perfect day (m)

Friday.  Sunny, dry, high 70's, gentle breeze.  A great day for a drive to visit Sam at school.   H decides to stay home and skate all day and do driver's ed in the afternoon.  My husband and I rarely have time alone together.

We stop at Dunkin' Donuts where I get my standby: egg white and cheese breakfast wrap, green tea (black) with lemon.  T spills his entire cup of coffee before we even get on the Mass Pike.  We turn around so he can go home, clean the car and change.

Halfway through the four-hour drive (car reeking of coffee), my knees start to throb.  I haven't been to physical therapy in two weeks (my vacation, therapist's vacation) and my legs are tight.  We stop at a rest area and switch sides.  I stretch out on the passenger side, legs up on the dashboard, sunroof open.  I fall dead asleep in minutes.

Two hours later, we arrive.  Harrison's friend from skating is touring the school with her parents and we meet them in Admissions. We sit on Adirondack chairs, overlooking some mountains.  Co-eds pass by in various athletic gear.  The parents look at each other and sigh....we say it aloud, "Wish we were back in college."

Sam joins us and leads us on a tour of the school.   I see the school from a new perspective.  I liked it before.  Now, I love it. We walk everywhere for almost 2 hours.  He takes us up to his dorm room and it looks amazingly like my senior year dorm.  It's deja vu all over again.  Sam shows us a letter.  He's won an award for academic achievement (Sophomore year) and contributions to the college community. I'm so proud of him.  I must have gushed too much because he calls me "Mrs. Seinfeld" (Jerry's TV mother who thinks he's perfect).

T, Sam and I go to dinner at the local Italian restaurant.  I inhaled a plate of gnocci.  Definitely over budget points-wise, even though I had no lunch.

By 8 p.m., we say goodbye to Sam and head home.  My knees are shot.  I drive halfway and then switch to the backseat where I lay down to stretch my legs.  I'm trying to read People magazine (Elin Woods!) while lying on my side, seat belt not on.  T complains that he can't keep his eyes open and asks if I'll drive the rest of the way.  We pull over at another one of those service areas and I buy a bottle of water to take Advil.  For good measure, I throw in a bag of red Twizzlers.  He looks at me and says, "Stop eating."  I give him the bag of Twizzlers and they are gone in 5 minutes.

An hour later, we are home.  Despite a few mishaps (coffee spill) and aches (knees) and guilt (gnocci), this was a pretty perfect day.