Tossed my cookies

Pat's dad's side the family held a little impromptu "pow wow" at his aunt Kathy's house last Saturday. We had been invited previously to a kid's Halloween party/baby shower that afternoon, as well, so I decided to make some cookies to take to both parties while the girls were napping. A while back I read on a friend of a friend's blog about a yummy recipe for oatmeal/Craisin/white choco chip cookies found on the back of the Craisins package, and decided to give them a try. And they were, indeed, very tasty. Josie helped me mix them up before she laid down, and I had to promise her all she was going to miss was the actual putting of the cookies in the oven and baking process. There weren't going to be any more cookie-related festivities happening while she was forced to sleep.

The girls woke up, we suited up, packed up, and headed for the car. I had our usual baggage in tow, plus the additional jackets for later on, since the girls were wearing their costumes, and, of course, the two plates of cookies. And that's when I made the fatal error. I put the plates of cookies on top of the car while I helped Josie in, and buckled her. I know - you see where this is going, right?

It still amazes me how I managed to get into the car without seeing them on the roof, especially considering that the roof is directly at eye-level. But see them, I did not, and away we went. The traffic on White Bear Avenue was pretty heavy, and we needed to wait to take a left-hand turn out of our alley. I happened to take notice of a car driving by and one of the passengers in the backseat pointing out the window at us... just as we had our chance to turn, and I remembered the plates of cookies at that exact moment. The very same moment that I saw them take their fatal dive off the roof and into the street in my peripheral vision.

I'm not going to lie to you - I actually shed a couple of tears. Not so much for the loss of cookie-life... but for the waste of my time. Sweet, sweet, precious time - with nothing to show for it but a bunch of crumbs in the northbound lane of White Bear Avenue. Patrick even pulled over to see if, by some act of God, either of the plates remained somewhat covered or intact... but it was not to be. My cookie dreams were crushed.

In all the commotion, both girls were scrambling to attempt to piece together what in the world was going on with their parents. Mommy in tears in the front seat, Daddy running around in the street while they sat, buckled and dressed in their Halloween costumes. Eve, in particular, was very distraught over the fact that I was so obviously upset. She wanted desperately to give me a kiss to make it better, and had to settle for giving me a kiss on the hand. The dramatic cookie events have lead to a script, which I've had to endure as a painful reminder, salt in the wound, each and every time we get in the car. It goes a little something like this:

Eve: "Where cookies go?"
Me/Daddy: "In the street, Evie."
Eve: "They on the roof?"
Me/Daddy: "Yup. They were on the roof."
Eve: "Cookies all gone? Yucky?"
Me/Daddy: "Yes - the cookies are gone."
Eve: "Mommy - you sad?"
Me/Daddy: "Mommy was sad. But she's okay now."
Eve: "Mommy - you okay now?"
Me/Daddy: "Yes - Mommy is okay now."

And then we usually have to run through the script a few more times. 'Cuz once just isn't enough.

On a different note-
I decided to wear a skirt to work today. Very unlike me as I tend to choose pants as my primary work attire of choice. This is a full, knee-length skirt with fun, big pleats. Josie has rarely, if ever, seen me in a dress or skirt before, and when she saw what I was wearing, she gasped and said, "OH - Mommy! Do you get to go to work and twirl today??!"

In her honor, I'll admit - I've twirled at work today. :)