Out of the Ordinary

Today was an odd day (don't let 2/2/10 fool you). Nothing was overwhelmingly strange, just a lot of events that are not normal occurrences. For example:

1) Lily decided she wanted to be in her jumperoo (which is for somewhat younger children) and that she wanted to stay in there for about an hour. She never liked being in it for more than about 15 minutes when she was younger. I don't know if it was a good view of the action (aka Evie) or if it she felt safer there than out where her sister roamed free, but that is where she wanted to be.

2) We went to Wal-Mart to try to get our oil changed - that part seems to be fairly recurring. We actually succeeded this time. That was the abnormal part.

3) Lily did not want to sleep at all. She didn't get grumpy during the morning and she didn't even fall asleep in the van. It wasn't until almost 5:00 that she decided she was tired. Not the best timing...

4) On the way home from Walmart, I was cruising around the 50317 to try to get the girls to sleep and we had to stop and wait for a lady to get arrested on a narrow street. I guess maybe that also is not so unusual in our neck of the woods.
It was heartbreaking, really.
When Ev was first born I went through this realization that every person was at sometime "somebody's Evie". I was overwhelmed by how much I loved her and the weight of responsibility I felt for what kind of person she would become. It really changed the way I see people. It makes it really sad for me to see someone who is suffering for their choices, though I do believe they should be held responsible. I just think how devastated I would be if that lady being arrested were Evie (or now Lily). Not just because she would be in trouble with the law or have a bad reputation, but because she would have been raised and nurtured to walk in the grace of God, given every opportunity to experience life the way it was meant to be lived- and would have rejected it. That would sadden me the most.

5) We had an appt. to fill out life insurance applications. Now, who doesn't look forward to that? I am glad it is not a regular occurence - though I must admit it wasn't bad at all.

6) I finished our taxes tonight using Turbo Tax. I spent all that time on deductions just to find out we are better off not itemizing. I was trying to determine if I could deduct my time spent on taxes at an absorbitant per hour rate, like "priceless", but I thought that was sure to raise my chances of getting audited.

7) Praise the Lord jury duty is a rare occurence - I have been summoned for the week of March 1st. I finally filled out my juror questionnaire tonight, much to my husband's relief. I think he thought I might be the next lady in 50317 to get arrested. This is one of those times in life (akin to going to the dr. or dentist) when being a stay-at-home mom is not an ideal child care arrangment. There are no "subs" for mommy :) *Okay, so there are Grammies, but they have to work and they aren't subs for mommy according to my girls, they are upgrades.*
I am wondering how quickly I might get excused if I bring them with me. Now that would be "Out of the Ordinary". It's worth a shot.

Bonus: Some memorable little moments with the girls today:
*At Walmart Ev got a very serious look on her face and said, "Mom, where are my keys? Because you need to stay here and I need to go to Walgreens."
*Ev looked at some paper carefully and determined, "It has to be November."
*Lily was hyper tonight. She was "chasing" Daddy and fending him off with her loud, violent karate moves.
*Evie sat down on Mommy's chair and said, "I look just like Lily's mommy, Brenna." She had also told me earlier that day that she was her baby's grandma and I was the mommy.
*While "Ethan's Grandpa" was here, Ev felt a little left out of the question/answer/form-filling-out event so she sat down with a paper and asked questions eerily similar to Ethan's Grandpa and wrote that down. Many, many times she asked me "How old is your grandma? Is she 2 and a half." I said, "No, she's 100(going with the older one)." Evie said, "Okay, I'll write that down," and filled out her form, too. I wonder what rate she could get me...
*Finally, we were watching Charlotte's Web and there is a song at the end, "Zuckerman's Famous Pig", and Evie was singing her rendition with all her heart - "Zuckerman's name is Pig".
How do you not smile at that?