Soon, Grasshopper, Soon

Today was one of those hectic mornings.

I woke up late, but somehow thought that I could still get everything I need done before dropping Miss O. off and getting myself to work. Silly me, I still worked out, showered, got Miss O. up, and put together a meatloaf for dinner. As I threw the meatloaf in the fridge, I glanced at the clock and realized that I should have left the house 10 minutes ago.

Alright. Time to run.

After dropping Miss O. off, I hopped back into the car and looked down at the dash. Crap. The gas light is on, and I have no idea how long it's been on for. I do not have time to stop, but I've got no choice.

Off to the gas station.

As I'm pulling away from the pump, I look over at my driver's side mirror. A small, light green grass hopper is walking along the top of the mirror. I wonder how long it will be able to hang on as I start driving down the street. The grass hopper has now stopped in the middle and is hanging on with four of his (or her) legs, his head is looking forward, peering over the mirror at the road ahead. His two front legs are flailing in the wind, and I can imagine him thinking, "Oh my, what have I gotten myself into!"

Now, that's something I can relate to.

As excited as I am for this upcoming cycle, I'm starting to feel a little out of control. My mind is starting to form doubts, big doubts, about whether I'm making the right decision. Should we really be doing this? I've started to feel like the grass hopper, as everything is starting to go into motion, like I'm just hanging on for dear life, and wondering what I am doing.

Surprisingly, the grass hopper never flew off my mirror. I pulled into a parking spot at work and there he was, still hanging out on the mirror. Walking into work, my mind vaguely remembered the scene in "Mulan", a Disney film, where Mulan was being prepped to meet the matchmaker. I thought that I remembered the grass hopper was given to her for luck.

After a little go.ogling, I found what I was looking for about the grass hopper:

As a Chinese symbol, the grass hopper offers attributes of longevity, happiness, good health, good luck, wealth, abundance, fertility and virtue. In fact, grasshoppers were thought to be fertility symbols; specifically omens of the birth of a son (hence, another reason for its good luck symbol status as sons are considered prized gems within the setting of the family).

Hmmm, didn't know it was a symbol for fertility.

I looked for the grass hopper when I left work, and I'll admit I was a little disappointed when I didn't see it. On the way home M. called me, and we started to talk about his day. As I pulled into the driveway, something caught my eye on my driver's side mirror again. Something light green. The grass hopper was back.

I sure hope that's a sign!