareth, PA, to tour the Martin Guitar Factory.  Hubby was curious to see how Martin makes their instruments. I asked him on the way up, "Do you want to buy one?"  Oddly enough, he said, "Oh, no. I'd never own one, " and proceeded to give me A,B,C reasons why they're not for him.  Funny man.   (Picture of the tour in a later post.)

What We Ate Where and With Whom

Cheesesteak subs at the only place anywhere near the factory--a pizzeria across the street. It was so crowded  inside that we had to eat outside. Normally that's great, but it was hot and humid.  And by "we" I mean our grown daughter and our middle school-aged son.  And by "hot and humid" I mean Hotttttt and Huuuuuuuuuumidddddd.  

The tour and gift shopping took about 2 hours .

When we left Nazareth,  we drove 1.5 hours east to a car dealership. Our daughter--on a quest for a better vehicle-- ended up getting a great price on an older Santa Fe.  Delaying the gratification was no fun. It took almost 4.5 hours between the test drive, the appraisal of her trade-in, the negotiating, dinner at Perkins--with too much pie--and waiting for financing to be approved. But her (our) patience paid off. She got the vehicle.  

Of course they detailed it beautifully. 

How long would it stay that way? Two weeks?

Try one hour.

3.  For the ride home, my boy asked me to sit in the back seat with him to use my "cushy lap" as a pillow.  How does a plumpish mom take that--a lefthanded compliment? I took it more on the compliment side. Of course I would.  "I don't feel very good," he informed me. He had a headache from the factory fumes, the heat, the boredom, the greasy sub, the Perkins pie, and the lack of fluids during the day.  

Halfway home, he sat upright, groaned,  and leaned forward, hands over mouth. 

"He's gonna throw up! Pull over!"

"What?"

"He's got a migraine. He's gonna barf! Pull over!!" 

Daughter, completely taken by surprise,  driving an unfamiliar vehicle, on the busy interstate, at night, in a BRAND SPANKING CLEAN car, pulls over.  Can't find the UNLOCK button. I'm grabbing a wooly blanket from the very back to catch the vomit in. Hubby jumps out his side, flings the boy's door open wide, and I plead and push the boy (gently,of course??), "Lean ALL THE WAY OUT,  HONEY!!!"   My right hand on the blanket, my left one reaching for HandiWipes in my purse,  I am one talented mom. 

We clean him and the new car  up...as best we can with...more HandiWipes.  

All was well for another half hour. 

Then we all repeated as necessary.  Yep, boy bolted upright with his Walmart bag. I grabbed the already wadded up-with-womit-on-it  wooly blanket. Daughter pulls over. Hubby jumps out, flings door open.   The shoulder of Exit 97 on I-95 gets some juicy morsels for the turkey vultures to enjoy.

LOOK, MA, NO FOOD LEFT ON MY STOMACH!  LOOK, MA! NO MORE NEW CAR SMELL!

This Will be Funny Someday.