Month: August 2013

I have reached the pinnacle of my summer holidays – I’m taking acutal vacation time to help park cars at the Montgomery County Fair. Vince’s Boy Scout troop goes to the fair every year to help direct cars so they park in a straight line and not scattershot all over the grass field. Each scout has to work about 40 hours and each family has to contribute another 40 hours. For all this hot weather work, our reward is to be paid a handsome amount of pirate booty (cash) and have no substantial dues and no fees for camping/food and, perhaps best of all, no selling of random crap like caramel popcorn to our already overextended and overfed social circle.

I can not say that I’ve gone into this experience with a good attitude. I’m am a grumpy parent – a poor team player. I do not particularly like the fair (which is loud, hot, crowded, full of yucky food and expensive – which is the exact opposite of everything I really, truly love (a night at home with home-cooked food with my family and friends)), nor do I like to spend hours and hours in the hot sun next to exhaust fume, yet, this is what I have chosen to do. Also, if you know me personally, I actually dislike parking my own car – so the thought of parking thousands of cars sends me into a tizzy.

Also, the thing with boy scouts, is that the troop is boy lead, so do you see the boy pointing? He’s the head scout, so I take my directions from him – it’s been a long time since a 17 year old has told me what to do 🙂

My main job yesterday was to flag cars that are coming straight at me to make a right hand turn. I turned my flagging into a little dance/lunge thing to get a little exercise and not be incredibly bored. Turns out most people going to the fair are easily entertained. I will need to get a video of my little dance.

It is 8 am and I should get up out of bed to try and get this household running. Jeremy just landed at Dulles from CA (our anniversary trip hitchhiked onto his business trip) and so nothing is going to get done this morning unless I get my sorry butt from out of this bed and really, I’m procrastinating by writing about parking cars, but there is only so much one can say about parking cars. Of course, Jeremy and I split the 40 hours of adult parking – he chose not to take any vacation time, so he’s suppose to do a weekend shift today – but the poor thing had a six hour delay for his flight, so he ended up taking a red-eye in the center seat. I’m not sure if he’s going to be able to stand in the hot sun for 6 hours today without sleep. OK, OK I really need to get up now.

Of all the decisions I have ever made, the most fortunate one was to decide to hitch myself to Jeremy 15 years ago. Of course, I think one can never really know when you get married how the marriage will work out – you look for the basics – kindness, a willingness to work hard, a willingness to forgive and a sort of balance a yin to your yang – but you never really know how it’s all going to turn out because when you get married, you kind of don’t really know what you are signing yourself up for. I don’t really think that we thought we’d never have a vacation away from the kids for 11+ years, but that’s what happened and so it was at the airport where I was giddy with excitement of our little CA adventure.

I didn’t take many photos – I’m just trying my hardest to remember all the moments in my own head because I don’t know when we’ll be able to have a vacation like this again.

My friends seem to be in good place now – having babies, thinking about new jobs, traveling here and there, squeezing the marrow out of summer.   I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life – HDT . I listen to all this good news with such happiness – for there are certainly times when it seems like all my friends are just having a tough time of it all. I can tell I’ve been good in a good mood because it was with great happiness that we finally got Edda’s new wheelchair. It can be a bit of a conversation stopper; my friends telling me all their wonderful news and I come back just as enthusiastically – Hey! Edda’s new wheelchair came today! and then for a moment I realize that that may not sound like such an exciting thing, but because I’m happy, Edda’s new wheelchair gives me something to smile about.

It’s all tricked out, has pneumatic knobby wheels, with front wheels that lock into place, so I’m hoping that Edda and I will go running soon together.  That’ll be fun. 

Today we needed to be out of the house for a couple of hours, so I took Vince to Great Falls to walk on the Billy Goat Trail. I took my weird five fingered shoes (which I regretted because they are actually not that comfortable walking over rocks) and Vince took his sandals. 

Vince was so pissed that we were walking together on a beautiful summer day.  He did not want to go!  He sulked and dragged his feet and pouted and cried and sulked some more.  Until I said it was time to turn around to go home.  And then he was fine and back to his regular cheerful self.

Cheerful enough to chat fondly about the crazy rock climbers that we could see across the water on the rock faces that were there.  Can you see the little people?