Randy,

My e-mail address is underdog_dbatyahoodotcom. Special needs kids are a subject near and dear to my heart!!!

After yesterday's newscast and some religious decisions that bothered me, I had to BEG a friend to go out with me last night. She was not a hard sell, but wanted to workout until I pleaded with her and offered to buy her dinner. She caved (I'm good). She was D7's speech therapist in preschool, and we've become really good friends.

I was a little surprised to come home and find D7 riding her bike and Mr. Wonderful standing in the driveway. (Usually they are long gone.) I smiled and asked him where D10 was? He said she was eating dinner with a friend from school and he was waiting around for her.

I proceeded to unload my stuff out of the car when he walked over to me and smiled and said, "Hey Bets! Wow, you look great! Is that a new sweater? It sure looks pretty on you!"

I replied, "Thank you! It's not new. Aunt P gave it to me." She gave it to me when I was Down Under 6 years ago, and I've worn it a lot since then...

So I decided to make the most out of a perfect opportunity to make some mystery. Yep, H2H, I take my own advice. I knew he was counting on me hanging out and chatting with him. I headed inside and changed, and came back outside pretty quickly (after reapplying makeup, perfume, and lipstick) and found him and D7 petting a walking neighbor's golden retriever.

We chatted for a few minutes and then I checked my phone and exclaimed cheerily, "Oh my goodness! I'm late! Gotta run! See you all tomorrow sometime!"

The look on his face was worth it. He looked confused and maybe even disturbed, and stood in the driveway with D7 and waved until I drove out of sight. I knew when I turned the corner that he was going to call me during the evening.

My friend was a little surprised to see me a little more dolled up than usual. I had to tell her why and she got a kick out of it. After we shopped, I made good on my promise and took her out to dinner. While we were waiting for dinner to arrive (in a crowded, noisy restaurant), my cell rang. It was Mr. W.

MW: "Hey, Bets. Sorry to bother you, but this is important."

Me: "That's okay. What's up?"

MW: "D10 brought 2 puzzlemania books over to the apartment. I'm afraid there's an invoice in it, and I don't know what to do. It was dated 2 years ago."

Me: A 2 year old invoice is too important to wait until tomorrow? "Uh, Mr. W. D10 got those books 2 years ago. I got a nasty call from them about 9 months later and I paid the bill then."

MW: "Whew. I was just going to tell you that I would gladly pay the $15.67 so that you didn't."

Me: And this is definitely important? "It's all taken care of. I hope you guys have fun doing Puzzlemania tonight."

MW: "Well, I was really worried."

Me: I bet you are. You think I am out on a date and you're checking up on me--which I knew you'd do! "You don't have to worry. I paid the fee."

MW: "I know we talked about this before you left, but I'm not sure if we were both clear on the time I'm bringing the girls. I'll be there by 2."

Me: "Sure, whenever. Any time after 12 is fine."

MW: "Okey dokey! Sorry to bother you again, even though I thought this was important. See you later!"

On the way to the mall today, D10 commented to me, "Hey, Mom. Guess what Dad told me last night?" I said, "I honestly don't know, but I'm sure you're going to tell me?"

"He said he's thinking about joining Slim4Life. He said he knows you've lost a whole lot of weight and he told me that you are looking really good. Actually, he used the word HOT."

Hmmmmm. "Really?" I asked. "Really. I swear I'm telling you the truth. He said you look really good and he's impressed."

So there you have it.

Betsey

"There are only 2 ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."

Albert Einstein