Busy weekend

We didn't mean to have a busy weekend. We thought we'd get to relax and pack up our Christmas decorations and hang out at home.

But then our plans changed. The plans for today were good. The plans for tomorrow ... not good.

Biscuit and I got invited by a friend of mine and her son to go to a bounce house this afternoon. I thought Biscuit would be really excited about it, but when I asked him, he acted more like his Dad than me.

"Hey!" I said with excitement in my voice. "You wanna go to a bounce house this afternoon?"

Biscuit looked up a me, squinted his eyes a little and said, "Sure."

That was it.

"Will I have time for a nap, Mommy?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "We'll do your nap a little bit early, then when you get up, we'll get dressed and go play."

And that's what happened.

The boys got along well and bounced for about an hour and a half, then we had some dinner at a restaurant that had a playground. And the boys played some more. I bet they'll both sleep well tonight.

Jeff met us for dinner and said when we left, he wanted to make a return at a store near the restaurant.

"You know it's a good Christmas when you only have one return, and it's something you bought for someone then changed your mind," Jeff said.

As we were looking around the store, there was a display of those big ride-in cars for kids. They had a jeep and a truck and a pink fru-fru car of some kind. Then there was a police car.

"Mom, I wish I could ride in THAT car," Biscuit said.

"That's a cool car," I said. "But they keep them on that high shelf to let people know they're just to look at, not to ride in."

"Can we buy one?" Biscuit asked.

"No," I said. "They cost a lot of money."

"I know where we can get a lot of money," Biscuit said.

"Where?" I asked.

"At the bank!" he said, like it was the most obvious answer ever. "You just go to the bank and get some money. Then you go back and go back and go back, and pretty soon, you have LOTS of money."

It must be nice to not have to worry about money.

Tomorrow morning, we have to leave early and drive to Mama's house. We're going to drop off Biscuit and have some lunch, then Jeff and I are going to a funeral for my best friend's Dad.

He had a degenerative disease that I can't remember the name of, but I don't think anybody thought it would happen this quickly.

My friend's Dad has been blind since we were little kids. He had a genetic disorder that caused the blindness. The ironic thing is that with the degenerative disease that he had, the first symptoms are vision problems and balance problems. Since both of those symptoms are part of his everyday life, the doctors couldn't really tell how long he had the disease.

From what my friend told me, the life expectancy for the disease is about 10 to 15 years, but since they didn't know when it started, there was no way to tell how long he would have.

My friend's Dad was a good man. He had a great since of humor, too.

Every time I'd see him, he'd say, "You get better looking every time I see you." And every time he said it, he thought it was just the funniest thing.

The first time Jeff met him, he said, "Kim knew she couldn't get married unless I met and approved of her beau." And he did.

My friend, who lives near the ocean, brought a bunch of fresh shrimp to her parents' house. Jeff and I just happened to be at Mama's that weekend, so we dropped by to see them and eat. We did a big Lowcountry boil with shrimp, potatoes, corn, sausage and rice.

The proper way to do a Lowcountry boil is boil the potatoes and corn, then throw in the sausage, then throw in the shrimp last. You make the rice and serve it on plates, but for everything else, you spread newspaper on the picnic table and dump it all out. Then it's a communal free-for-all.

Everyone had eaten and had moved away from the table. I had helped my friend's Dad get to a chair on the deck so we could talk.

"Where's Jeff?" he asked.

"He's still at the table," I said.

"Is that boy still eating?" he asked.

"Yep," I said. 

"I like him," he said.

So we'll be driving 2 1/2 hours tomorrow morning, then 2 1/2 hours tomorrow evening. I dread the riding, but I'm glad we can go and show our support.

Plus, we'll drop Biscuit off at his Grandmama's house, and it's always good for the boy to spend time with family.