How do you bounce back so quickly?

I took the kids to see "Horton Hears A Who" Yesterday, and it was so fun. The theater had these booster seats for the kids that had seat belts on them. Matthew sat through 2/3 of the movie in his own seat gobbling up popcorn and saying "uh oh" & "wow" at all of the right places. I was loving watching my kids enjoy their popcorn and belly laughing as they pleased. It was a great "Mom" moment. Even though it was one of the better movie experiences that we have had, it was still one of the more crazy and unsettling outing I have had. Why you ask? Here it is...
In my mind, there are certain things that are socially acceptable and things that are not. The rules are different for Women and Men, and different still in mixed company. Where am I going with this? You'll see. There was another group walking up to the ticket window as we were. I stood back and allowed this man and his 3 kids to purchase their tickets first. His two daughters, probably 8 & 11 were extremely friendly, asking my kids their names, shaking their hands (I know, right?!), and asking a few other questions. As I was paying for our tickets, the man (from off to the side) hollered, "$20.50" trying to tell me what my total was going to be. He was wrong, by the way. It was $15.50, matinee. Anyways, I found myself thinking that he was an odd man, and paid for our tickets. When I looked up to open the door he was standing there, holding it open for us, claiming that it was even heavy for him to open. Now as a side note, I know that the theater likes its patrons, even wants to see them back a time or two. If the door was so heavy that a grown man has trouble with it, what is a poor and defenseless woman like myself to do? Are you feeling the creepiness now? His "Psych Ward" T shirt wasn't helping him either. Moving on. Since we were almost 20 minutes early, we looked around at the upcoming movie posters rather than jump right into the popcorn "line." We were the only patrons there, and I had no desire to stand in line behind Mr. Friendly. By the way, I'm not being mean to a poor guy who is just trying to be nice, but listening to my gut that is saying, "keep your distance." While we were perusing the posters, the guy calls over to me,"are they all yours?" I get this a lot (I never thought 3 was that many), and I didn't see where he was going, and I nod yes. He then says,"wow, how do you bounce back so fast?" Now, I don't care if a woman has 15 kids and looks like Jessica Rabbit (which I very much do NOT look like Jessica Rabbit), it's just not done! Mr. Friendly has now moved to Mr. Creepy. We look around a little more, my kids are begging me to get their popcorn and go sit down. I finally agree and we pay an exorbitant amount for popcorn and drinks and make our way into the theater. Imagine my dismay to find that Mr. Creepy and his kids are seeing the same movie. He invited us to sit with them. He could sit on one end and block the isle and I could block the other. I don't think so. Red Flag! We opted to sit in the very back row, partly so I could take Matthew out if need be, and partly to be as far from "Creepy" as possible. He made the attempt to talk to us a little more, but by this time, I was done acknowledging him. I was grateful that the theater began to fill up a little. I don't know if I could have handled it if we were the only ones in there. As an FYI, he turned his over friendly ways onto some of the other women in there, offering to fetch them boosters for their kids and such. After the movie, we headed straight for the car. I felt a little better once my kids & I were safely buckled into our locked car. I decided to take the kids to Chick-Fil-A for a bite to eat. We always sit in the play area and the kids have a great time. The kids were playing while I was finishing up my brownie when my stomach dropped to my feet. In walks Mr Creepy and his kids. In my mind, I'm thinking that there are two things that could have happened here. #1- we are only about a two mile from the theater and they had a hankering for Chick-Fil-A, too. #2- He recognized my car in the parking lot and decided to stop. I really didn't care which it was. I was so glad that we were done eating. I quickly cleaned up our area and fetched my kids off of the slides. They did not want to go and wanted to know where we were going. I told them it was a surprise. I'm not going to advertise that information. I called Maggie because I was nervous and wanted someone on the line with me. Right as we were ready to leave, she had to get off the phone and take care of her baby. I called my Mom because I figured he was less likely to talk to me if I was on the phone. We left, and I had my Mom write down his license plate number, just in case. I turn the opposite way from home and feel a little better. I made sure that I didn't see any cars like his as I was on my way. As I was pulling into my neighborhood, I was talking to Maggie and was relieved to stealthily pull into my garage and close the door. Summer saw where we were and said, "Aw, home is the surprise? I don't want this surprise!" I laughed and offered ice cream, which was a accepted. As I was getting the kids out of the car, my heart stopped, literally stopped. I couldn't find my purse! I never forget my purse, but I couldn't find it. In my haste to leave, I must have walked out without it. Now I was getting panicky, I load everyone back into the car and head back to the restaurant. I said a quick prayer for protection and a safe outcome. All I can think of is that Mr.Good Samaritan has picked up my purse for me with the intent to return it to my address which is conveniently right on my new Florida drivers license. Oh gosh, what if he knows where I live now. I was able to keep myself in check (I know this because my kids didn't have a clue other than, "Mommy forgot her purse." Maggie is still on the phone with me and begins booting up her computer to look up the restaurant to call them. I was back even before she was able to get the info up on her computer. (no, I didn't speed to much, Jim was downloading) As I pull into the parking lot I again have two thoughts going through head. The first, "Oh my gosh, he's still here." and the second, "That's good, maybe that means he hasn't found my purse, gotten my address and might not attempt a visit." I was relieved to see that there was a police officer already in the restaurant, should I need his services. I also noticed two guys walking in behind me. When I looked at one of the guys the first time, something caught my eye and I looked again, this time closer. He was wearing a police type badge and he had a gun. Seeing that, bolstered my confidence a little and I went in to find the fate of my purse. Chick-Fil-A always has a host type person walking around the restaurant, offering services that might be needed. I walked right up to him, praying that he's the one who found my purse. He was indeed and I felt that wonderful feeling of relief for the third time. He was really nice about it, and made sure to tell me that it was unzipped when he picked it up. It was and I thanked him profusely. I got my kids safely into the car for the third time and made my way home the long way for the second time. It felt good to pull into the garage and close out the outside world. I was safe, and so were my kids. Now some of you might be thinking that I was over reacting. A few years ago, I read a book that had been featured on Oprah called, "Protecting The Gift" by Gavin De Becker. In it he tells numerous stories of women who don't follow their instincts and have harm come to them. He states over and over that we have this for a reason and we should never apologize or feel silly for listening to it. So, this is me not apologizing. Ladies, if you haven't read this book, it is very informative. I would recommend it to anyone.
How am I going to bounce back from this and not be scared to go anywhere? A little bit of TV and dessert safe in my own (rented) home, combined with the knowledge that I listened to my instincts, that's how.

Milestones

T Jay lost his first tooth on Tuesday! He was very excited about this and has been showing everyone the "hole in his smile." When his tooth became loose (on Monday), he was a little distraught because he thought that he couldn't lose his baby teeth until he was 6. He was also afraid to lose it because he didn't think there was another tooth in there. I'm glad that he made peace with losing his teeth.

Quote of the day...

We ran a couple of errands this morning. One of our stops was Target. If you don't know, Summer can experience up to 26 different emotions in any one setting and today was no different! She was upset about getting the boot from the extended seats connected to the cart for repeatedly stepping on T Jay and moved to the basket portion of the cart. Her response, "I just can't deal with this." Very forlornly! (followed by a lot of screaming and crying.) Yes, ladies and gentleman of Target, I do have my hands full, they do keep me busy & it's not any more fun for me than it is for you! Probably less because I get to take 'em home, too! Luckily, by the time we got home one of her other emotions had taken over and she was apologetic! Sheesh! Girls!

The week- in pictures

On Thursday, we met my friend, Alissa, at the beach. We had a great time! Matthew's lovin' his juice box!
T Jay was the "water guy." He went down and fetched buckets of water to dump in the sand. Summer won't go near the water right now, she is afraid it will "take her away!"
Summer manning her post at the sand mill!

Sand pies anyone?
On Friday night while the kids were getting a story, Matthew brought this Pull-up over to Jess for help to put it on. He later added the hat and monkey. What would the fashion police say about this one?!
On Saturday, we took Jess downtown to show him our town. We live in the Sailfish capital of the world.
The result of pizza and a rootbeer float!! After downtown we went to Anna's pizza for "The Grandma" which is the best pizza ever. It is a lightly cheesed pizza with sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil (one of my favorite ingredients) and fresh marinated tomatoes on top. To die for! It is officially my favorite pizza, did I mention that I love pizza?
Jess was sent to the store to buy kids soap. He came home with kids soap and seven types of bath toys! Aside from losing his credibility for being able to stick to a list, he was a big hit with the kids! Here they tested out fizzing dinosaur eggs, foam soap and bubbles, hence the nice color of the water. It's a good thing that Monday is cleaning day!