Rotten Coconuts and Other Calamities

So occasionally I think that our life - just the three of us is pretty routine. Work, church, errands and running around to get Ethan to my mom's for daycare are our usual activities. I don't know why I think this, though, because something always comes up. Yesterday, for example. I left for work at 8:30am and by the time I got home we had new neighbors that were completely moved in! They're a young couple, about to have their first baby - due in 9 days! That evening, we go to the post office to drop off a package for Ethan's Nana (her birthday's Monday - though she'll probably get it on Tuesday or Wednesday. Sorry Lynnie!) and pick-up my little sister. She has graciously allowed us to invite her over to 'help out' Sunday morning before the rest of the family comes over for Gen. Conference brunch. So she spent the night. We were supposed to get some free baby-sitting as part of the deal, but of course, we had no plans and didn't get to take advantage of that. Maybe she'll take a rain-check... Next stop was the grocery store. It was the first weekend after payday, so it's always a big trip - this was another non-extradorinary event in our lives. Then we drive home. We're a few miles away when I hear Sean say, "Uh-oh." It was the kind of "uh-oh" that makes me think we're getting pulled over. I immediately thought, "what were you doing?!?!" I didn't think he had been speeding. He switches over to the right-hand lane and starts slowing down. Then I hear him again. "We're running out of gas." I have to admit, I was actually relieved. I did NOT want to get a ticket. We pull completely over and kill the engine, trying to decide what to do. We finally come to the conclusion that it hadn't quite died all the way and we'd see how far we could get. I think we got another mile by the time we put it in neutral and let it coast to a stop. Apparently we are not adjusted to the lower gas mileage of the SUV. Our little Honda Accord gets great gas mileage and the low fuel light comes on with 2 gallons left. Sometimes we can get almost another 50 miles in before having to fill up. The Explorer, on the other hand, has a low fuel light that comes on with only 1 gallon left. Translated, that means we have 15 miles, max and we probably shouldn't push it past 10 or 11 - just in case!! Anway. By this point we were within a mile of the gas station. Sean was the hero and went on to get gas and bring it back. Don't get the wrong idea, though. It wasn't exactly 'cush' staying behind. Remember I had my little sister, who got quite antsy, and Ethan with me - and trust me, it was already past his bedtime. Roundtrip it only took Sean about 35 minutes and that was long enough. Ethan did pretty good - Elisabeth did a good job of keeping him entertained. By the end, though, he was SUPER cranky (it was about 2-2 1/2 hours past his bedtime) and to top it all off, his diaper leaked out. Needless to say, we were VERY happy to get home, get Ethan to bed and relax for a while before heading to bed ourselves.

So. The coconut. Nothing says tropical like coconuts! I, myself, have never had a fresh coconut - the juice, the flesh, none of it. Sean has. He served his mission in Brazil and quite regularly had the juice from the green coconuts. He said it is quite swee and very tasty. So last night at the store we decide to get one - the brown husk kind. Just about 15 minutes ago Sean goes to work on opening it up. He gets the liquid out and pours it into a glass - this was the part I was looking forward to. I'm not sure what I thought it would taste like, but figured it would be good. Sean took the first sip and warns that it's not quite as sweet as the green ones. I take a sip and cough and spit it out in the sink. It was disgusting!! Ugh!! I couldn't believe how gross it was. I run to the fridge and take a swig right out of the juice carton. We decide to move on to the coconut flesh. Both of us have heard that it is really good. Sean whacks it until we get it to split down the middle. That's when we noticed something odd. The flesh wasn't peeling off in chunks like we had seen on the 'Survivor-man' show. In fact, it was pretty mushy. "This can't be right!" we thought. We peel off some more of the husk and that's when we see it: the bottom is completely moldy!! No wonder the juice was so gross - it was probably rancid! So much for my tropical drink. I think I'll wait until we travel someplace where we can get it fresh and not weeks after it's been shipped to pokey ol' Springfield.

On to more exciting NON- calamities. Ethan took more that 2 steps today!! I think he took like 6 or 7 in a row. It was so exciting!! And my mom, sisters and John (Christine's beau) were all witnesses. Before that, though, Elisabeth managed to get Ethan laughing hysterically!! He couldn't stop. She was doing the cup-stacking game and he thought it was the funniest thing. It made me laugh just watching and listening. I've included a video below. Like I said, though, never a dull moment.
Side note: this isn't the video I wanted to load - I'll try to get the right one up tomorrow.