It Never Goes The Way You Want It To

I have had the strangest summer!

On the 16th of June, after having dinner at Carino's with my kids, I hugged them one by one and said goodbye just like I do almost every Tuesday and Thursday in a parking lot somewhere nearby. But this time was different. I would not see them again for forty-nine days. They were off to Maui and then on to Guam for what was supposed to be a working vacation. As it turned out, there wasn't much working, but plenty of vacation. But I digress. I kissed them and hugged them a little extra hard.

I had a couple of projects lined up for myself to keep me occupied. Or, more accurately, to keep me from being preoccupied in missing them. I wanted to put in some sort of patio with either pavers or bricks on the backside of my house. And I wanted to paint several walls in my living room/dining room area. I got started on both projects. I cleared out all the growth of weeds and such in the planned patio area and I took down all my wall hangings and got the walls ready for paint... and then the Fourth of July came.

I wanted to start riding my mountain bike this summer so I hopped on it the morning of the Fourth and noticed the tires needed air. So I rode it down the big hill to the gas station. Remember, it was the morning of the Fourth so there wasn't a car on the road, which means of course, that I hit the light at the bottom of the speedy hill green. When I got to the gas station I had to make an immediate right hand turn, and since I was going pretty fast AND had under-inflated tires my bike went left and I (without my bike) went right...onto the pavement. Was I wearing a helmet? Did I grow up in the 'wear your helmet' era? Of course not silly! So...I broke my collar bone, cracked two ribs and had a couple of pretty nasty hunks of meat missing from my knee.

So now not only do I not have my kids, but now instead of having a time of real productivity, I'm lame. Which is lame. And on top of that? It's been the hottest summer since they've recorded such things around here. I can't work. I can't play. I can't get anything done. And my three favorite people are somewhere around the back side of the globe. Yippee. (dripping with sarcasm)

What I found out, though, was that I have some of the greatest friends and family a guy could ask for. My brothers and sisters, my mom and my ex-in-laws, my local friends and far away ones all cared for and about me in many, many ways. I got phone calls galore. I got meals delivered. I got cookies and cards from friends I've never met personally. I even had friends from my route (over an hour's drive away) 'stop by' to help me pull weeds and vacuum and rearrange furniture to get my house in shape as I was expecting a friend to come visit. Just two days ago I got a care package from a whole slew of people on my route who got together and sent me some funny gag items as well a page and a half full of handwritten well wishes. And even though my ribs hurt from the laughing, it didn't matter. Back behind those ribs there was a heart that didn't seem to notice.

So you see, life doesn't ever go the way you want it to...it goes even better than that!!

I have had the coolest summer!