Over the river and through the woods to a Thanksgiving feast we were preparing to go.
Our son and his wife have hosted the family gathering for many years now.
As my bride and I were waking up she asked the question that she always asks around the 7:00 am hour. “What are we going to be doing today?”
Replying to her question I stated, “We’ll go for coffee, probably eat dinner at the Senior Citizens Center and then pack the car and head to Fargo to begin celebrating Thanksgiving one day earlier.
The day went very smoothly. Gossip was shared at the morning coffee as usual. If I remember correctly, it was a low gossip morning so there was not much to share with others later in the day. 🙁
We went home and turned on the television, discovering Fox News reporting the world was still in chaos as it had been the night before.
Nothing new to report there either.
After checking on world news, we switched channels to the game shows and watched a greedy contestant attempt to win a million dollars.
Of course, the guy up in the booth, offered the contestant $136,000 if she would concede and give up on her dream of winning the million dollars.
After much indecision and tension the contestant turned down the huge offer because she knew a million dollars was much more to her liking.
Kathie and I are screaming, “Take the money you greedy lady!”
She left the show with $26,350.
Greed raises its ugly head so often in that show.
But then I guess $26,350 is not small change either. 🙂
We enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Senior Citizens Center and then began our 100- mile journey to Fargo.
It was a beautiful day with very little traffic. Semi-grain trucks, sugar beet trucks and our little Equinox owned the highway.
As we approached our son and daughter-in-law’s house, we knew they were both working and would not be home. So, to get into the house we would need the combination that would open their garage door.
I pulled out my cell phone and gave my daughter-in-law a call.
Now the day had gone so well to this point I was not expecting any setbacks. Listen in on this conversation, however! 🙁
Sara answers the phone, “Hello.”
I reply, “Hi Sara. This is Mike. Could you give us the code to open your garage door?”
“Oh,” Sara replied, “I didn’t realize you were coming for three days.”
That response really got my attention. Immediately, I sensed I might have made a huge mistake.
You see we were scheduled to arrive on Wednesday.
So, I fearfully asked the next question, “What day is it?”
“It’s only Tuesday,” replied Sara.
You can imagine how Sara is feeling about now. She probably has hours of shopping to do, dishes to prepare and perhaps a little cleaning and tidying up to do!
And here we are 24 hours early and needing to get into their house.
Well, still stunned, we opened the garage door feeling very foolish. I looked at Kathie and she looked at me and we both were thinking, “What now?”
Blood pressure pills saved the day. I realized I had only packed for a two day stay.
We quickly called Sara and explained the situation and said we would be returning to Wheaton and come back on the right day the next time.
I think I heard Sara let out a quiet sigh of relief. 🙂
As we returned home our embarrassed red faces started to return to their normal complexion somewhere south of Breckenridge.
When we have our annual weekend lake vacation at Steve and Sara’s lake home, we enjoy teasing the person who does the dumbest thing.
The award winner receives the dinky-doo t-shirt and keeps it until the next summer when another family member earns that coveted award.
When Kathie and I returned on the correct day, Wednesday, I was proudly wearing the dinky-doo t-shirt! Never before has anyone won that award before the family event had even been celebrated. 🙂
Little did I know embarrassing things were not over quite yet.
Sunday arrived and I distinctly remember hearing the Sunday before that the children’s choir would be singing this Sunday.
So, Kathie and I walked in and sat with the rest of the congregation assuming cute little cherubs would be taking our place in the choir loft.
When the children’s choir began to sing, I knew I was again in big trouble. I could hear base, tenor, soprano and alto voices filling the church with very ‘mature’ sounds!
Either those sweet cherubs had matured very quickly or the choir we were supposed to be singing in is singing without us!
If I would have taken time to read the white board in the choir loft, I would have seen that the children were scheduled to sing next week. 🙁
Two embarrassing boo-boos happening in the same week!
How will I ever survive those memories?
Oh, that’s right, I’m old. So those memories should be fading away by the end of this week. 🙂
Until next time.
