Good times in the midst of not so good

Man, I don't know what was wrong with me yesterday, but I surely was in the grip of some kind of horrible mood - maybe that horoscope that I read that said to stay in bed and draw the blinds was right ... but in trying to find an online version of the clipping I read on the counter at Starbucks, there's so much diversity for Leo for 11/10/2007, who knows ...

Anyways, trying to look on the brighter side: Last week John put our Passat wagon in the shop - he tore out something called the intercooler, which evidently has to do with the turbo system in the engine (and yes, the 2001 Passat does have turbo, I looked up the specs). It turned into one of those situations with me as a parent trying to help my newly adult child navigate the ways of the world, and get the car to the repair place - he fucked up the car Monday night, and didn't get it to the garage till Thursday - the first mercy is the guy at the garage told him he shouldn't have been driving it so much, same as I did.

Friday morning I drove our other car to Milwaukee, so John could have a car for the weekend - he's taking a course where he has to do community service, and he's been going to Growing Power, one of those operations where inner city kids are growing micro-greens & gourmet vegetables on vacant lots and selling them to restaurants; AND one of his teachers loaned him a medium-format camera, a Mamiya, for the weekend and he wanted to drive around and shoot.

He was taking me to the bus back to Madison, and we were debating how to get the oil changed in the car - he thought maybe the guys at the garage where it's at now would just do it, and I was instructing that oh, no you have to ask, they won't do anything that you don't ask for, and the second mercy is, he did it - called and asked them. "Hi, umm this is John, my car is there, the Passat wagon, and I was wondering ... it needs an oil change, do you guys do that at all? Oh, uh huh, OK, great, great." So, very comforting to the mom - my kid knows how to talk to a car repair place and get what he wants.

And John'd been all grumbly when I got there, sleepy, "I don't wanna go be a farmer, they're gonna make me shovel poo" but he called when I was on the bus, happy to have the car, realizing I'd actually done him a favor, and figuring how few hours he'd still have to go at Growing Power after Friday, plus I'd left the radio on NPR, and Flight of the Conchords was on.

In the midst of my bummer mood, I made a good vegetable soup: onions, carrots, celery, cauliflower, parsley, butternut squash, spinach, and tomatoes.

Served with whole wheat rolls with walnuts and raisons, and Carr Valley Mobay, although, unfortunately, so far, only to me.