You ever had a super floppy day?

That was me two Sundays ago. We were getting home from church.

I’m convinced the number one way to get your kids to be oppositional and emotionally seismic while you discover your own nuanced crevasses of asshole potential is to attempt leaving your house on time for church.

We made it. Late. And I had a severe “don’t ask” side-eye roll going on as we brought the boys to their class.

On the way home, we did a grocery pickup (thanks for making sure we got food in the house, Melissa-Lee).

I commented as we waited that picking up groceries felt like a big chore.

Parking in a designated spot while a friendly high school kid rolls out your groceries all procured and bagged and even loads them into the back of your VW — a big, overwhelming, huff-sigh chore.

And they were probably out of the frozen waffles, too. Double huff.

I’m fine. I’m fine.

We got home — “Load out boys. Time to make some lunch.”

I put my grocery hauling game face on. Grabbed a couple bags and the gallon of milk I’d put up front with me so it wouldn’t fall out of the back and smash on the garage floor like it did that one time.

Even tired dads can use that noggin sometimes.

I held the door for Jude as he bounced up the stairs with 4 of the 5 stuffed animals he’d insisted his life would be incomplete without that morning.

Then I began my ascent.

Only, the condensation-covered gallon of milk I’d balanced on top of my forearm decided it wanted its freedom, and performed a perfect dive onto the carpeted stairs.

And burst.

I stood and watched 2% low fat milk flood out of the compromised container like, “Is this real life?”

Then I exclaimed something — probably rhymed with “yuck.” I don’t remember; I’d dissociated by that point.

I heard a concerned “What’s wroooong, Daddy?” from Jude in the living room, and I snapped back into reality.

I scooped up the leaky jug, shuttled the remaining contents to the kitchen, and finally found a use for the milk pitcher sitting atop our kitchen cabinets.

A third of a gallon of perishable dairy product — exactly what you want saturating your carpet, right?

This rogue grocery item must have known about one of the many unchecked items on my summer list:

__ Clean the carpet on the entry stairs.

Someone who made design choices about our house and didn’t have children chose white carpet, and by mid-January, no matter how unshod our feet remain, it starts looking pretty shameful.

So here was my chance to break out the Bissell carpet washer we invested in when we moved in and unearth the Oxy-Clean from whatever safe place I’d stored it.

And by 3pm, the joint was smelling Oxy-fresh.

And I was fascinated by the amount of dirt that can be extracted from freshly vacuumed carpet. Whoah.

So, the dairy debacle worked in our favor.

Now we walk down our front stairs with that, “Ah, look at our fresh carpet” feeling, and it seriously wouldn’t have happened were it not for my ill-conceived grocery conveyance methods.

The lesson: Sometimes you drop the milk.

You cuss and feel angry. And then it causes you to do something you’ve been putting off for a long time, and you end up with fresh, clean carpet.

What’s a carpet cleaner equivalent in your life?

What I discovered was this: it only took 7 minutes to set up the cleaner, and then I was off, sweating and working out my frustrations on the carpet dirt. Very exciting.

We get hung up about that first step — it’s going to take sooooo loooong to get set up.

But just do one thing.

Action creates more action. And before you know it, you’re committed to something your heart’s been wanting to do, and you have to come through, and you’ll be so grateful you did.

Because you know — there’s only one you, and folks need to hear the story only you can sing.

Love much,

Dan

PPS Here’s a brief Joni moment from Friday, grabbed some time before teaching seminar to try some things with “A Case of You.” In A-flat like the 2000 Both Sides Now Concept Album, and using simple chord rhythms a lot like Brandi Carlile’s covers of the song — love her, duh.

PPPS Do you know about Mountain Rug Cleaning in the UK? They have over a MILLION YouTube subs!! You won’t believe how captivating it is to watch someone wash and restore seemingly unsalvageable rugs.