I am Optimus Prime

I ran to Target - all three boys, on a Saturday morning

on the way to a birthday party because

obviously

we had not yet bought a gift

But we were running late, as always

So we fly through

but first! A stop at the bank! to deposit the checks from last month, that were buried on the counter beneath drawings of monsters and sharks and robots, obviously.

So dumdums in mouths, we raced through the store

Dragging them past

Optimus Prime. I am Optimus Prime. One shall stand and one shall fall. I am Optimus Prime

And giant!starwars!legos!

And we grab a gift and a gift bag and a pad of colored construction paper

And we borrow a sharpie from the barista while she makes mommy's

tallmochafrappacinowithespressotogo

And right there in Target we stuff box into bag and scribble notes - genuine, though rushed - and thank the caffeine gods for starbucks-in-target

(even though i am oh-so-pro-local)

and the boys hold hands as we run to the car and I notice the extra chocolate swirl on my whipcream, a nice touch - above and beyond, are these target baristas -

and we make it to the party on time, and I think --

these things would probably not be all so different even if I was still home with the boys.

:::

This morning I dreamed,

after I had woken up and fallen back to sleep while the house buzzed on without me,

that my neighbors had a moving truck parked outside their house,

and they sat on their steps all the while --

scurrying back and forth, carrying their furniture and belongings,

was a little monkey.

I watched out my front door, thinking How funny

that they have a monkey to do their heavy labor!

And I ran to my computer to tweet in 140 characters all about my neighbor's

moving monkey

but when I tried to type the words came out like

yjod odmyrdsyr smf zo yvpi;f hoiyt rojyo piy.

:::

This week I missed them so much that it stung my eyes

so I slipped out the office, down the elevator, to the midweek farmer's market

just off the square and

I bought myself some gladiolas for my desk.

I put them in a pitcher I swiped from the conference room

and I wrote a chapter and revised another

and I still missed my boys but my desk sure looked prettier.

I am Optimus Prime.