Four minutes...

Construction has started on Stadium just at the end of our block that will last through the summer and into the fall. Traffic is down to one lane, going one direction... and that direction is away from Ann Arbor proper. So, if we are going anywhere not in the direction of the highway (Downtown, Trader Joe's, Carmen's, etc), we have to go around a long convoluted path through the neighborhoods. It has added four minutes to 20% of our trips. It has stolen four minutes from our lives. On time is late for me... this is a problem.

But the bigger issue, and one I hadn't anticipated, is Alex. Say I inform her that we are going to Trader Joe's (BALLOONS!!). We pack up and get in the car and... turn right out of the drive. Her face crumples up. Her teeth nash. "Trader Joe, Papa... Trader Joe!!" At two she has a better sense of direction than me and she knows which way we are supposed to go. "Not likin' it, Papa... not likin' it!"

Just wait... tomorrow morning when we head for Afternoon Delight (every Saturday morning ritual), and turn the wrong way, she is going to flip. Perhaps we can practice counting to four.