Ok, show of hands. How many of you have had something scheduled the following morning. You brush your teeth, take your meds, set your alarm and say your prayers. You lay back, tired from a full day…ready to sleep. And all you can see is the numbers on the alarm clock.
“6:30. Dang, that’s early. I haven’t gotten up that early in ages. When WAS the last time I got up that early? It must have been when I had my surgery……Gosh…that surgery! I’m so disappointed it didn’t work! Now I’m going to probably have to have another one. Just need to get that next scan done. Wait…when is that scheduled? Oh, yeah…the day after we get back from camping. Which is four days after we get back from Colorado! What was I thinking??? We’re going to be exhausted! Speaking of exhausted….settled down now. Get to sleep. Breathe in….breathe out. Think calm thoughts. Think of the beach……The beach. We’re really going to miss our October trip to the beach this year for our anniversary. Which one is this? Let’s see…’18 to ‘19, ‘19 to ‘20, ‘20 to ‘21. Three! Holy cats! How did that happen so fast??? Three whole years. We are so blessed and have so much fun together. Yeah, we’ll miss the beach, but we are going to have such a wonderful time in Colorado! ……. Oh, I have to remember to pack……”
You get the idea. Staring holes in the ceiling and ticking off the lists in your head is NOT how you get a good night’s sleep. Neither is waiting for the alarm to go off. Mr. FixIt set his alarm for 4:00 to go downstairs and check the storm drain. He was so sound asleep, I had to shake him three or four times to get him awake enough to turn it off. I had been asleep all of one hour…I kid you not. And that was the end of any sleep for me. I got up before my alarm was due at 6:30, took my shower, and headed out in the early morning light to tow Birdie down to Setzer’s to get the leak fixed. It was raining hard as Tropical Storm Fred passed through the Mid Ohio Valley. I drove slowly in the gloomy grey of the wet Wednesday morning traffic.
The monotony of the windshield wipers drove home how tired I was and I had to resort to singing and blasting the air conditioner to stay awake. It took about two-and-a-half hours to get there towing Birdie. She’s so light and easy to pull, you hardly know she’s back there. I checked her into the service department. They may get to her this morning…maybe tomorrow. And, the sealant has to cure for at least six to eight hours before you can tow. I went back to the truck and unhooked the camper and tried to decide if I had it in me to drive the two-and-a-half hours back home through this rain. I made an executive decision and went to a name brand hotel and checked in. I barely made it to the bed before I fell sound asleep for four solid hours. What utter bliss!
When I awoke, I took myself out for a curbside supper from the restaurant across the parking lot from the hotel. Then I went to Menard’s home store and picked up a few storage solutions for the little camper for our trip. I got back to the hotel well before dark and checked in with my sweetheart. All is good on the home front. We bought new blades for the drain snake a few weeks back. He ran it down the drain and it let loose like someone popped a cork. These blades were bigger and heavier duty than the ones that came with the machine and they were much more effective. Between keeping the gutters clean and snaking the drain on a regular basis, we should be good till we can get a permanent fix when we get home from Colorado.
The joys of farm life and home ownership. There’s always something to be built, torn down, fixed, replaced, organized, or thrown away. There’s hardly ever a time when you can just sit down and work on a hobby…not during the summer anyway. This is the time of year when I start to long for the change of seasons…for no other reason than the mowing will be done. For a few months anyway. This idea I have to turning the far field into a pollinator-friendly cacophony of wildflowers will cut down on our mowing responsibilities in the future, as well.
Always thinking ahead.
And now….for that long awaited bubble bath!
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“And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.”
Mark 6:31 ESV