8:20 A.M. Sunday morning - next to the last day of Christmas vacation. The kids are still sleeping, I'm still sleeping, everyone is still sleeping, even Fudge was softly snoring beside my bed. It was raining, dark, just a perfect Sunday morning for sleeping in. For doing my favorite thing.. being lazy.
I heard the phone ringing, lifted my head to hear who was on the machine, and I got scared when I heard my Dad's nervous voice, "Juel? Is Lisa over there?"
I threw off the covers and ran to the phone but missed his call.. he doesn't like to talk to answering machines, or to wait for me to get to the phone.
The thing was.. Lisa was here last night, she'd brought a movie, "The Cave" for us to watch, and it was after 11:30 before she left to go home. I got scared. I had heard car tires spinning just after Lisa left, and I'd commented to Stan, check out there to be sure Lisa didn't go over the bank, he did and said no, she's gone. I ran this morning to look, to be sure she wasn't out there over the bank, she should have been home this morning, but no, she wasn't out there.. so I called Dad back.
He laughed and said he'd found her, that she was sleeping when he'd first called, but now she was there at their house safe and sound. He went on to tell me how he'd slept, what lottery numbers came out, what Mom and Lisa were doing.. how Nick was doing.. then he started to talk about old customers he runs into now at the store where he buys his lottery tickets - he even struggled with the alphabet, reciting it, until it jogged his memory as to this customer or that one's last name.
Dad isn't a big on the phone talker. At least I never knew him to be. I sat there answering him, talking right back, telling him about my night, the security light going on a lot out back, how the kids slept, about talking to Sarah through that storm they had in Mississippi yesterday.. just jabbering away.. and he was just jabbering right back.
I thought, wow, what's wrong with him that he's so talkative this morning. I wasn't about to discourage him, I couldn't remember a time he's talked over 10 minutes, and it was coming up on an hour that he'd been on that phone. I just kept talking right the hell back.. *laughs* ..keeping that line of communication going.
Dad: Are you coming over tonight? I think your Mom's making hamburgers.
Me: Yeah we're coming, I'm making cabbage rolls.
Dad: Cool! Are you thirsty?
Me: Thirsty?
Dad: Yeah, don't you need something to drink in the morning?
Me: (Thinking he was being considerate in case I was tired of talking to him.)
Naw, I'm good. Do you need something to drink?
Dad: I do in the mornings, yeah, but I have coffee here, aren't you drinking anything? How do you not drink anything in the morning? Do you need to go make some coffee or chocolate milk?
Me: Naw, no I'm fine Dad.
Dad: More talk about the weather... Mom, Stan, my Dog.
He wanted to know how big Fudge was now, he'd hard him bark and said he sounded big. Yeah he's big dad, all grown up now. I even instigated Fudge to bark so Dad could hear it again.
Finally.. *laughs* Poor Dad just blurts out...
"Are you punishing me?"
Me: (Blinking, startled and truly puzzled!) Punishing you?
Dad: Yeah, are you making me talk to you this much because I called there so early?
I couldn't help it, I started laughing, Dad, you are the one who was doing all the talking, I was just making conversation back, No, I'm not punishing you, do you want to hang up now?
Dad: Yeah I wanna go, I have to go to the bathroom.
Me: Okay, well I'll talk to you later.
We hung up.
I sat there staring at the phone and shook my head, he musta had a guilty conscience for waking me up to find Lisa. *laughs* So he talked..and talked and talked. I called back and talked to Mom a little later. She was still laughing about him being on the phone with me so long this morning. She said he was yammering and yammering, doing all the talking, she could hear him, yet he was shrugging his shoulders, shaking his head at her like I was the one doing all the talking and wouldn't let him off the phone.
Poor Dad. I bet it's a long time before he calls me again.
*laughs* That'll learn him not to call me early on a rainy Sunday morning!
*scratches head, still puzzled*
Posted by juel at December 31, 2006 02:22 PM