oh how i played

It's what I imagine a bug feels like after a firm stomping from an unforgiving shoe. Crushed, pain wracking its mangled body (can bugs feel pain? Or is it more like paralysis? "That's weird, I can't seem to feel my thorax!"), eyes squinted in agony, dimly wondering what the heck happened to make him feel this way. Except I know why I feel this way. Yesterday I played...

J dropped the van off in the morning yesterday...an unexpected pleasantry causing me to jump up and down and yell "Yippee!". I threw on my clothes and ran out the door. What would I do? Where would I go? As I planned my moves I climbed into the van and let out a cry... For quite a while now we've just been tossing our cans and bottles into the back of the van, figuring we'd take them to the redemption center "sometime". It was yesterday morning that I realized the time had come - 9 garbage bags bulging, one box clinking - blocking windows and threatening to jump into the front seat.

I happily drove to the grocery store and loaded two carts, handily wheeling them to the redemption counter. To the chagrin of every old lady in line behind me I then unloaded all 389 cans and bottles. It was no small feat; in the end I was sticky and somewhat disheveled...but it was with triumph that I cashed my pay ticket of $19.45!

Skipping back to the van I smiled to myself with smug contentment (clearly it doesn't take a whole lot to make me feel special) and drove to Mom's...where my nephew (GooberBear) and niece (Munchkin) were having a snack with their grammy.

Due to somebody being sick or my Fibromyalgia being stupid or somebodies car dying it had been a long while since we'd played together and our meeting was filled with screams and giggles. GooberBear is almost 4. He was so excited to see me that he jumped up and ran in circles and yelled for a few minutes before he could calm down enough to play. Munchkin is around a year and half and smiled and giggled while GooberBear did his thing.

Then we played, oh how we played! We spent a good half hour playing "How high did I jump?". This means I sit on the middle cushion of the couch and GooberBear stands on one end and jumps over me, most of the time needing a little help reaching the other side. Finally I said, "Okay, two more jumps and then let's play something else."

"Okay," said GooberBear, "three more jumps and then hide and seek." He always sneaks that extra jump (or whatever we're doing at the time) in there so naturally that I cannot refuse. What aunt could?

Hide and seek with GooberBear goes like this:

"Hey GooberBear, are you hiding or am I hiding?"
"You hide....in the bathroom." (for "in the bathroom" insert anything from 'under that chair' to 'by that plant')

Goober then proceeds to count from one to twenty. I was impressed as he accurately hammered out 1-12 and then finished up with, "thiiiirteen. fiiiiifteen. foooouurteen. seeeeventeen. TWENTY!"

Now half the fun for this little boy when he hides is having you look for him everywhere he's not while he giggles to himself at how you can't find him. ("Aunt B, look for me everywhere else first.") So as I was crouched down getting my socks wet in the tub I let out my own set of giggles as I heard him looking for me in the other room:

"Hmmm. Where could Aunt B be hiding? Under the table? Nooooo. On the couch? Nooo. Behind the lamp? Noooo..."

In the meantime, Munchkin has decided to join in and gleefully pulls back the shower curtain, exclaiming, "GAAAHBLLLAAA!!!!"

Our games were interrupted occasionally by a "TRAIN!!!!" or "GOHBO!!!" (garbage truck)...in which case we dropped whatever we were doing, jumped on the couch and watched what was going by with fascination through the front window.

After two hours of playing, discussing how we slept with our teddy bears, eating peanut butter off a big spoon, and talking about how we missed each other it was time to go. Fortunately they'll be up on Wednesday and we can play again for another day!

Tired out and sore I contemplated returning home, but having the van for a day was more temptation than I could handle and I hit up The Christmas Tree Shop and A.C. Moore for gifties and stocking stuffers (Christmas is coming!!!) before returning home.

This is where I should have taken the nap and painkillers my body was pleading for, but instead I got distracted and cleaned the hamster cages (gross), which somehow morphed into dusting and vacuuming...and sweeping the kitchen...and taking down 'normal' decorations to make way for Christmassy ones. And getting Christmas boxes out of the closet. When J came home the apartment was in wild disarray and I was ready to collapse. I did collapse, but after a brief nap and supper we got crazy, put on the holiday tunes, and decked the walls and windows with all manner of cheer. (Christmas is coming!!!)

We were done by 9:30 p.m. and after a few minutes on the couch I was painfully aware of having crossed the line physically by doing Too Much. Head pounding and muscles spasming, I went to bed around 11 p.m. No pill could keep the pain down enough for me to sleep, though, and by 3 a.m. I was comparing myself to the unfortunate insects. And now it is morning and once again I am full of pills and pain, but looking back on my day yesterday I can't help but smile and think that it was Worth It.