Without Mommy: Day 5

Praise the Lord we are finishing up the last day!!!

After we woke up and got rolling this morning we hit the grocery store. I had to buy all the ingredients for this really awesome cajun chicken pasta dish. We plan to have some friends over for lunch tomorrow so everything needs to be buy and ready by the time Jennifer gets home.

The store went well. We swung by the pet store on the way to the car (again!) to take a look at all the sleeping puppies and kitty cats. Then we went home and I got to figure out how to watch Elisa and run up and down the stairs trying to get all the groceries to the kitchen from the car. It wasn't too bad.

Lunch came around and Elisa ate nearly every morsel of her grilled cheese, pretzel sticks and apple slices. Then she went down for a nap.

My friend Spencer dropped by for a short visit and some prayer time. That was really good for me. I needed the encouragement. I really haven't had much contact with anyone in person (except for Elisa) this week.

Shortly after Spencer left I heard Elisa upstairs. I wasn't too thrilled, because she had only been down for about an hour and a half. For many parents this amount of time would be great, but I'm spoiled. She has taken a minimum of a 3 hour nap every day this week! I let her hang out in her room (she wasn't complaining) for another 30 minutes before I got her.

As soon as I got her up we called Jennifer to see how things were going. They had just arrived in São Paulo after the 3 hour bus ride. She was expecting to depart São Paulo sometime around 7:30 and arrive in Porto Alegre around 9:30. Cool! That was earlier than expected!

After talking to Mommy we decided to hang out at the mall again and check out Santa Claus, the Christmas tree and all the toys. Elisa was particularly interested in checking out the goofy elf guy (real live person) doing his swaying dance! Every time I think of that guys swaying back and forth trying to make kids smile in such a ridiculous way I laugh out loud. I will be sure to take Elisa and Jennifer back to look at the display next week with camera in hand so I can post this guy's dance. You will lose it!

So, I get Elisa loaded up in the car to go to the mall. When I hit the button to open the garage doors (one for the house and a gate out at the street) one of them fails to open. I tried again and it moved only about 3 feet. Our doors our solid. They don't roll up to the ceiling like most do in the U.S. of A. The one that is connected to the house is solid wood and very heavy. It was simply broke. I get out of the car and hit it here and there, trying to jar it loose. Of course, the 2 year old in the car is yelling at me, "Are you hittin', Daddy? Are you hittin'?" I think she asked/yelled about 20 times! Despite what you might think, it didn't help the frustration level or the situation.

I decided to leave it. I grabed the stroller and ran it upstairs. Then I went down and got Elisa and got her settled in the stroller. Before too long we were out the front door and on our way to the mall (it is 3/4 of a kilometer away from our house).

We spent about 2 hours walking to the mall, hanging out at the mall and then walking home. It was a good time. I think Elisa had a blast. Especially when we split a soft-serve icecream cone from McDonald's. She loves icecream cones!

After we got home we played and watched some Discovery Kids before supper. Due to her skipping a much needed nap earlier I was determined to have her in bed by 7pm and I succeeded.

Once she was down I decided to check out the partically open garage door. There is no way you can work on something like that with a small child around. It is hard enough to do the dishes when she is around! So, I thought I spotted the problem. I grabbed a screwdriver and did some messing around and "POP" a piece that had gotten caught fell back into the place. The garage door is down and fixed at no expense! I have to say that I am relieved. I had a dream earlier this week that I got my hand stuck in this very door when it was closing and it lopted off all the fingers on one of my hands. Nice, I know. Sorry for the details, but aren't you glad I am currently typing with 2 functional hands! I am.

So, Elisa is down, cleaning is done and Jennifer is on her way home....

Oh, wait! I forgot to mention the bad news! Jennifer called right before I was going to take Elisa upstairs and get her ready for the night. The first thing she said was, "Bad news." I knew what it was immediately. Nothing runs according to plan when it deals with airplanes in Brazil! Her flight had been canceled! The next available thing isn't leaving São Paulo until 1am! And it isn't even confirmed! So, at the earliest she won't get here until around 3am - TOMORROW! I have already changed our lunch plans for supper on Sunday early evening. Hopefully, Jennifer will get here sooner than expected and she will have time to rest before Elisa demands to see her. When Jennifer called she wanted to talk to Elisa real quick. As they were finishing Elisa yelled out, "BYE BYE, MOMMY! SEE YOU IN THE MORNING!" Well, if I can't get my wife back yet at least I have an adorable 2 year old to keep me company.