In the Wee Hours

Here is my first post for the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Writing Challenge.  I read about it last week and decided I would really like to try participating.  Of course, I am late.  It is day 3 of the challenge and I am making my first post.  I am doing this with my second graders too.  I actually wrote a "slice" on the 1st when I modeled this for my students.  However, I didn't post it.  Anyway...I am going to try to make as many posts as possible for the rest of the month.  I am hoping to grow as a writer and a teacher of writing.  Wish me luck!

March 3, 2012

I was awakened at 2:30 a.m. by my 6 year old asking to get in bed with me.  Half asleep I motioned for him to climb in by lifting the duvet only to discover his 3 year old brother was already there.  The 6 year old squeezed in anyway.  This upset the little one who moaned and climbed on top of his big brother.  This isn’t going to work, I thought to myself.  So, I climbed over both of them, hoisted the little one up into my arms and stumbled through the darkness towards his bedroom.

After depositing the little guy back into his own bed I padded back across the hall and climbed back into my bed.  I snuggled up with the 6 year old only to have him start coughing in my face.  Great.  I wondered how long it would be before I started in with a cough too.  I rolled over and tried my best to get back to sleep.  3:00 a.m.  Lying with my eyes closed thinking about yesterdays skiing adventures.  3:26 a.m.  Lying with my eyes closed wondering if it is raining or if the dripping water is from the melting snow.  3:45 a.m.  Thinking about school and what we will do for Dr. Seuss week.  4:00 a.m.  Decide to get out of bed and clean house before kiddos wake up.

I head downstairs, let the dog out, build a fire and make my way to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee.    I press the button to grind the coffee beans…empty.   I head downstairs to the garage to get the freshly roasted coffee beans that I am sure my husband has forgotten to bring up.  NO COFFEE BEANS!  Grrrrrrr...

Returning to the kitchen I search the freezer for the emergency Costco bag of coffee beans.  Nothing.  I decide to clean out the fridge, inventory its contents and tidy up the kitchen until 5:00 a.m.  I grab the “light” yogurt out of the fridge that I accidently purchased last week, put on my blue puffy jacket and throw on a beanie cap.  Grabbing my keys I head out the door, down the driveway to the car.  I am not dressed warm enough but I figure I can tough it out for a quick trip to Safeway.

I pull into the deserted parking lot.  Two police cars sit side by side.  I grab my yogurt, purse and car keys.  Walking briskly to the entrance of the store with my yogurt in hand I come face to face with a sign that says to use the other entrance.  It is sprinkling and I am a little bit bummed because I have to walk 200 feet to the other entrance, in the rain, in front of the police officers.  I don’t know why this bothers me but it does.  When I get down to the other door I stand in front of it waiting patiently for it to open.  Nothing.  Waiting.  Still nothing.  I give the door a little push.  It doesn’t budge.  I imagine the police officers staring at me wondering what the heck I think I am doing.  I walk back to the first entrance and read the “Hours of Operation” sign thinking I probably should have read this first.  5 a.m. to midnight.  I am pretty sure I left the house at 5 a.m. but figure I must have read the clock wrong.  I walk back to the car and turn on my cell phone.  5:08. What the? I wait 5 more minutes.  Read a text from my brother and answer it.  Not a sign of anyone.

I drive slowly past both entrances and still don’t see a soul inside the store.  I decide to drive across town to Albertson’s thinking I will grab a cup of coffee at one of the coffee shops along the way.  Surely they are open at this hour.  I notice Dutch Brother’s is open.  Not my favorite so I drive on.  Cup-of-Joe, closed.  I like Cup-of-Joe, bummer.  Albertson’s, closed.   Starbucks looks open.  I pull into the drive thru.  No crackly, high pitched, “Welcome to Starbucks, what can I get for you?” greets me.  I sit there for a moment.  My shoulders sag with disappointment when I realize no one is going to make me a vanilla latte.

I drive back to Dutch Brother’s and order a medium vanilla latte and medium coffee for my husband.  As the drinks are being prepared I realize that my husband is not going to like his coffee, it is an Americano.  I should have gotten him a latte.  Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have just stayed in bed this morning.