eden and i went with whitney to find the target closest to their apt in charlotte to buy random things. it’s always fun to explore a place you’ve never been before with a friend. well, we have been to target before, but not this one. and we found it! and the trader joes which i’m jealous is not closer to me! but when i got out of the car, it smelled like that smell you smell when 18 wheelers lock their brakes. i thought it was a city smell because i didn’t smell it until i got to charlotte. however, driving back home to huntersville, the “city smell” didn’t go away. i started to realize it was probably the truck, “daphne” that was making the smell. i’m a genius, right? i checked all the gauges, and they were fine. well, the “check engine” light has been on for months now, but it wasn’t that. i called greg and told him about the smell and he said to come on back home. well, turns out the brake pad was stuck. and i drove around a lot. if you were in charlotte or huntersville today and smelled that 18 wheeler locked brakes smell, it was “daphne”. she will be sitting by the curb again for while until she can get all her parts repaired.

i understand the dislike. i lived in the midwest for 11 years. snow started in late fall and stayed for months. and then the freezing cold temperatures. you found yourself longing for spring. any trace of green was warmly welcomed. and i know every place and season has it’s extremes. frigid temperatures and blizzards in winter, soaking rains in spring, blazing temps in summer…what’s the extreme for fall? i guess that depends on what part of the country you live in. extremes happen. i’m not talking about the extremes. i’m talking about embracing the season that you’re in. the season of life and the calendar season. with all that said, i love it when it snows. the stillness. the beauty. how it looks on trees and the eyelashes of my children when they are outside playing in it. it really does refresh my soul. my love for My Creator increases. everyone has different ways that fire up their soul. snow is one of those for me. we will play in it and enjoy the beauty of it as long as it lasts here. and i’m sure i will find myself longing for spring soon, but for now, i’m going to enjoy every moment.

this is stone’s weekend to bring home “meadow”, his preschool class “pet”. here’s a picture of him very excited to have him home after waiting since september. we have a fun-filled weekend here planned because gwendy and pop are coming tomorrow to celebrate eden’s 3rd birthday and stone’s 5th birthday all together as a family!

Stone, Meadow, & Eden at the Harley Store!

I had the morning planned. Get the boys up and off to school. Exercise. Then go to the grocery store with Eden. Then pick up Stone.

That was Plan A. That plan was demolished when I looked at Stone’s school calendar. It was his turn to bring the snack. I had that information written down on the family calendar and my computer. His teacher assigns what snack to bring. Did I have Fritos and juice? No. Remember Plan A included a trip to the grocery store. I didn’t have these items in my pantry or fridge. I realized this at 8:30 a.m. Stone is supposed to be at school at 9:00 a.m.

Kick into Plan B. Go to the store and buy Stone’s snack. Drop off Stone. Go to the grocery store. Pick up Stone.

Quickly got Stone and Eden dressed. Made sure Tygar was ready for school and scooted him out the door at 8:32 a.m. to catch the bus. Then I had to get dressed and brush my teeth and wait, I can’t remember if I brushed my teeth. 8:35 a.m. we are ready. Walking out the door I remembered that Eden’s seat wasn’t in the car. Got her car seat in and made sure she and Stone were buckled in. Then I noticed all the snow on the front windshield. I didn’t go anywhere yesterday so I didn’t clean off the car from the spring snow that dumped 2.6 inches in Lemont.

Plan C. Clean off the snow. Store for snack. Drop off Stone. Store. Stone.

Well, now the snow was stuck to the windshield. I had to chisel it off. As I was chiseling, I broke off one of the windshield wipers. I started laughing at this point. Forget Plan A, B or C. Let’s just get through the next 10 minutes Caroline!

I figured out how to put the windshield wiper back on, although I’m not sure it will still work when it rains. Thankfully, today is sunny. Jumped in the car. Drove to the grocery store. Bought a bag of Fritos and some juice.

Dropped off Stone at 9:08 a.m. Whew!

Then Eden and I drove back to the grocery store. Forget exercise, wasn’t happening today. Maybe later…but who am I kidding? Eden and I finished grocery shopping and got in the only check out lane that was open. There were a few angry shoppers already in line that were complaining that they should open another lane. Eden and I stood in line quietly and she waved at a few of them. We were next in line and they opened another lane but I let the guy behind me go because he only had a few items. He stopped grumbling. We put our things on the check out lane belt. Keep in mind, there’s 6 people in our family. This wasn’t a quick stop to just pick up Frito’s and juice this time. This was a full blown big grocery day. Kim was checking out our groceries this time. She was a little frazzled because of the aforementioned angry shoppers. Everything except the 3 gallons of milk were scanned and bagged and she said “Um, my screen just went blank.” I thought to myself “of course.” I told her it was me, it was just the way my morning was going. We stood there for about 5 minutes before the manager came over and tried to make it work. Nothing happened. More angry shoppers in line now. Most of them over the age of 70, all of them scowling at me thinking I did something wrong. Eden kept smiling until the manager decided to move us to another lane to re-scan our groceries. Eden then started to cry as the manager was moving her and our cart away from me. I quickly caught up with them as we moved to another lane and she settled down.

The manager, Jane, removed all the bagged groceries from our cart and re-scanned them and re-bagged them. We finally made it out of the store and back home without any other silly interruptions. However, I wonder what the rest of the day will bring??

A day in the life of a TeSelle.  Monday, February 2, 2009.  Greg left for work at his usual time around 6:20 a.m.  Today he was taking the train because one of our cars has been in the shop getting something with the transmission fixed.  He had been taking the train for a week now.  I was going to sleep in a little bit because the boys had off school today but after Greg left I couldn’t go back to sleep.  I got up and turned on the coffee pot and was checking my emails.  It was 6:40 a.m.  Normally, I would have my first cup of coffee and have some quiet time to myself before the kids woke up, check the weather and get the breakfast table ready.  Not today.  The door bell rang.  Now, if you have ever heard our 1950s doorbell, you know it makes your heart jump a little because it is very loud.  I’m not kidding.  When it rang this time, my heart jumped A LOT!  Who is ringing our doorbell this early?  I was almost a little upset because I knew all the kids would be up after hearing it.  My first thought was it was our neighbor Rudy with an issue at his house or something.  I never thought it would be Greg when I peered through the window.  Now, my heart is really pumping.  I opened the door and he said, “It’s not going to be a good day.”  He was grasping his left arm with his right arm and leaning over in pain.  He told me in short sentences that he was attacked by a German Shepherd and that he needed to get to the ER.  He laid down on the floor to keep from passing out and I immediately got on the phone and called Karrie to come over to take care of the kids so I could get him to the hospital. I will let Greg tell his side of the story and the details of what happened.  This was not what we expected to happen on this day.
A day in the life of a TeSelle:  Your husband was attacked by a German Shepherd as he was walking to the train station.  As he was defending himself, he was knocked down to the ground and was trying to brace his fall and broke his arm.  His radius near his wrist is shattered to pieces and it will require surgery.  The surgery needs to be soon.  The couple that owned the German Shepherd took the dog immediately to the vet and had it put down.

Today is the surgery.  Thank you for your prayers.  Please also pray for our kids, especially the boys.  Most of you know that Gunnar had a crippling fear of dogs.  So bad that he wouldn’t want to be outside if he saw a dog walking by and if he was outside, he would run inside at the first sight of a dog.  He wouldn’t want to go to his friends house for a playdate if they had a dog.  He didn’t want to walk around the neighborhood and trick-or-treat.  Just last summer, he conquered this fear.  Now, we are forced with the reality that what we have been telling them isn’t always true.  We have been telling them that dogs bark at you to say hi.  We put our hand out if they are on a leash with their owner to smell your hand.  The reality is, that there are some dogs out there that have an intent to harm.  Greg crossed it’s path yesterday.  We will have a family meeting to discuss what happened.  Pray for our words to be full of wisdom.