| |
After reviewing Dale's text at least 20 times, I finally hit send and hoped that I wasn't coming across as too clingy.
Dale –
I was wondering when you'd remember that.
Kelly –
That you're handsome?
Dale –
No, that you love me.
Not knowing how to respond, I decided to play it cool and wait till our scheduled 10:00 pm date to continue our conversation. Luckily, my mom's arrival back from Uncle Terry's farm brought about a much-needed distraction, especially since she brought my Aunt Shawn along with her.
"What a surprise Auntie Shawn! I didn't think we'd get to see you till the Halloween festival," I declared embracing my favorite aunt.
"Normally, I'd be busy filling the freezer with my pie fixings, but then your momma heard that they finally decided to hold a public auction at that old fabric mill that closed ten years ago."
"Word around town was that the owner recently passed and that his children were more inclined to liquidate," my mother added finishing my Aunt Shawn's sentence.
One of my colleagues used to handle their insurance account and had informed me that the former owner was forced to close the factory after he was diagnosed with dementia. Because, the mill hadn't been turning a profit for years, and neither of his children had an interest in the business, they refused to let him keep it open even after he insisted that it just needed new blood to boost their sales.
Sadly, 100 employees lost their jobs with little to no warning, and the building had been sitting frozen in time ever since.
"Since I spend most of my winters teaching sewing classes and holding sisters quilting retreats, I figured it would be nice to get my hands on some bulk materials."
"Baby, it's going to be the event of the year for anyone who sews," my mom said almost bouncing. "I've even told my assistant that I'm taking the next two days off work so that I can attend."
It was so refreshing to see my mom getting excited about sewing again. When I was little, I remembered her always having a project lying around. She'd spend hours fiddling around with this craft or that while we drank cocoa and re-watched our favorite movies on the weekend. Since my dad didn't like military life and chose to live here in Maryland most of the year, it was something we could enjoy together without distraction. She would sew and tell me about her childhood on the farm, and I'd watch her every motion excited about the new creations she made.
On the rare occasions that we would visit my father, he would always spend the entire trip criticizing my mom's every hobby and joy. Eventually, after years of being told that she didn't have any talent from my father wore her down and by the time I was in high school, our crafting weekends had ceased.
"Mom, I'm so excited for you! Maybe I should start making quilts for the girls. If you find any fun girly fabrics, snag it for me, will you?"
As soon as I had mentioned quilting, my mother's eyes lit up, and I could see the creative gears turning. "Oh! Maybe we can work on the quilts during Thanksgiving since I'll be up there for four days. Shawn has the fancy equipment after all, and I bet she and I can at least get the piecing done on both of them." And then I lost my mother and Aunt Shawn to Pinterest while I finished dinner.
Later that night, after tucking the girls into bed and escaping to my bedroom for the evening, it was a struggle to keep my eyelids open. Lying down for what I told myself would be just "one moment" at around 9:00 pm, I was startled awake by my phone buzzing on my nightstand.
Oh crap! It's already 10:00 pm.
"Hey!" I said trying to stifle my obvious yawn.
"Hey! Did I wake you up?"
"Yes, but I needed to be woken. Not sure what's gotten into me lately. I'm never sleepy till at least 11:00 pm and the last two nights I've been fighting to stay awake past 9:00 pm." Maybe I need to start taking an iron supplement? The last time I was this sleepy was during my first trimester with Mandy.
"Do you still want to talk?"
Part of me wanted to ask him if he would mind cutting our conversation short for the night, but something in his voice screamed disappointment, and there was no way I could go to sleep knowing that he needed me.
"Of course, I want to talk. 10:00 pm is the best part of my day lately," which was an entirely accurate statement.
And with that, we talked companionably until almost midnight, closing our conversation with a beautiful "I love you."
Tuesday morning was a flurry of excitement at my house. Mom and Shawn had woken up at 6:00 am and were dressed in their standard garage sale weekend attire, which consisted of worn-in boot cut jeans and an old concert t-shirt from before I was born. They became so hyper over some of the items listed on the auction website that at one point I had to walk over and confiscate both of their coffees for everyone's protection.
You'd think that after over twenty years serving in the military my mom would have had a little more coordination, but when she started waving those hands around like she was performing a fast pitch on a softball mound, I knew it was only a matter of time before scolding coffee went flying.
Just as I was placing the coffee mugs in the kitchen's deep farm sink around 6:30 am, Mazie decided to make a surprise appearance. Mazie, who never wakes before 7:00 am even on Christmas morning, decided to run into the kitchen and jump around loudly to celebrate the last day of school. This rambunctiousness noise then caused Mandy to wake fifteen minutes earlier than usual. Since we were all awake and ready to go within a few minutes, I told the kids we could forgo cereal this morning and took them for a special treat at Tim Horton's on the way to school.
Later that morning when I was situated at work, my boss called me into a meeting to go over our new schedule that would start on October 15th, which was the first day of Medicare Open Enrollment.
"Good Morning, Tammy!" I said to my favorite boss.
"Good Morning, Kelly! Have a seat and before we discuss your new schedule, let's talk about the great work you did for our groups.
"Thanks to your efforts, we were able to get every company's health benefits situated except for the two. The last time we were able to get that far ahead of schedule, was before you took maternity leave with Mazie. So, thank you."
"No Tammy, thank you! I appreciate you re-hiring me after so many years of being outside of the workforce. You knew how much I needed a job to leave my husband, and I know you created this job out of your own profits to help me achieve that." I loved this woman for taking a chance on me right when the insurance world was so unpredictable. Her selflessness had saved me from not only a loveless marriage but had given me the confidence I had once thrived on before marrying Geoff.
Tammy waved my comments away and continued, "Now I told you last year not to bring that up again, you were worth every penny. And since you came on board again, I have doubled my profits, so let's move on."
Tammy was one of the most giving women I knew but hated to be recognized for it. It was almost as if she thought that compliments would negate the good if she took credit for it. "Here is the schedule we have worked out with the area carriers. As you will see I have signed you up with several of the Medicare kiosks and set up a few education seminars with the local retirement communities.
"The first community, Danville Seasons Retirement Village is rather large and asked if you could do two non-sales workshops starting next Saturday, with the second scheduled for the first Saturday in November.
"Now don't worry, I submitted the approval to the department of Medicare a month ago using both of our names, so if you are unable to make either of them, I can be your back up.
"In addition to these dates, and because some of their residents no longer drive, I have decided to go ahead and purchase a small temporary office space at the office building across the street from the main clubhouse to offer convenience.
"Please take a moment to review the following schedule for the weeks around October 15 thru December 7. Except for our four-day weekend for Thanksgiving, and your pre-approved vacation the weekend of the Halloween festival, it's going to be quite jam-packed," she warned.
"I think that this schedule shouldn't be a problem. My mom and I figured you'd be using a similar schedule as last years," I said confidently. It would be a lot, but once we got through December, I was usually able to work from home three out of five days a week to cut back on the daycare bill. "I've also been able to find a few backup babysitters for days that mom has PR emergencies at work."
"Excellent! Since you'll be working from home for the rest of the week, please focus on completing all of your insurance carrier certifications so that we are set for next week."
Every year, each insurance carrier required that agents take a test to prove that they were still savvy enough to sell their products. It was a pain in the butt but was designed to protect the elderly from ill-prepared agents.
As I walked out of the conference room forty minutes later, I began to worry that my new work schedule would affect my new relationship with Dale. To offer myself a little reassurance, I broke my no texting rule and decided to spend my lunch break texting the sexiest principal I knew.
Kelly –
Good Afternoon! How is your day?
Dale –
Great now that I'm talking with you! ;) Just finished monitoring recess. It was intense.
Kelly –
How can recess monitoring be intense?
Dale –
Watched several 5th-grade girls confront a local Lothario for telling all of them he was their boyfriend at the same time.
Kelly –
Poor girls.
Dale –
It worked out in the end. He admitted that he was only using them for their video game consoles and the girls decided he wasn't worth it.
Kelly –
They'll probably be best friends for life thanks to his scheming.
Dale –
Your probably right! Any news from your mom's attack on the mill?
Kelly –
Let me check.
Kelly to Mom –
How is it going? Anything good?
Mom –
Damn TLC show is filming and outbidding everyone. Aunt Shawn and I decided to leave and are currently combing the local fabric store for fun girls' materials and other deals. She's going to head home tomorrow around noon.
Kelly to Mom –
Ugh! I'm so sad for your lost fabric.
Mom –
Calling you.
When my mom says she's calling, it usually means that she's going to talk my ear off for the next 30 minutes. Closing my office door and bracing myself for impact, I was caught off guard when my Auntie Shawn was the one on the other end.
"How's my favorite niece?" My Aunt Shawn asked. It was her usual welcome to me.
"I'm doing great, how is my favorite Aunt? Should I be worried about you two?"
"Not at all, I just had a fabulous idea, and your mom didn't want to take dictation. How about you and your nice man have a date night tonight? Ask him if the twins can stay at your mom's, and we'll watch all four together. Then you won't have to rush back till morning. Wink, Wink."
"Aunt Shawn, saying ‘wink, wink’ doesn't make it any less suggestive," I said rolling my eyes.
"I know honey, but I'm just trying to be subtle."
The woman was getting a new dictionary for Christmas.
"Lord help your boys when they finally get close to marriage. Your granny-lust is starting to get out of hand."
"Honey, my getting out of hand is why you will be married to this man within the year. Mock or mark my words, either way, you'd like, it's about time that you had a little fun," my Aunt said matter of factly.
"Preach it sister!" my mom screamed in the background.
"Aunt Shawn, please make sure my mom's next cup of coffee is decaf!"
After a goofy three-way banter over my mom's coffee addiction, we disconnected, and I decided to text Dale to see if he was up for some shenanigans.
Kelly –
The auction was a bust, but since Aunt Shawn is in town through tomorrow afternoon, they came up with an alternative.
Dale –
Should I be afraid?
Kelly –
Possibly, they want to host a sleepover with your twins so that you and I can have a night to ourselves.
Dale –
Done!
Kelly –
But you don't know any of the details. Are you sure you're okay with the kids staying over at my house with my mom and aunt?
Dale –
Done!
Kelly –
Are you sure?
Dale –
Done!
Kelly –
LOL see you at 6? And you're not allowed to say DONE!
Dale –
See you then!