My first three days at the Bothell house were filled mostly with helping the family pack for their various destinations. Robin (granddaughter) was heading for church camp in Idaho. Megan (daughter) and Denis (son-in-law) were planning a parents-only camping trip to British Columbia, Canada. It was my job, after their departure, to feed Ryan (grandson) and make sure he got to his Driver's Ed classes. I had never, ever, driven while there, so I was nervous about getting him to DE a and back, but I had printed directions from Meg about how to get from here to there. I can do this!
After everyone left, Ryan wasn't an issue for cooking. I offered him food. He turned me down, over and over. During that time, he existed on popcorn and cereal. Yuck!
The first time I drove him to his Driver's Ed class was also the first time I had driven the minivan in years. As we left the house and headed down the hill to the main road, something in the dashboard started dinging, with no light to alert me to what it meant. When I came to the stop light at the bottom of the hill, the dinging stopped. When I started up again, so did the dinging. (This kind of thing drives me nuts. My computer and cell phone are constantly making noises to alert me to messages, etc., but I never know exactly what they mean. Ugh!) I was alarmed. What could it be?? We were probably halfway to our destination when Ryan asked if I had released the parking brake. Parking brake? Who uses the parking brake?? Well, apparently HE does, and he was the last one to drive the vehicle the night before. I reached over with my foot and released the brake. Bingo! No more dinging! Since I live in the flatlands of the Midwest, I never use the parking brake. He has been taught in his D.E. class to use it, even though their driveway is on level ground. Learned something that day, didn't I?!
Ryan directed me about where to go, etc. He was a good co-pilot. I had seen a grocery store--Haggen's--along the way, so I stopped to get some groceries on my way back from delivering him to his two-and-a-half-hour class. Yikes! The prices at Haggen's were outrageous! Won't be shopping there again, but it was nice to know it was there in case we needed other food items while the parents were gone.
After that stop, I headed back to the home place alone, and quickly found myself in a wrong lane. I was in a traffic lane that was part of an on-ramp for an interstate highway! Thank God, I was able to make my way out of that lane to where I actually needed to be. Had I actually gotten onto the interstate, I would have had NO IDEA where I was or where to proceed from there. My life flashed before my eyes. (Bless my son-in-law who said, "That must have taken some time!)
During this time, I discovered that the family pantry was totally disorganized. I wasn't the only one who couldn't find anything in there, so I bribed my grandson to give me a couple of hours to help clean out and organize. We did. I figured my daughter would either thank me for helping or curse me for violating her kitchen space. She wasn't offended. Whew!
Basically, during this stretch of my time in Bothell, I was helping to hold down the fort. The resident adults returned from their four-day Canada trip refreshed; the grandkid at church camp was texting that all was well, and the grandson and I were happy as little clams just doing what comes naturally.
Even the resident cat was okay.
Mission accomplished!
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