You & Me (& the baby makes 3)

Geese mate for life. And so far these geese have made it five years and have just recently signed another five-year contract. We went out tonight in celebration of usness and ended up soaking wet.

I guess you want to know why. Well ok, I'll tell it, you don't have to twist my arm.

This is what the car-ride home looked like. Notice that The Goose is without clothing.

But let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start):

You see it all began at a local independent bookstore where they have this heavenly Thomas the Train set (similar to the one at our favorite library). So mama kicked back with a coffee while Goose choo-chooed away with various and sundry toddler types. While they snatched trains from one another, the other moms and I guzzled caffeinated beverages and kvetched about the painfulness of toddler whining. (But actually, in public, The Goose is always so very well behaved and is usually in a sharing state of mind and often gets compliments. I always just say that his dad is a good teacher because frankly I feel conceited saying "thank you" for something over which I have NO control and which could change at any given nanosecond.) While there, I met a mom who became a fast friend after she uttered the following words: "I called the doctor today because that much whining must indicate sickness." We've already arranged a playdate for next Thursday.

We left the bookstore and went to a Greek and Italian restaurant. We ordered, ate, and while The Dad waited on the check, The Goose and I wandered outside to a local mud puddle. I figured it wasn't really as deep as it looked. Stop. Go back and re-read that last sentence. The one that says, "I figured it wasn't really as deep as it looked."

Because now's the part of the story where a new character shows up. She's one of my favorite friends in parenthood, and she goes by the name "You Are Wrong Again." ("YAWA" for short.)

First his boots got wet; then his pants. Then my pants. And then there was the running start but tripping just at the edge of the puddle and going face first into the deepest section of the stagnant rainwater. You know, the part with those automobile-oil watercolors floating in it? And then he needed some consolation, so Mama got soaked. And then he demanded in no uncertain (though wordless) terms that his clothes be removed. Further, he requested that the diaper be removed too, but Mama drew the line there and we exited the restaurant with a baby clad in a "For Maximum Value" (read: cheaper than the Kroger brand) diaper and some white socks, tiny particles of sand and rock from the mud puddle glistening in his wet, greasy hair. If there had been a "No shirt, no shoes, no service" sign, a photo would've been a must, but there wasn't, so here's what we got:

Happy Anniversary to us! In keeping with the Sound of Music theme, I'll end with a quote and one more picture:

"For here you are, standing there, loving me ... Whether or not you should ...So somewhere in my youth or childhood ... I must have done something good."

You gotta love Rogers & Hammerstein. Besides cosmetics named after verb tenses, Absorbine, Jr., and red skittles, I think The Sound of Music is right up there on my list of all-time favorites.

This picture, appropriately titled "CHEESE!!!!!" reflects both The Goose's smile and his Mama's penchant for incorporating cheesy broadway musical lyrics into her blog posts.

But y'all, to get these guys, I must've done SOMETHING good.