House Signs

So there came a point where I looked at Mr. Ashley and said, "I'm going to be disappointed if we don't move to that ugly little house," and he said, "I know, me too."

So we negotiated with the new landlord, got an astronomical deal for our area and got the keys for the Ugly Seagull. Well, Mr. Ashley negotiated and got the keys because I don't like unfun grown-up stuff unless there's no one else to do it for me.

Oddly enough, the last time I was at Wal-mart I decided I wanted a tie-dyed key. I don't know why, I'm not even a tie-dye type of person. I just wanted one of the cute custom keys and that was what I picked for the house we live in now.  I didn't tell anyone though because it was a weird want. I was right not to tell anyone because when I told my friend this story tonight she said, "Why on earth did you want a tie-dyed key??" and I understood why she asked.

But Mr. Ashley came home with the signed lease and the well-worn key and...it was a tie-dyed key.

I'm a big believer of signs (and no, I'm not a schizophrenic, although I'm also a big believer in thinking I may have every disease or disorder I've ever heard of) and I think this was my wink from the world that the life plan is right on track (I still don't know where we're going, though.)

Also, tonight I had a girl date with above-mentioned friend. We went to see the Ugly Seagull but it was late and I was afraid we were lost. It was dark and the roads were curvy. I finally saw a familiar landmark and turned around into our driveway and she gasped and said she knew this house.

"How do you know this house? Do I even want to know?" I asked.

She said that her car had flooded in that neighborhood (fantastic!) and she was caught in calf-deep water with a toddler in her arms and thunder and lightning everywhere. Terrified, she ran to the nearest house, up under the dry carport and to their front door which they opened and welcomed her and her child inside until help could arrive.

How perfect is that?

So, I'm back to thinking it may all work out after all.

(Once I get rid of 800 square feet of stuff.)

Genius

We all know that I think Big Kid's a genius. The stuff he knows is unbelievable and the way he thinks is really interesting/unusual.

His memory is out of this world. They count their school days, and he can tell you what number school day almost any event happened. Miranda's birthday? 34th day of school. On the 86th day of school, Gabrielle made Kency cry. He was on warning watch the 104th day of school...and so on and so forth.

Add that parlor trick to the long list of saying the alphabet backwards, practicing geography on the weekends, adding columns of numbers for fun, and making up word scrambles for me in his head and it is pretty obvious that he thinks differently.

What completely baffles me, however, is his complete and total inability to figure out underwear.

Underwear. Not a tough concept, we wear it every day, under our clothing, one leg per hole, tag in the back.

Not Big Kid. If I toss a pair of inside-out undies to Big Kid, he balls them up, scrutinizes them, stretches them out, twists them into a rope shape, and will spend ten frustrated minutes trying to figure out how to turn them right side out and get the tag in the back.

If I leave them laid out with his school clothes, he forgets to put them on. He genuinely seems to forget too, he seems as surprised as I am when I bring his lack of underwear to his attention.

If I hand them to him, right-side out and tag in the back, he'll put two legs in one hole.

WHAT THE HELL??

Most mornings it is comical, but sometimes it gets frustrating because it seems like something he should easily be able to master. Every morning we go through it and he gets pissed if I show any sign of exasperation.

Socks also baffle him. We even bought him the type with gray soles...he still puts them on upside down 9 times out of 10.

So, if you want your desktop background and icons customized, he's your man. Just don't expect him to be wearing socks or underwear when he does it.