Alex the Stool Pigeon & His 5-Star Week

Alex and Art can go for hours (maybe days) without talking to each other. I think it's a guy thing. Unless there's a pending disaster or someone has committed a horrible offense they generally leave each other alone. Which is why I was really ticked off when Alex rushed to greet Art at the door to rat me out Sunday afternoon.

The three of us had lunch at Groucho's Sunday but were headed separate ways afterwards, so we took both vehicles. Groucho's has good food but a horrible parking lot. I parked in a really unfortunate space right on the driveway opposite their flower beds with the rock borders. (Yes, there is a reason to be that descriptive.) Luckily Art's Jeep has an amazing turn radius, so he was out of there before we were even buckled up and ready to go. So he wasn't there to witness my awesome ability at driving in reverse.

First, I tried to back up and to the right. Not enough room, and there was this horrid screech of metal. I looked but there wasn't anything directly behind me - at least no other vehicles, pedestrians, structures, etc. I pulled forward. I did notice a group of co-eds were kind of watching in amazement and trying not to laugh from the outdoor dining deck. I didn't know any of them so I ignored them. My second attempt ended as the back tire jumped up on the rock curb. I gave up, pulled out the best I could, made a big loop in the back of the parking lot and left. We were running late for the church's back to school bash at the skating rink, so I needed to leave. And I didn't want to co-eds looking at me anymore.

I pretty much forgot about the whole incident while we skated (or tried to) and played skeeball and video games. Alex had a great time at his first roller skating attempt. He fell a few times, but he was fairly adventurous for a beginner and made it through several practice attempts and one big lap around the rink. When we started out for home it occurred to me that I should inspect the back of the car to see if there were any problems. I really thought it was all alright since no tires were flat and we'd made it the 20 miles to the rink without any dashboard lights flashing on.

I love my car. I really do. You may not be able to tell that from my driving or its dirt cover sometimes but I really do. And while I don't know a lot about the inner workings of the motor, I'm attentive to the outer details. The car has two tailpipes with pretty chrome covers. Except today. Only one tailpipe had a cover. The other was just a regular old tailpipe. Hmmm. I checked and there were no gaping holes but there was a scratch on it several inches long and a little scrubbed place above the pipe. That's when I thought back to the parking lot at lunch and remembered as we drove away what looked like a dark cup turned on its side, just sitting on the top of the rock border. Crud.

I didn't say anything to Alex but instead of driving straight home we went back into town. "What are we doing?" he asked. I think we left a part of the car at the restaurant. "Oh," he said, and went back to reading his book. (I love that he reads in the car.) I've never been so happy to see a restaurant closed before. Groucho's shuts down at 3 on Sundays so no one was around to witness me slink out of the car, grab the tailpipe cover and get back in the car to head home.

When we got home, Art wasn't back yet. I was happy about that and got down on the driveway to see what I could do. There didn't seem to be any lasting damage and the cover slid back on but unfortunately wouldn't stay on. I even figured out what had to be done to make it stay but the tool-owner in our family locks his tools up in his building. It's like a major bureaucracy to borrow a screwdriver. I'm afraid one day Art's going to hand me a clipboard with a requisition order on it before I get to see the hammer. I briefly considered heading across the street to see if the neighbors would help me out. Decided I didn't want them to get involved in this debacle. I was tired and still had much to do, so I left the tailpipe cover on the carport and went inside.

I was folding laundry when I heard Art come in the back door. The door opening was quickly followed by the sounds of running feet and the words, "Mom backed over a big rock knocked off a piece of the car!" Thanks, son. He didn't even make it to the interrogation phase of the investigation! I felt a little better when Art couldn't make the cover stay either. It's been added to the weekend to-do list.

Last week's summary from school said Alex had a 5-smiley face week. I was so proud. I couldn't believe he'd made it five whole days. Then I realized they only went 4 days last week because of the Labor Day holiday. I can dream. We've found second grade to be hard. We've gone from cartoon characters and cute little songs to real work, quizzes and book reports. I know it will get harder every year but please don't remind me of that just yet. I get to start with my classroom volunteering this week so I'll get to see how everything works. I can't wait!