Our son is being particularly happy today despite the events going on around him.

My house is being purchased and the buyer had an inspection performed before settling on a price. Turns out that we have a gas leak, a cracked furnace, a fried electric wire, and, oh yes, the sewer system cannot handle all the water from our washing machine. Other than that, the house is cold, but pretty much in good shape.

So, I rush home yesterday to comfort my panicked wife, but I decide to stop by the store first.

My car is still at the store, the starter died.

So, I call my friend to come get me from clear across town. He is good for those kind of things. After I get home, I decide to use my other car to get things done – it is dead as well. I guess that is what happens when you do not drive it for months. You just have to love a Cadillac.

Our son’s reaction was to smile at us and demonstrate that he loves us. He really had a lot to say and went to great effort to tell me. He used all kinds of syllables and sounds. He smiled mostly. Sometimes he had this expression I wear sometimes when I am in a concerned mood and trying to explain something difficult to someone else. That’s when he used the most varied sounds.

I wanted to explain it all to him, but I decided it was no use. He was just happy that his mom and dad love him. (And he is beginning to recognize me since cutting off most of my hair.) That is all the important things in his world.

My wife is now happy and playing with him. I played with him this morning and his reaction was the same as always: BIG CHEW TOY! YAY!

I have to laugh at yesterday – my wife says that it is source material for my own version of Pat McManus stories. I’m sure that I will enthrall future generations with some magical realism version of events. In my retelling, I think I’ll have more mechanical ability with gas appliances and automobiles. I’ll also have less money in this story, though I do not know how to pull that off. It’s hard to have less than zero when you do not own a credit card. Maybe I’ll have a gas card with a $50 charge. Still working on that part.

Oddly enough, I began to think that God really is a Republican – all of this started happening two days after I officially registered as a Democrat. I guess I should have known when my name was mispelled despite several edits on my part.

Don’t worry, I know that everything in the universe is not cause and effect in this way. I’m reaping what I sowed in moving into an old house. Cars break down – it could have happened when I was in Missouri this weekend, at least it’s in town. The landlord is sending folks here today to fix things.

Still, it might be worth a call to the Election Board…