Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Toe Jam Pizza And Other Stories

Last night we called Mike and Ruby answered the phone. She was really chatty and was catching us up on what was going on in her life, in her school, with her sister and, of course, there was a long story about pizza dough that had ended up on the floor. I asked if she was going to have 'toe jam' pizza, there was a pause and then "ewwwwwwww gross!" I actively work at keeping the 'cool quotient' up when talking with the kids.

Ruby told us about her week at gymnastics camp and at one point how she hurt her back a week bit. I said to her, 'Well, you know you can always borrow my wheelchair if you need it!" She laughed and said, "Thanks that would be fun!" Then Joe asked if she'd like to use the power chair or the manual chair and without question she said she wanted to use the power chair.

For the next few minutes we laughed about how when Joe drives it, he keeps running into walls because he's not very good at driving it. From there we went to all the things that Ruby would run into if she had the chair. We went from trees, to cars, to stores, to people in stores, laughing all the while. It's sometimes hard to know what to talk about for an extended time with little kids, but this topic was a comic goldmine. We exhausted our ideas of the destruction that my chair could havoc with Ruby at the helm and soon she was passing her dad onto the phone. Sadie was busy doing something so she just called 'hi' every now and then, wanting to be in the conversation but not wanting to leave what she was doing.

After we hung up we laughed about our conversation with Ruby. She still sees wheelchairs as a cool way to get around and she still thinks it's cool for a couple of old geezers to tease her about her driving in a wheelchair. In a funny way, it reminded me, really, about how cool these damn chairs actually are.

During work I lectured on a stage that had a very long ramp up to it ... I used my powerchair to whip up and down the ramp. After work we went shopping and got around quite nicely. I managed to get through crowds, and I managed to speed through empty aisles. I still have FUN in both chairs.

FUN

Fun because it's cool.

Ruby cool.

And that, right now, is the ultimate in coolness.

6 comments:

pattib said...

"Ruby cool!" Now that's really cool. :)

Susan said...

When I was a kid, my brother and I filled an used jam jar with black Essex County mud and put as fancy a label as we could muster:

"Toe Jam".

Then we took it down to our local N&D supermarket and carefully placed it on the shelf between the real jams and jellies.

I don't know how we got out of the store without wetting ourselves. We laughed all the way home and all the way into the next decade. And we STILL laugh about it. Yes, toe jam is very cool indeed.

Right up there with wheelchairs.

And I must say that every time I'm at a hospital or a clinic and I have an opportunity, I will still (even at my age) play with one at every chance I get. I think it's because, well, first of all, they're fun, but also, I want to make sure I'm fairly proficient in the use of one in case I am ever in the place where I need to rely on one to get me places. As a result, I'm not afraid of that one bit...

Thinking about you rolling around Nova Scotia today and the fun and the freedom your chair gives you just makes me happy in heart. Roll on! (And if you ever leave your chair unattended, know that it's not safe from me! :))

FunMumX3 said...

Oh, this is just screaming out for a Robert Munsch story book called Ruby and the Chair, in which an imaginary girl, let's call her ... Ruby... gets her own set of power chair wheels and knocks over bigger and bigger things in the world until she masters the art of power chairs and wins the Toronto Formula 1 Grand Prix. Dave... you and Ruby write up a story and some cartoons and send it to him. He will! He will! Please!!!

Colleen said...

Dear Dave:

Thanks for the smile!

Colleen

Kris S. said...

For fun, look up Jimmy Fallon's fake Nickelodeon show called "Ew." Quite amusing. I bet you can find it on the YouTubes. If I think of it, I'll send you a link via FB.

Anonymous said...

Yeah to the cool factor!

Cheers
Julia