The Week in Brief: from grasshoppers to homecoming and traffic tickets in between

I've gotta figure out how to put audio on here. Just hum to yourself here: Have I done any good in the world today? I saved a grasshopper from having it's wings clipped. Don't ask, I can't explain the Espinoza Syndrome.
I saved E. from having to go to Homecoming whose theme was a Night at the Oscars in a sun dress that didn't fit her, a half hour before it started. Drama, drama, drama! I caved. Mostly because I felt guilty that she tried to take care of the issue without asking for help before, which stellar quality of being stupidly independent she got from me. Now I feel guilty about letting my pocketbook suffer the consequences instead of her. E. is now my slave for life, heh, heh! She has to babysit (while I work to pay off the dress), do her biology homework , and in general do my bidding or lose the dress! And she has to wear it to every formal occasion from now on, until she can afford to get her own. She tried it on and wore it out of the store and straight over to meet her date. I decided it's not a good idea to homecoming dress shop with 5 year old boys who splash in rain puddles on the way out to the car, but we managed not to destroy the dress. She had a lot of fun, but of course being E. present, it was not your normal date and all I'll say without her permission is I feel sorry for the guys in her life! Here's her dress:

This one on the right is J. in his super guaso suit he wore for dieciocho that he got in Chile last May, where he didn't shave either.

I also did the good deed of reading up on knee problems, but I'm not an authority and haven't cured him just yet, Lorenzo's Oil takes time. I did drive him back and forth from the stadium to talk to his aunt on the phone while she was getting his mom transferred to a different site, which is a long and confusing story but the bottom line is hopefully she will adjust and do just as well there and I hope the phone works better there too. I did something else to save the world, but I forgot what it was while I was typing the first things up. I went to E and D&D's parent teacher conferences. So far not so bad. D&D are entertaining their teacher at least, she says they are the spice of the class. D1 is also really helping a little girl (who lives around the block too) who's practically silent and just barely starting to interact with her environment. He makes her laugh and so she will get his attention and he will keep doing silly things to make her laugh. What a surprise. If she came home with us, what would she think?:
Oh, and I've decided food and things must be growing up out of the floor behind me as I sweep. I'm just sure of it, I just need a time elapse recording to make the breaking evidence. Stand by on that one. (But don't hold your breath.)

SO now we come to the big event of the week: THE FIRST TRAFFIC TICKET STORY (TRUE STORY) I got permission to tell it: ahem. It's Friday night. E. goes to the homecoming game. They lose. That's o.k., she had fun anyways. She's driving home, she gets pulled over by a cop. She's freaking out, then a few minutes later I get this call: Mom, GUESS WHAT HAPPENED TO ME??? (suspense, you won't believe it tone) Me: I don't know, what? E: I got pulled over!!! (Innocent shock in voice) Me: Snicker. (How can you be shocked when I grounded you from your car for a week the week before last for scaring the neighbors in it?) What happened? E: So, I get pulled over and I'm freaking out and the cop is like give me your license and registration, then he's like checking my insurance and says the paper I gave him was an old one, then I look all over and can't find another one, and I'm getting all freaked out and crying, then he checks something and comes back and says it's o.k. and I'm like bawling now and I ask him what I did and he says I'm alright it's just that my light in the back is burned out and all I have to do is go get it fixed and then go show proof or else I will be hauled off to jail, and I'm bawling now and I've got makeup all over my face and I'm going, "I don't have any money, and my parents will be mad to have to spend money on my car", and I'm bawling and the police is saying "It's o.k., you were driving fine, you won't get in trouble, just get it taken care of, it will be all right and Hey! what are you laughing at? Me: I can't help it! Ha, ha, ha ha.
Thank you police, for scaring the heck out of her :-) The going to jail part was a nice touch. The fact she didn't know it was a matter of replacing a light bulb was great too. The bawling till the poor police got worried at the mess he'd made of her and had to calm her down and imagining the whole thing was just too funny for me. Remember, I don't get out much. So, here's her first ticket. She wouldn't let me put in the picture of her when she got home with it and had a smeared pouting face unfortunately, so here's the Vanna pose:

I've got to go do something now about a sink full of ripe nectarines.