Secure Traditions

At some point this morning I looked down at my stomach and realized that I have a baby bump. Except this time, instead of a wonderful, active, precious little bit of baby, what's filling my stomach is something that would look eerily like my cooking pan about an hour after I've finished frying bacon.

The realization that I'm producing lard did not stop me from popping another chocolate into my mouth.

Yesterday I had a hissy fit because my childhood tradition was altered.

Some people have traditions of significance, they look back over the years and get misty-eyed thinking of how their tradition has sustained them through adversity.

Not me. My security blanket is a little less beautiful.

Since I can remember there has been a microwave in the corner of my parent's kitchen. It, like most microwaves, contained a digital screen telling the time.

Their microwave broke last week and my parents, not having time to power shop for a replacement, settled on a hand-me-down, vintage brown and orange, blazing 500 watt, early edition microwave as a stop gap. It does not have the time on it.

My mind cannot accept this as fact in my world.

So yesterday morning, since I had plenty of time to think about it as Maggie was up before dawn again, I attacked my parents and told them that they were messing with my childhood security blanket. I needed a microwave that told the time!

That kicked off a whole adventure that resulted in a trip to north Phoenix, a microwave and sound system, my husband up to the wee hours of the morning installing said sound system, and my children visiting the Best Buy potty so many times it was like their innards were composed of leaky faucets.

All this after a loud, fun-filled morning making pizzas at my sister and brother-in-law's home.

What I've learned? There are some things money can buy and consistency/tradition, in this case, is one of them!

As I type, Isaiah is installing speakers in the house. He's not quite crooning with happiness but I'm pretty sure this is going to go down as his favorite visit ever.

The girls have been bopping around like pinballs and I finally knocked them over the head with a hammer to get them to naps. Not really, but they were a bit belligerent and Mia kept insisting that she wasn't tired because she was hyper. Huh… You think?!

Now, time happily in the corner of the kitchen again, I'm leaving the sleeping cherubs and taking a trip to Prescott with my sister to get the new remote control and stock up on the essentials – like toilet paper in bulk from Costco.