Story in a moment, but first......
Today's Advertising Cliche from Hell:
"...check out our wide selection of....."
Why are all selections wide? What does that exactly describe? If you sell 100 widgets, and tell me it's a wide selection, for all I know there could be 100,000 of them and you're lying to me. Plus, "wide"? Why not "in-depth"? Is it a metaphor that it's easier to open your arms to grab something than to exert the force to dig deep for it?
A wide selection tells me nothing. Besides, if you don't have what I want, I could care less how wide it is.
Enough for today......
NOW, TODAY'S POST:
My last foray into the backyard pool was August 2003.
Before I go on, I note it's above ground, a circle, 15 feet by 4 feet. Nice, but certainly does not lift us from our "middle-class" status.
In 2004, I had this little trouble called a separated shoulder. I spent ten weeks in an arm sling and those ten weeks coincided with the first ten of my kids' eleven weeks of summer vacation.
So, no pool in '04. Hadn't been in yet this year....until tonight.
Yep--made it in. Nice and warm; Rachel's without a jacket now and swims like a fish (Robbie taught well!) and, about five or ten minutes into my triumphal return...
Thunder.
We knew there was a chance, so the Weather Channel was on on the back porch TV. The second clap of thunder was louder (thus, closer) than the first, so that's when I suggested we bail.
Good thing; as Bonnie was getting out (she was the last to do so), here comes this nice bolt (if there is such a thing) of lightning.
So, yes, it wasn't a three hour tour, complete with float with drink holder....but I did get in. And considering the physical and psychological issues I've had the past few years, I see this as a victory.
Yesterday was another. It was Vacation Bible School day at church (we do a big one-day shindig because we're so small, we don't have the luxury of having enough volunteers to do five nights). I had worked between 55 and 60 hours at the station, and wasn't "fatigued" as much as I was simply "sleepy".
When Saturday morning arrived, I knew I wouldn't be going anywhere. Bonnie asked about 7am and got the message. Then, as her sister and kids arrived to caravan down to church, she asked if I was sure I couldn't make it.
So, the extra prompt worked. I slid out of my bed (got a new, much thicker mattress so it's a longer drop to the floor! :) ) and stumbled to the shower.
Bonnie drove and I kinda flopped in the front seat.
We got there, and I felt better and was able to conduct myself normally. I was supposed to teach the teenage class....one problem. They weren't there.
Two (including my son) teetered on the age, so they combined with other kids and I spent four hours in the sanctuary, getting to run the sound system during music time, having nice conversations with people (which is harder to do on Sunday morning when everyone is so busy "doing" church we don't stop long enough to say much more than "How are you?"), and got to study the Word for awhile.
Bonnie was worried because I had no backup. Turns out I didn't teach. And that was a good thing.
On the one hand I could think, "Stink, I could've stayed home and rested."
On the better hand, I was there to support the kids, my kids enjoyed me being there, I enjoyed talking, got to study and just "take in the atmosphere" of the place for a few hours.
Yep, I was supposed to be there. Just for different reasons. Sometimes when we "assign" ourselves a purpose to an event and it doesn't happen that way, we gravitate to "well, I guess I wasn't supposed to be here". Not true. You may not have been supposed to be there for the pre-assigned reason that you had going into it, but another more important purpose may become apparent as the time moves on.
So, two victories this weekend....and I still snuck in two naps. :)
Today after church it was "take Robbie to Toys R Us to find the elusive Star Wars Action Figures"......
Rats. We went oh for three.
The good news is, by reading the packaging of other figures, we figured out (pardon the pun) that his wish list consists of the following:
1) Obi-Wan
2) Anakin
26) Yoda
See, the numbers are important because all three of the above-mentioned intergalactic stars have not one, but two figures in the set. So, you have to know which one of each is the "one to be found". Thankfully, they've assigned numbers to each figure in the set (like baseball cards!!) and so, old man Dad can now look for figures with little or no difficulty.
Oh, and, by the way, it's his money he's using. Not mine. To protect his money today, he kept it inside a shoe during church so he'd have it at the store afterwards.
One word: Stink!
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Well, the family leaves for DC tomorrow. Bonnie, the kids, her mom, her sister and her husband, and their three kids.
Something's missing.....
Oh, yeah. Me.
Another summer, another conflict which causes me to sit out a trip.
2002---Flu
2003---Anxiety attacks
2004---Busted Shoulder
2005---Understaffed at work
What will it be in 2006?
I can tell you this much.....liberals would look at all four years posted above and assign the blame to Ronald Reagan.
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And, finally---props to ALa on her one-year blogiversary! She was so nice to give me a shout-out on her anniversary post.
She can expect one in return at month's end when I hit the mark, too.
To look at the depth of her site (both sight and content-wise), you'd think she'd been bloggin' much longer than a year!! Love you, too, Philly girl!
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Guess I'll be around the next couple of days here in the blogosphere. These new kittens aren't talkative yet to me.....gotta talk to someone! :)
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