I remember driving to North Bend one evening right before Toby and I got married. Toby was in the process of moving into my townhouse and I was hauling some of his stuff from Bellevue. Cruising down I-90 in the dark, I had several of his hunting guns in the back, a cougar pelt hanging over the seat and a live turtle riding shotgun on the floorboard. And I thought, my life has forever been changed.
For those of you who knew me Before Toby, then you understand the magnitude of this moment. Instead of running away from a relationship, I was running headlong into it. WITH GUNS. Not to mention the guy doesn’t drink, swear, relish breaking rules (unless it’s the speed limit on a motorcycle) or get itchy at the thought of a stable life, yet he’s willing to put up with me. It was a defining moment.
I had another one of those moments today. After spending the morning changing diapers, tripping over toys, pureeing any vegetable I could find and picking Cheerios and clumps of my hair off of every surface of the house, Roper and I hopped in the car to run an errand. Errands are the Very Exciting part of the day when I get to see other adults. I even showered.
As we were driving through town, we passed a T660 truck. I designed a couple of parts for that model when I was a mechanical engineer at Kenworth Truck Co. It’s always a cool feeling as a designer to see parts and products and be able to say, “I made that.” Unless it’s failing miserably, then it feels much better to point a finger at someone else.
So I was reminiscing about the days when I had something to show for my work. Like a paycheck. Or something that actually has a function in this world. I wondered if the cool factor of seeing something I designed was worth the nine years of cubicle dwelling. And then I looked in my rearview mirror at the drooling, shrieking, pants-pooper strapped in my back seat and thought, holy crap…I made THAT! And I didn’t even have to sit in a cube for 10 hours a day.
You silly girl…you took the easy way out. You could parlay that last paragraph into something that would have us all blubbering.
Um….I always take the easy way out. Sheesh.
EWWWWWW!!!!
Just sayin’. :)
Mwahahaha!!!
Once again, I read your post and just laughed out loud. Oh, how I need these posts to break up my boring mornings of reviewing e-mails and doing the same old business day after day…I’m tire of cubicle sitting (only I do it on one of those exercise balls – it hasn’t seemed to help my butt but it does help my back). Thanks!!!!
I love that I was able to bring a laugh to your morning! Thanks for reading :)