The Sackrider Family Blog

Tonight I sent Stephanie off to an evening for herself after dinner.  She needed the break – so I cleaned up from dinner, played with the kids for a while, got their teeth brushed, changed them into night cloths and put them to bed without their mommy being home.  I believe she went to a craft or scrapbooking class.  After I had put both kids to bed, I found myself in a quite home with a mountain of school work, website work, and day job work all piling up, so I started in.

That’s when I heard it – the low humming whine of a sick child.  It was Zander.  The whole family has been sick lately – both kids were coughing and hacking tonight after dinner.  As I sat there deciding if I should go up to check on Zander or leave it be and let him fall asleep, I remembered a moment that occurred years before my mother had passed away, one I hadn’t thought of in years.  We used to live in a small house in Charlotte NC.  Jeremy and I shared a room and I think Mom and my sisters shared a room.  I was most likely 3 or 4 years old.  One night while in that tiny house – I found myself laying on the top bunk of our bunk beds feeling really bad from who knows what illness – and I was whining.  Not crying – not trying to get anyone’s attention – just low hum whining because I was very uncomfortable.

I thought I was being quite enough that no one could even hear me.  I didn’t want to get in trouble for staying up after we were put to bed anyway.  My mommy heard me.  I’ll never forget the light flooding the room as she came in, and how she stroked back my hair (which was likely wet from breaking a fever) and asked – not in the harsh angry tone I might have expected for staying up after I was put to bed – but in a soft loving tone, “Are you OK, baby?”  I felt her love wrapping around me like a big bear hug and all of the sudden I didn’t feel near as badly as before she came in the room.  She prayed for me, closed the door behind her as she left, and turned out the hallway light so that even the little bit of light that was leaking out from under the door was put out.  I fell sleep.

I remember trying to recreate the moment the following night after I was put to bed by humming and whining – but a mother knows the difference between a child in real need and a child seeking attention – she never came in the room that night despite my best efforts – I even found myself getting much louder than the preceding night.  My mother was wise to not come in or it might have turned into a nightly routine.  And I believe with all my heart that if she had come in that second night – I would have long ago forgotten the experience from that first night.  Forever lost would have been the memory of the warmth in her tone, the touch of her hand brushing away my hair, and the Love in her heart pushing away my fears.  I knew everything was going to be OK.

Thank you Mom for knowing when to step in and when to stay back.  I miss you dearly – until I see you there, your memories will stay with me here.

Ahhhh…. I guess I forgot to hit the publish button on this one – I noticed this morning it was in my drafts… Doh – its from the beginning of Janurary – enjoy!

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I cleaned out the garage today – well, it would be more accurate to say I tackled cleaning the garage today because I didn’t finish.  I found boxes that we didn’t unpack from the last move.  They are still packed today but instead of being on the left side of the garage, they are on the right side.  We had boxes that were partially unpacked, and some that were simply raffled through in an effort to find something missing.  It was a mess.

I’m sure the neighbors thought I was having a garage sale since I had everything strung out on the driveway for hours.  I want to get rid of everything – and I spent all day on craigslist posting ads to do so… I took pictures of the BowFlex that’s been in the garage since we moved, a painting that I’ve had since before I got married but will never go on our walls as long as Stephanie has a say about it, four chairs that don’t match anything we own since the matching table was destroyed in the move to Arizona 3 years ago, and another table and chairs that we don’t have room for since the move.  We have a washer and dryer that have seen two different garages over the last 3 years, but not a single a load of laundry… And my wife asks me if we should get a storage unit.

I don’t want more storage, I just want less stuff!

I don’t get people who pay for storage units.  If you can’t use it – get rid of it.  We Americans live in mansions compared to the rest of the world, but we still don’t have enough room for our junk!   I bet there are American’s in heaven right now saying “Really, 2500 sq ft!?! That’s not a mansion? Do you have storage units up here?”…

Ok – I’m kidding with that last one – but its hard to imagine that I live in 2000 square foot home and still have too much junk.

Yesterday was my wife’s birthday.  I normally take her to Red Lobster on her birthday because it is her favorite place to eat, but yesterday she mentioned a place we have never been together that she has wanted to try for a while; A place called Papadeaux.  I had been there a couple of times but always for lunch and never where I was paying the bill.  I knew it was a little more than Red Lobster, but it was Stephanie’s birthday and she had mentioned the place a few times over the last couple of years and we just never had an occasion or opportunity to go.

Now, Red Lobster usually costs us as a family around $50 including the tip.  I knew that Papadeaux was a considerable amount above that – maybe even as high as $75 or $80 for the family – so I was ready for a higher bill and prepared for the ’sticker shock’ but what actually shocked me wasn’t the price – it was the wait!  The parking lot was packed – and there was a limo sitting out front as well.  A limo!  I thought wow, maybe somebody famous is here – I mean, in these tough times, its not likely that this is a group of prom kids, right?  Nobody famous – in fact most of the crowd there were wearing the same brand of Walmart jeans that I wear.

We had to wait an hour!  An Hour!  Now I know it was a Friday night – I wasn’t upset about the wait – just shocked!  At a place were the lowest plate cost is right at $20  (and that’s for the fried chicken as a seafood place), I couldn’t help but think – this must be a bunch of Rush Limbaugh listeners, because I remember a news headline where he was quoted as saying “I chose to not participate in the recession”.  Then again, it is the beginning of the month – these could be a bunch of Demecrates having just gotten their welfare check… Wow – I just realized – this place is a great example of our new president’s “Hope”, full of both Demecrates and Republicans coming together (at least at the beginning of the month).

PS – I tipped 20% which was pricey due to the overall ticket price – but I gotta say our waitress wasn’t as good as the ones we get at Red Lobster (she wasn’t good really at all) – and I have never tipped that much money at Reb Lobster – I don’t think we will be back to Papadeaux anytime soon – unless you’re buying!