7:30 p.m. – Shane tells me he is going to bed. He gives me the house cell-phone, and shares with me that a woman will be coming to the house around 8 to look at the 2 fans that he took down earlier that day to purchase them. He is firm on the pricing at $100 for both. He kisses and hugs me goodnight and then chases Ander down for the same. He goes into the bedroom and closes the door. I stop straightening up the house and put in Harold and the Purple Crayon for Ander, trying to calm him down before his 8 p.m. bedtime.
7:55 p.m. – A call from an unknown number and woman letting me know they are only a few miles away and can they still stop by to look at the fans? Sure, I say. So much for bedtime at 8 for the boy.
8:10 p.m. – The couple park their jacked-up pickup in front of the house and get out, chiding Laurie and Matt (who are moving river rocks from the front yard) that they also have yard work if they need more to do. They come into the house, look at the fans, do the requisite inspection and back and forth about whether they match, how old are they, etc. I don’t indicate that we’re desperate to get rid of them in any way. They confirm the price and I confirm that it is firm. I pocket their $100 and help take them to the truck. By way of chatter, they tell me they are coming from a pro-gay marriage rally. This heartens me in this generally conservative state.
8:30 p.m. – Ander is not interested in going to bed, running away from me outside as I tell him to say “Night, night.” to Laurie and Matt. Gathered in my arms with protests, we head inside to his room for some book reading and rocking.
9:00 p.m. – I emerge from Ander’s room and debate whether to collapse on the couch and postpone packing a lunch for Ander until the morning or packing the lunch now and cleaning the kitchen. The kitchen wins – mostly because I know from weeks of experiments, I cannot pack a lunch in the morning and be on time to work.
10 p.m. – Done with lunches and kitchens, I go outside to ask Laurie and Matt to wrap it up for the night. Matt is headed to go get cigarettes and Laurie says she’ll pack up the tools. I head inside to take a bath.
10:30 p.m. – I go outside, towel on my head, to find Laurie waiting against the house. I tell her I’m headed to bed and to not stay out late. Her response, “I’ll try not to.” In her response I hear the excuses that she will have the next day when I confront her about coming home late. I’m too tired to care, but not too tired to rest on the couch instead of going to bed so I can track what time she comes in.
11:30 p.m. – I hear Laurie and Matt at the front door. I get up and peek out. It looks like they are saying good night. I head into my bedroom. A few minutes later I hear the door open and shut. … twice. I head back out. She is walking down the sidewalk toward him. It looks as if she is going to walk away with him. I head to the front door, “Laurie, come in the house now please.” She responds, “I’m saying goodnight.” I shut the door and head to the kitchen for a drink of water. She comes in, heads right to her room and closes the door. I head to bed.
2:20 a.m. – Shane’s alarm goes off. He’s up and getting ready for work. In my sleep I smell the coffee brewing.
3:00 a.m. – Shane wakes me with a kiss goodbye.
4:15 a.m. – The water I’ve been drinking to clear up a UTI catches up with me.
5:00 a.m. – Laurie wakes. The light from her room and the noise drift into my bedroom.
5:15 a.m. – Laurie leaves the house.
5:37 a.m. – Alarm goes off. I hit snooze until just after 6 a.m. Time to get up and start a new day.
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