Shopping with John (Travolta, that is)
In a hurry this time, we sailed into Jimmy John’s to pick up some subs for the road. I ordered the usual, #5 with pepper rings, and he ordered his usual, #11 with extra tomatoes. Ringing us up, the girl behind the register said to my blue-eyed husband, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like John Travolta?”
Instantly, we were laughing and nodding our heads. It’s been awhile, but he’s absolutely been told that he looks like John Travolta. Multiple times. She, poor girl, was shocked, thinking she was the first to have had this revelation.
“No,” I told her. “Another girl once gave him a free cone at Dairy Queen.” Laughing again, I remembered how he’d been handed a chocolate-dipped cone through the drive-through window once by a starstruck teenager who said, “I’m giving you this for free because you look like John Travolta,” not knowing that it was actually what “Mrs. Travolta” had ordered.
Nice, girls, but he’s married. And happy about it, I might add.
One by one, we ticked off our errands. Make a return at Eddie Bauer; check. Pick up stuff we forgot at Target; check. Grab a hair product at the mall; check. Get the groceries before the natives revolt, stage a coup, and oust us from power; check. Drop off the clothes College Kid left at home over spring break; check.
Grumbling as we trotted along about the hour of sleep we were going to lose, thanks to daylight savings time, I voiced again my urge to “cheerfully strangle Gov. Daniels for that,” putting the blame on the man who’d introduced the notion to our legislature some years back.
“Here’s how I’d do it,” I explained on our way out of Dick’s Sporting Goods. “I’d say, ‘Look! There’s a Democrat!’ Then when he whips around to look, I could get him.” He cracked up, knowing that our Republican governor was safely tucked away in his mansion, far away from unhappy constituents like me.
Man, I love gouging a laugh out of that guy.
Here’s what else I love:
– words of encouragement from a friend when I’m in distress, sunshine after a brutal winter, the beauty of an older couple who’ve taken in a little girl
– a song that makes me cry (thank you, Purdue Glee Club), coffee with a dear friend, and a phone call from my SIL with the chatter of the babies in the background
– the sound of “Mr. Travolta’s” slippers scuffing across the kitchen floor, aunties that affirm and encourage me
– Little’s kisses, a godly doctor, the Holy Spirit’s direction and so much more!
It’s your turn. What are you grateful for today? What gifts have you received from His hand?