There are weeks when I go to work, come home; go to work, come home; go to work, come home.

Then there was this week.

Last Friday night, we went to watch Granddaughter #1's high school band perform the half-time show they'd been working on for the prior three weeks.  It was HOT, even at 7 p.m.  Though the stadium was crowded, we found seats directly behind our son and his family.  I kissed Granddaughter #'s 2 and 3 on their heads, then reached for 6-month-old Granddaughter #4.  I had not seen these little ladies in more than a week because I'd had a sinus infection and hadn't wanted to expose them to my germs.  When I took the baby, she looked at me with terror in her eyes, puckered up, and started to wail.  Heartbroken, I passed her back to her mama in a hurry.  It was the first time she'd ever seemed afraid of me.  

Early this week, I went by to visit this rotten little baby, thinking she wouldn't be afraid of me in her home environment.  She was in her 7-year-old sister's lap, sucking on a bottle, half asleep.  When she heard my voice, her eyes flew open, and she sat up and gave me a wary look.  I sat down beside her and talked to her, and after a few minutes, I took her into my lap.  She puckered up again, but I kept playing with her, and it didn't take long for her to decide that I was okay.  Later, I laid her down on her tummy to see if she could crawl.  Instead of crawling, the raised herself up on her elbow and sat straight up.  It was the first time she'd accomplished that feat.  Her mom and sisters were all surprised by the maneuver, and they clapped and cried, "YAY!"  The baby just  looked at them, puzzled, like, "What?"

The next night was Granddaughter #2's birthday.  We picked up Nanny and went over for birthday cake and presents.  The little rotten baby recognized me this time, and gave me a big toothless grin as soon as I spoke to her.

Last night, the youngest three girls came over to our house while their parents ran errands.  Late in the evening, when the little rotten baby got fussy, I gave her a tour of my house.  In each new room, she looked around like she was expecting a monster to jump out of a closet.  I took her in my bathroom, and when she saw us in the mirror, she twisted around to look me in the face, then looked back to the mirror again.  She did this over and over.  How I wished I could've heard her thoughts!

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Tuesday evening we picked vegetables in the garden.  Got a pretty good haul.  Nanny wanted the tomatoes, peppers, purple hull peas, and some of the cucumbers.  The Husband took the remaining cucumbers, the okra, and the green beans to give away at work.  I made plans in my head to go back to the garden the next day to pull up the peas, clean up the rows, and re-plant the peas.  That was before I remembered the birthday party.  The plan switched to Thursday evening.  That was before last night's unexpected babysitting.  The plan has now switched to this evening.  We'll see what happens.

Yesterday morning, I had to leave for work a little earlier than usual, as I was scheduled to work in a distant county.  I backed out of the driveway, started forward, and immediately realized something was wrong.  My car had a flat tire.  Fortunately, my old Wrangler was available to drive to work.  It hadn't been cranked for weeks.  It was parked in front of The Husband's truck.  The Husband was in the shower, so I had to run inside, grab all the necessary keys, and do a vehicle ballet in the driveway to get to the Wrangler.   On the first couple of crank attempts, I feared that the battery was too weak to start the engine.  I was yelling at it, "No, no, NOOOO!"  Finally, it started.  As soon as I got on the road, the gas light came on.  GEEZ!  It looked like there might be enough gas to make it to town, so I kept going.  What a way to start the day, eh?

Today, "if the Good Lord is willing and the Creeks don't rise" (as they say in these parts) [see footnote 1], I'll be going to the garden after work to pull up the peas.  I'll have to remove all the cardboard that currently carpets the middles so that I can clean up the rows.  I'll put the cardboard down again as soon as the pea seeds are in the ground.  This may take more than one evening.  

Tomorrow, it's supposed to get hot again.  I've promised to take The Grandson shopping for school supplies in the morning.  Maybe I can enlist his help in the garden if it doesn't rain.

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[1]  While visiting "Constitution Village" in Huntsville, Alabama, a few years ago, I learned that, contrary to my former belief, the phrase "if the Creeks don't rise" has nothing to do with floods.  It referred to the Creek tribe of Alabama.  :)