Home Alone, Day 2

So when I posted last night and I mentioned that Joe was out for the evening, I thought I was being all smooth and cagey. I don't like to post information like "Hey, we're going on vacation and our house will be empty for the next 5 days come steal everything we own" or, "Hi, my husband is going out of town for a weekend. Come on over and rape and murder us all". Unlike many bloggers, I'm not anonymous. My full name and location are right out there for everyone to see, and it's not that hard to look up our phone number and address on Google. So, I didn't exactly lie when I said he was out for the evening, but I just didn't give you the whole truth. Why am I telling you this now? Because my darling husband already did it for me. It was less than a month ago when we went to L.A. for his grandfather's funeral and I specifically asked him not to mention it on the blog till we got back. I don't know what the hell he was thinking. So - all you rapists and murderers out there - I have sharp, pointy sticks and I know how to use them! At least now I can tell you all about single-parenting as it happens instead of summarizing on Monday.

The girls and I had a fine day today, even without Joe around, even though Julie did wake up asking about Daddy and even though she randomly commented once "Joe went with the guys this weekend" so I know she was thinking about him.

Our neighbor Megan across the street invited us to go to the Hennepin County Fair with them, since her two boys participate in 4-H and had something on display there they were going and she thought we'd like to tag along. I said yes, please! and we packed ourselves a little lunch and got the car seats in her van and off we went out to Corcoran to see the fair. I haven't been to a county fair since I was a kid growing up in Columbia, Missouri. This didn't match up with those memories very well, but it was still a fun day overall. There was one minor mishap, which happened five minutes into our arrival there and was actually very scary in the moment but then just pretty much embarrassing the rest of the day.

There was a construction contractor of some kind with a display just inside the gate - a display inside a trailer, and outside they had a sign that said "Free Hard Hats for the Kids inside!" Well, Julie is going through a Bob the Builder obsession phase, and has even renamed two of her favorite stuffed animals Baby Bob the Builder and Baby Wendy. Don't ask me where the Baby part comes in, I have no idea. They're both bunnies, too, and used to be named Archie and Peter. But that's way beside the point. We were lured up the shiny metal ramp and into the trailer where we admired the towel warmers and other bathroom fixtures on display, got our yellow plastic hard hats and left. I followed Megan and her two boys and Julie down the ramp, and as I did so I sort of stuck my hand out to help Julie because I was thinking it looked really steep and slippery.

Before I knew it, I slipped and fell right off the ramp, about two or three feet onto the grass face-forward. I, myself, was pretty much unhurt as far as I could tell at the moment, but I freaked the hell out because I was carrying Sophie in the sling and I landed ON TOP of her. It took her a second to start screaming, and she didn't even cry that hard or much, but I started screaming at the top of my lungs pretty loudly that I wanted some help, a medic, a doctor, an ambulance, someone to check out my baby. I mean, I know that babies are resilient. I know that their little bones are rubbery cartilage and unlikely to break. I know that I protected her as best I could during the fall, but I also know that a good chunk of my weight landed On.My.Baby. It was a horrible feeling.

Suddenly a very nice woman in a pink shirt was standing in front of me and asking if she could help. She explained that she was an emergency room nurse and she could look at the baby for me if I wanted. I said yes, please. While she was checking us out, a Corcoran police officer showed up, and had called for an ambulance to come, but by then it was clear that Sophie was okay, the nurse took a good look at her and I could see that she was alert and calm, so I felt much better. The cop called off the ambulance, but invited us to come sit down in his trailer for a few minutes to regroup. I took him up on it, and sat down to nurse Sophie just to reassure us both and I let a few tears of embarrassment and relief out. Then, we were on our way to what we came for, and I almost could have forgotten that it even happened except for the occasional nice onlooker who asked us "you all okay now?" I am a little sore tonight, but I'll be okay, and Sophie seems just fine too. Now let's get on to the fun!

Julie loves to ride on the carousel. This carousel was overpriced (they made me pay for a ticket for Sophie too - so 7 dollars for one time for the three of us) and really crummy. Like filthy, and parts held together with electrical tape crummy. But it made Julie happy, and that's what matters. Try not to look at the adult in this picture. That can't possibly be me looking so weird. Look at the cute, happy children.



We saw a toy circus made out of Tinkertoys and construction paper. See the hard hat? Getting her that stupid thing was almost worth the fall. She loves it.



We went to the petting zoo, where Julie fed the animals food pellets, then carrot slices. It is so funny how she is going throug a stage where she is shy and holds back at first but then warms up and enjoys herself. It was good that the boys were with us today - they helped her get out of her shell.



We also ate greasy fair food, jumped on the moon walk, and looked around the craft tent and the 4-H tents. I have to admit I was curious about the knitting competition. It was a little sparse, and I have to admit to thinking I could totally blow the contest away next year, till I realized that all of the entries were sitting out on open tables where everyone could touch them. Every sticky-fingered child could stain them, someone could easily walk off with a smaller item and nobody would notice. I think I'll stick with the State Fair, where items are handled a little more securely.

By the time we left, I was exhausted. When we got home, I plugged in a Bob the Builder DVD and sat on the floor and chilled with my girls. For dinner, we went out to Chipotle, then came home and took a bath and the girls went to bed almost exactly the same as last night. Here's Sophie showing that she is no worse for the wear after her tumble at the fair. She seems to love sticking that little tongue out when I take her picture. She's also getting so good at sitting up that it's much easier to stick her in the high chair while we eat than try to hold her.



Today's mail included one amazing package. Carolyn in North Carolina didn't send me any of her yarn, but she sent me some things far better! Beaded socks for Julie and Sophie, and a pretty dishcloth for me. Carolyn, I don't know what on earth I can have done to deserve this, but what a huge treat! I can't wait to get the socks on Julie and Sophie probably tomorrow. And the dish cloth - I've been secretly wanting to make dishcloth(s) but haven't gotten around to it and also worried about how I would feel wiping up spills in my kitchen with something hand knit. Is it really okay to just use it? In the kitchen? To clean up? Anyway, thank you. I really don't deserve such a fine treat, but thank you anyway. It's like Christmas in August.



The blanket says it thinks I am ashamed of it or something since it hasn't gotten to be on the blog for a few days. No, no shame here - just that it's not all that different than the last time you all saw it. You can't see it, but there are a lot of yarn ends hiding in the back. It's time for another weaving-in session before they drive me crazy. In fact, I'm off to sit on the couch, watch Monk on DVD and do just that for a few minutes before I go to bed.