Tuesday, September 01, 2009

A Frown and a Smile

As a favor to The Mister, this morning i took his shirts to the dry cleaners. (Because i am a good wife. Not good enough to wash and iron his god damned shirts, but good enough to deliver them to someone else to be serviced.)

The Mister strips off his shirts and dumps them into a bag (on a good day, mostly they land on the floor,) and leaves them buttoned up and with the sleeves rolled up.

The dry cleaner man, a joyless human, does not like this. Maybe it's all those chemicals he works around that make him so grumpy. He pulled the shirts out of the bag, one at a time and glared at me whilst unbuttoning them and unrolling the sleeves. Slowly.

"Oops, sorry!" i said and grabbed one of the shirts out of the bag to help. Mr. Grumpy Pants snatched the shirt out of my hand and continued to grumble and glare.

Okay, i get it, i should have done this, but since this is only an occasional chore for me, i forgot. He could have said, pleasantly, something like, "If you could please unbutton the shirts and unroll the sleeves, it would be most helpful." But no, he just gave me the stink eye.


I react badly to this kind of disapproval. Fuck you Mr. Grumpy Pants, there are lots more dry cleaners in the sea!

******************************

And now for something completely different.....


THE LARCH!


Never mind, my Monty Python brain cell turned on for a moment.


Later in the day, while driving to my quilting group, i was stopped on the way by a shiny yellow school bus. As we all sat there waiting, two VERY TINY little girls, complete with brand new pink back packs almost as big as they, got on the bus, while mom, dad and baby sister all watched from the sidewalk.

As the last one hopped on, she stopped in the doorway and turned back around so that her dad could take a picture.

Ah, the first day of school.


For some reason it brought tears to my eyes. So tiny to be heading off all alone.

Not so long ago it was me watching from the sidewalk.

Em, before heading off to her first day of school.

19 comments:

flutter said...

oh her little toe point! my heart!

Anonymous said...

Oh, man. I could just pick her up and fly her to the moon.

(Don't tell Fiona - she's too heavy for me now.)

Lynnea said...

Awwwwwwwwwwww, just awwwwwwwww.

That'll be me in a year. Sigh.

Anonymous said...

and they just don't understand why it tears us up so...

that's such a sweet picture!

Anonymous said...

She's a cutie.

Steph said...

My youngest starts Kindergarten next week. I'm not sure if I will cry or dance...maybe a little of both!

meno said...

flutter, I KNOW! *sniff*

de, Em's a little big for that now too, but i could still try.

maggie, you've done it before, you can do it again, this time times 2.

holly, it's just so sweet to see them being so tiny and brave.

deb, she's still pretty cute! But much more ornery. :)

steph, that's exactly the right attitude i think!

Cagey (Kelli Oliver George) said...

My husband literally steps out of his pants and they are wonky, inside out. I have gotten the stink eye from a dry cleaner before. Bah.

All of the First Day posts are getting sand in my own eyes. Sniff.

My 2 year old is starting her little school next week. Sniff. Again.

The Real Mother Hen said...

Hey if the dry cleaner is Asian, then no amount of magic pill can cure his grumpiness. I'm Asian, I know! :)

Em looked so adorable in that picture. Aw, looking at the picture, I suddenly felt a little resentment for not having a kid.

luckyzmom said...

There's a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye (the left one).

2 Tired 2 Fake an ID said...

Precious.

TTQ said...

I take Honey's stuff in on hangers...I can't iron or sew a button on but I can hang something up.. My dry cleaners has the nicest ladies there, maybe it's the hangers.

One year I had the privlidge to wait at the bus stop w/all the stay at home moms waiting for their kids at the bus stop on the first day of school.

I don't stir till 11am-12am and if I do I am a raging bitch if you don't give me a chance to clear my head...

heartinsanfrancisco said...

Such a little beauty. She really does look like you, even in kindergarten.

The years go much too fast. I feel like crying now.

Cheesy said...

I think she gave me a cavity!

Bob said...

I would either not take the shirts to the laundry or I would refuse to take them until hubs unbuttoned & unrolled them himself. you shouldn't have to suffer for his laziness.

if the laundry guy really doesn't like to do this, he should charge extra. maybe hubs would then do it right.

(when I do laundry, I have to do the same thing with my wife's clothes and it occasionally ticks me off. but since I'm married to her I don't get to complain. much. but I do give her the stink eye whenever she's in the room when I'm fixing her clothes.)

that is an adorable picture of Em.

fiwa said...

Em probably doesn't want to hear this, but how PRECIOUS! What a cutie.

Meno, I hope you told Mr. Grumpy pants that. I would have just taken them back from him and said "Never mind, I'll find someone who wants my business. Thanks so much!!!" There are too many folks hurting for business these days for people to be putting out attitude like that. Suck it up man, it's your JOB! Woooboy, lemme step down from my soapbox now. ;)

sari said...

Oh, it's so cute and sad - I know EVERYONE says it but HOW can they grow up so fast? How is my oldest in junior high now?

Gosh, he's already talking about the apartment he and his best friend will share in college. My heart!

Gina said...

Aww..it gets me all choked up about my own recent 1st day of school. I look at her now and think how big she has gotten, but I know I will look back and not be able to believe how small she was.

Eve said...

Your daughter is one of the most adorable children I have ever seen.