An Easy Mark

When Bob was in kindergarten, he came home from school very excited because there was going to be a book fair. He had gone through the books on display and he had made a "wish list" of books he wanted. He and I went through that list and we whittled it down so it would cost me about $10.00 instead of the $54.00 he had wanted me to spend. I totally agree you can't put a price on eduction and I know how important books are.....but the library's free and I was on a very limited budget then (single mom raising two kids with no help from the Blob). So, off he went to school with his modified wish list and a $20.00 bill. I cannot stress enough how much I could not afford even one of those books without juggling the grocery list.

Along with his other redeeming qualities, my son is generous. At five years of age, he thought I was the best mother in the world because I was letting him buy those books. He was so pleased that he decided to buy me a present. I loved horses, so he searched through the book mark rack very, very carefully - but alas, he could find no horse. What he did find was a winged unicorn, which is really just a horse with wings and a horn. So, he bought it. For me. As a gift. With my $2.59, he bought it. For me. With $2.59 that I could not afford. Really. I could not afford it. But he bought it. For me.

As you can see from the picture of the book mark. It's been loved. I have used that book mark in every book I have read since I received it. I once left my book on top of the car when I left the house -- I came home at the end of the day and the book was gone, but my book mark was lying right there on the ground. I even left my book on the GO bus once, but got it and my book mark back - didn't much care if I got the book back.

There's not much left of the book mark. Just a small piece of the purple pom-pom left. And the words that are inscribed on it are barely legible now. Words that he didn't even know how to read and didn't bother to ask anyone. Words that I took into my heart that day in 1987

Anything is possible, if only you believe

Best Friends

The Perfect Man and I have THE best group of friends in the whole world!

This past weekend, we moved the last of our belongings from our old house to our new house (and took a load to the dump). We had initially lined up my son to help us (with his big-ass truck) and that was it. We didn't ask any of our friends because we didn't want to "waste the resources" because we intend to ask for help when we're painting and laying new flooring, etc. However, this past Thursday we did ask.

And on Saturday, they all showed up. At 9:00 am, no less.

So, to Bob, Craig, Wayne, Cory, Ash, Gary and Jerry: We cannot thank you all enough. Thank you for getting up early. Thank you for putting your backs out. Thank you for braving the cold. Thank you for always being there.

Remember the post May Pieces of Chocolate Be With You?

Warpfish sent me this link and I was very happy to see that I'm not the only one.

On a side note, my office building caught fire this weekend. Witnesses say they saw a chocolate covered man wearing a long robe running from the scene. One witness claims the full-bearded man could be heard laughing maniacally and shouting, "Ha! See if they exclude me from their advent window again!"

For the record, offices around me were destroyed. My office: nothing.