We Schremmers have been right smack dab in the midst of lots of unknowns lately, some of which are slowly transferring over to the known category.  This combined with the January blahs, the Polar Vortex, and the tendency to worry about money can put me into a state of flustered anxiety that’s always good for a laugh later.  After a particularly harrowing morning of being 100 percent lost in nearby town Bentonville without a smart phone (we’re the last two Americans to hold out against them) and no GPS in sight, we finally marched into Radio Shack and purchased the new love of our lives, a magical little device called a Garmin (though we call her Mama Jo for reasons that make us laugh but would take too long to explain).  After testing it out one evening, we got it all set up in time for one of my early mornings to a brand new school in a town about 20 miles away.  Troy decided to take the attachment on the window down so as not to advertise our exciting electronic, which meant that the next morning I was left to reattach it.  While driving Huck to school at 7:30AM, the thing fell off the window for the first of what would end up being at least 25 times.  I said to Huck, “I know this is wrong, but I’m finding myself mad at Daddy about this.”  Huck said, “So am I!”  Reattach.  Fall down. Reattach.  Fall down.  ”No, Huck, we shouldn’t be mad at Daddy.  This isn’t his fault.”  Reattach.  Fall down.  Huck then said, “Actually I’m also mad at myself.”  Reattach.  ”When we got home last night I almost told him to put it back on the window for you and I didn’t!”  Fall down.

That evening Huck spilled an insane amount of uncooked rice all over the dining room, we realized several of our outlets weren’t working, our shower ran out of hot water, the washing machine appeared to be broken, and we still had stressful decisions to make about our new health insurance.  I had an adult sized temper tantrum about all of it before finally settling next to Huck on the couch to continue our bedtime reading of the devastating “Bridge to Terabithia.”  Seeing how upset and distracted I was, he asked if I wanted to snuggle first. I gave him a half-hearted hug and then began my bad mood monotone.  And then he did what he’s been doing to his father and me for the last year when we read to him. He watches every single word closely, and since we lose some of our reading abilities come night-time, he ends up correcting us before we can even correct ourselves.  Sometimes this happens every 30 seconds.  Always it drives us crazy.

I slowly turned my head to him and gave a very low-voiced, creepy scolding.  He apologized in a bad mood monotone of his own, and before I could go back to reading he began some deep down earnest weeping.  I tossed the book aside and began my best Mother Theresa impression, holding him in my arms and comforting him.  If only Mary Bailey was there to admonish me with “Why must you torture the children?”  I asked if he was crying because of my stressful outburst or because I told him not to correct us anymore. Through tears he said, “Mostly the first, but the second was the last straw.”  After I redeemed myself with a heartfelt apology and his crying subsided, he explained that one reason he offered me a snuggle is because it’s hard to read with the right expressions when you’re upset.

But today, my little sister Jeni’s 40th birthday, is different.  We figured out how to correctly attach Mama Jo and I made it to all my schools with nary a problem.  All the rice is picked up, an electrician is coming to fix the outlets, the hot water has returned, the washer is fine, and we’re going to finally have some really good and affordable health insurance.  Troy got cast in TheatreSquared’s HAMLET as King Claudius, I have a job interview next week at The New School, Troy’s subbing at more and more schools with some future singing gigs at the library, PrisonStories 4 begins next week, and Huck gets to go to school in his pajamas on Saturday thanks to a snow day in December.  This too shall pass: the good and the bad.  Might as well take a snuggle when it’s offered to you.