Alright, I know I'm posting a lot. This story was more relevant Sunday night or Monday morning, but I think it worth telling:
It is Sunday evening, 5:50 - dinner is in the oven... Mario is out digging in the yard with MJ, Joey is off playing somewhere (I'm not sure where b/c I'm a lazy mother and let him roam freely), I'm trying to comfort Sheila who still has a cold and cough and wasn't sure if she wanted to nurse or not. I was just putting her in the swing when I hear Mario shout "Tricia, we have visitors" The tone in his voice made me realize this might be someone whom I should be worried about seeing the mess...otherwise he would have said visitors in a happy way... such as, the Kazas have arrived unexpectadly! And our house was TRASHED. Do you know what a house looks like after 4 days and nights of coughs in which the mother plays musical beds with the sickest child? Add to that our feeble attempts to get house projects started over the weekend such as yardwork and crown molding which usually involves sending the children off somewhere to play while messes accumlate around us.
Yes, well, our unexpected guests were our sweet older neighbor who goes to our church and the orinigal owner of our house. I was absolutlely mortified. I don't think there was one foot of the house that was clean enough to look at. And the poor woman was just trying to recall happy memories of the house. It turns out she lives nearby and is going through a divorce. She only went in our main floor and then the basement, but I think then realized it would be worse if she continued her tour (and the timer for dinner was going off). On her way out she tried to say something about wishing us many happy memories in our house, but was probably crying on the inside to see her beautiful former home in ruins. I want to invite her back... but in some way so as she thinks it was a suprise for me, and that she can see my house is always immaculate... the pain is slowly going away... i kind of wish I could have this memory removed.
Meanwhile, I'm sure our nice neighbor who knows MJ and Joey better than I as I always let my children play alone outside, unsupervised, while Joey eats dirt and MJ works up his excitement til he is foaming at the mouth...and now that she sees how messy the house is on the inside, I'm sure I'll be getting a call from CPS soon.
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I also should share MJs comments about God from bedtime tonight. Our library has some new Christian books, which was rather exciting. So I grabbed one about Easter and one about how God is our creator. They were innocent enough, nothing against the Catholic faith. And MJ really loves hearing about God and Jesus. Joey repeats everything now so he just kept saying "God" and "Jesus" in his cute Joey voice. After the book we talked about how God is real and MJ said, "Yes, but I cannot see him" pause "God is busy working in heaven. But when I talk to God, he stops working and listens." God is so good like that. Does this mean I should stop typing away on the computer when MJ calls for me to help him get juice for the 10th time?
2 comments:
aw i always wonder what the owners would think if they came back to our house! what a surprise! did she have kids? maybe it brought back good memories!
Tricia -- you and Mario and family are the real deal. So what if your house looks like a craphole on the inside. It is a place where real life goes on. Where your kids are learning good things (as your MJ story shows). If that lady left worried only about appearances, and not recognizing that your house provides shelter for so many wonderful things and good times, where your kids will have fond memories, then oh well.
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