Following the home inspection on Tuesday, a radon tester is left in our basement. It’s part of the home inspection. The inspector’s name is printed neatly on it: TOTO.
“I love that his name’s Toto.” Andrea says and then “doot doot doo’s” a few bars of the song Africa by the band Toto. She giggles to herself.
I eye her warily, “Are you cracking up?” I ask.
“Maybe a little.” Andrea admits.
We both can’t be crazy at the same time. This is an rule that we abide by.
I go to bed early Wednesday night and sleep fitfully until my alarm goes off at 4 AM. I have an early flight for work. I had briefly considered booking a ride to the airport but then remembered that the ride isn’t the part I hate. The ride is fine - me in my darkened car listening to a book. It’s the throngs of people in security. The bright light. The TSA bossing people around in loud voices. This morning, a dog is being trained so we’re forced to line up in pairs and told to “walk at the same pace.”
“Like a wedding!” The young dad I am paired up enthuses.
I smile and think, “We should have just dropped Georgie off at the airport to be trained.” I also think that I’ve spent over 20-minutes in the security line - is this the best time to be training Fido? I suppose so - it’s crowded. Fido lunges at a woman’s suitcase and I bite my lip to keep from shouting, “Ah! There’s cocaine in there!” I’m sure the TSA wouldn’t appreciate my attempt at levity.
Thursday morning, my eyelids snapped open at 1:45 AM as if they were window roller shades. A parade of irrational thoughts galloped through my mind. What were we going to do with all the food in our freezer? The turkey? The corned beef? The food cycled through my mind. I admonished myself - “stop it. This is crazy. You can cook it. You can give it away. Go. To. Sleep.”
I fired up a “Nighttime SOS” guided meditation on my phone. This one had you count backwards from 10,000. If you ever wake up in the middle of the night concerned about the contents of your freezer or any other mundane detail, I recommend this meditation.
When I awoke later that morning, I texted Andrea and told her about my night only to learn that she had woken up around the same time with the same thoughts about the damn turkey. I hope we can share a room at the loony bin.
We waited to hear from the seller about the items that their home inspection revealed about our, soon to be their, home. The agony of waiting ended on Thursday. We danced. Curtsied. Win, win.
Maggie, I can’t even begin to explain how much I hate that song. Totally irrational and filled with past memories. So glad it is bringing positive vibes to you. Wish we could be there for the goodbye. You both have changed my life for the better!!!