Country Mouse goes to the cities

On Tuesday, I had a remapping (implant) appointment at the U of M. It's difficult to want to go to these appointments when I work full time, because when I'm off for a day I want to hang out with my guys. However, it was important that I get this done, so I decided to take William with me.

Once we hit 94 his little head was swiveling like crazy, catching sight of all the wonderful bobcats and trucks. His Christmas list grew by about a foot between Cold Spring and Monticello. The drive down went smoothly and he was fascinated by the sight of the sky scrapers in Minneapolis. Nothing could compare, however, to the parking ramp at the U of M. We parked on the 7th floor and he loved the view.

He played in the Lions 3M playroom at the audiology department and it was pretty wild to see my mini me doing that 30 years after I did.

He came in with me for my appointment and was just the bestest boy. When we were done, Emily, the audiologist, said she didn't think she'd ever seen a kid sit like that for a whole appointment. He had written on a piece of paper for a bit and then he just sat there on my lap and observed.

When we were done we were both very hungry and he was very clear in his desire for McDonald's chicken nuggets and "'barque" sauce. I wasn't keen on it, so first we did a drive through at Sbarro's. When I had my pizza safely in hand, he announced, "Your pizza is making me starving!"

When he was done with his chicken nuggets with 'barque sauce, he announced that he thought we should also get ice cream. We didn't, but he is still asking about it 5 days later.

So then, on the way home, we both had to go the bathroom REALLY REALLY REALLY bad. He announced that he had to go poop. I told him that I did too. Made a beeline for a gas station in St Cloud...we ran in to the bathroom as fast as we could and I have never felt such relief in my life. "God, William," I said loudly, "that feels good!" . And just then, a lady walked in. Apparently I hadn't locked the door very carefully. So there I sit, taking a dump, expressing my relief loudly, with my 4 year old angelically agreeing and concurrently announcing that his "poopie went away" and this lady walks in. I'm sure I had an expression of utter bliss on my face, to top it all off.

So she got real nervous and backed out and shut the door and I, well, I went about my business, I mean there is no stopping some things once you start. I did say "I wish that lady didn't come in here, Wils,". And Wils said, "Yeah, mommy, I wish she didn't either." So he did his job and we took our time washing our hands and all that. Then we left..and she was waiting outside the door. I never in a million years thought she would be. I really thought she'd have headed for hills (wouldn't you have?). "Oh, excuse me" she stammered again. "That's OK!" I chirped cheerfully. After all, nothing beats a good crap.