Monday, September 8, 2008

Rainbows, butterflies and puppies!


My husband always accuses me of living in a world of "Rainbows, butterflies and puppies." I am starting to see his point.

A few weeks ago, I asked him to pick up our daughter from a friend's house. I have been there several times before but he never had. It's on a dirt road, but I couldn't tell you the name of the actual street if my life depended on it. So, my directions went something like this:

"You know where their school is, right? Okay, go off of the pavement just beyond the school, and take the little wiggly dirt road that's to your left. When you get to the end of the wiggly road (why am I having Dora the Explorer flashbacks?), you'll see ("Swiper! SWIPER, NO SWIPING!") a few roads that branch off from it. Go to the one in the middle. It's, like, the 2nd house on the left. Or maybe the first. I'm not sure. Maybe it's the second lot IN. There are five dogs out front. They're VERY cute. I think one of them's a beagle. And there's a chow. Just pull up and honk and Erica's mom should meet you at the gate."

So he kind of goes, "Uh-huh..." as if taking directions from a 3-year-old. Which, really, probably would have been much more specific and a helluva lot easier to follow.

I get a call on my cell phone, shortly thereafter. The conversation goes like this:

Him: "Okay, I'm sitting in front of a house, but I don't know if it's the right one. I've honked but no one's come out."
Me: "Are there five adorable dogs at the fence, barking?"
Him: "Um, no, only a few. But not five."
Me: "Hmmm. There were definitely five."
Him: "Is there a big yellow jeep out front with an oil drilling rig on the back of it?"
Me: "An oil drilling wha...???"
Him: "*SIGH* An oil drilling rig. You can not miss it. It's HUGE. And very uncommon."
Me: "I have no idea what you're talking about."
Him: "Is there a lot of junk in the yard?"
Me: "I couldn't tell you."
Him: "Okay. Then is there a lot to the left of their house that has a trailer on it that's burned down?"
Me: "A trailer? Hmmm... I don't know."
Him: "Susan. You CAN NOT miss it. It's this huge trailer that's been destroyed, and it's all burned down! Surely you would've seen it if it's next door to their house."
Me: "Not necessarily."
Him: "Why do you say that?"
Me: "Because I only look at pretty things."
Him: "You're kidding, right?"
Me: "No! I mean, if there's something ugly, like an old trailer that's burnt down, well... I just look away. It's too depressing!"
Him: "Oh my god. Here we go again with the butterflies, rainbows and puppy dogs. It's unbelievable, really. What do you do? Go through life seeing ugly things and then immediately looking away saying, 'Yikes, can't look at that! It's ugly! Oh wait, look -- a pine tree! That's pretty! I will focus on THAT!'"
Me: "Mmm, pretty much."

Turns out he was at the right house afterall. I have never seen the burned down trailer or the hideous yellow jeep that has an oil drilling rig attached to it. Nor have I seen "junk" in their yard. All I've seen are the cute little doggies that come to the fence and bark.
And had there been a rainbow and some butterflies, you can bet I would've seen those, too.


5 comments:

Kira said...

LOL. That is too funny! I feel the same way when I go through life. I hate looking at sad things so I dont take mental notes of those types of things, instead I see the hidden potential of these things and how they can be better. THAT is how I remember things...Even though my 'beautiful' mental pictures do not relate in any way to their reality counterpart.

Life is always better when there are rainbows, puppies and butterflies =)

Unknown said...

Awwwwwwwwww. I love this story : )! I love that you go thru life seeing the beautiful things! I mean really, why would you need to notice a burned down trailer and an oil rig? Really? Who looks at that stuff!

I got a Dora flashback when I was reading your directions too. I miss that show. Kaish got so big, and now we watch wierd cartoons of exploding robots : ).

Unknown said...

Baby Favorite : ) You are so smart! How in the world did you figure out how to put a pole on your blog? I am impressed to the max! Hope you are doing well!

Busy Bee Suz said...

That is TOO funny. "I only see pretty things" I am so stealing that one.
I don't pay attention to road signs or numbers either...too much for my brain.

Anonymous said...

OMG - you are too funny.