In New England there is a gas station called Hess.  Since 1964 they have released a toy truck around Christmas time.  And despite what you might think, these are really high quality toys.  The founder of Hess wanted to have toys to give away to grand kids, but was disappointed by the quality of toys on the market at the time (imagine what he would think now?) so he commissioned his own toys and from that the Hess Toy Truck was born.  The original 1964 model is quite valuable and the newer models are all really nice, especially compared to the junk at the toy stores nowadays.  All of them are to scale.  All of them have multiple functions.  All have multiple lights and sounds.  Since around the mid 90s they have all had two vehicles.   And they have always come with batteries included.

So this year with Isaac's profound love of beep beeps I mentioned to Bianca that we should get him a Hess truck.  The design was revealed on Monday of this week and after taking a peek Bianca and I decided that Isaac should get a Hess truck, technically a rescue helicopter and SUV: 

While there are Hess stations around us, none are all that close.  There is one, however, on my way back from the jail in Manchester, NH to the office in Nashua.  So on Monday, after a long visit with a couple of people, I decided to stop in and grab the truck.

This is where our story begins.

It was a cold fall day in New England.  I just finished coming out of the jail and I was deep in thought processing information I just received.  I drove over a bridge and crossed the Merrimack River.  I was thinking about how I was going to get on the highway when, like a charge of electricity, I suddenly remembered the Hess Truck and Isaac and Christmas--a powerful trio of motivators.  It all happened so fast, triggered by the green and white sign of a brand new Hess Station on my way to the highway, that without looking, I took a hard right.  My tires chirped and I cut someone or many someones off to a chorus of car horns.  Quickly I saw a spot in the parking lot near the tire inflation machine and I pulled in.

I snapped the keys into the off position, put the car in park, and flew out of my Subaru--coat trailing behind me a like a flag on a windy day.  In a matter of seconds, I had run into the empty station store, doing my best imitation of a fireman bursting into a burning building.  Quickly I navigated the aisles of chips and soda to the cash register.  There, behind the till, was a young woman who was opening packages.  She didn't immediately notice me, which is sort of shocking given the commotion I caused.

Still winded from my triple jump and sprint into the store, I put a hand up and got out "DOYOUHAVEAHESSTRUCK!" between sharp intakes of breath.  She stopped, taken aback by the speed and volume of my speech.  With huge eyes she said: "WHAT?"  I repeated the single word sentence: "DOYOUHAVEAHESSTRUCK!"  Her expression of surprise was one that would greet a stranger telling you that they had been attacked by 50 foot lobsters down the street.  But then it dawned on her what I had just said.  Slowly, as if to calm me down and mock me all at the same time, she pointed to an 8 foot tall cardboard cut out behind me that shouted in giant red letters: "Hess trucks arrive November 9th!"

As I came out of my adrenaline fueled insanity, I noticed that dangling from the ceiling were snow flake decorations with the November 9th announcement on them.  I then noticed the giant window sticker--8 feet high and 20 feet long that covered the front of the store saying the same thing.  If she had clobbered be in the face with a 2x4 I would have been less surprised.  My only response was: "Oh, yeah."

After I regained my sanity and breath I asked her how many they would get and she said plenty, 48 boxes with 12 trucks in each.  I told her I would be back on Friday and I would probably act a little (only a little) less crazy.

Christmas and Isaac are powerful motivators.    

Every Saturday or just about every Saturday we do the same thing--a little morning tradition.  First we go to Panera and grab a bagel.  Second, we go to the grocery store.  Mom heads off to the grocery store itself and Isaac and Dad go to Wal-Mart for other supplies and, on a very regular basis, a Hot Wheels car.  This weekend started out very much the same.

We went to the aisle where the beep beeps were and Isaac wandered forever, looking at this car or playing with that truck.  But he just couldn't decide.  He had a few Hot Wheels in his hand, but none seemed to call out to him.  In the end he just looked up at me exasperated. 

As a side note, last weekend, before the hurricane, we went to Lowes and Tractor Supply Company looking for batteries (yes, I know how ironic that I would need batteries, but none of my lights take D cells).  When we were there Isaac saw their much nicer collection of beep beeps and fell in love with a yellow tractor trailer, known now as "Big Tractor Trailer". 

At that moment, stuck in Wal-Mart, I had an idea.  I wanted to see if I could test Isaac's long term memory and capacity for delayed gratification.  So I made him this offer: "Isaac, if you don't want any of these, let's go to Tractor Supply Company and get a better beep beep there."  Immediately he started walking towards the exit.

About an hour and half later, we made it to Tractor Supply Company and he picked out a gleaming red wireduck, aka fire truck.  He had learned and remembered and delayed his small fun for a bigger fun.  It was an impressive and mature decision for a 2 1/2 year old. 

At dinner Bianca and I were talking about something from work.  I indicated to her that something bad had happened and I went "Oooo."  Isaac, listening to us talk, burst out laughing and just couldn't stop.  Fortunately, the iPhone was nearby and I caught the Giggleboxing on video:


I thought you could all use a bit of cheering up and nothing does that better than some giggleboxing.