We just returned from a week's vacation at Walloon Lake, Michigan. If you have never had the opportunity to go there, you should look into it. A week sitting by the lake, playing in the park, walking through downtown Petoskey, and pontooning on the lake itself is a week in heaven. At least according to me. If you are looking for more thrills than that, well, you'll just have to go somewhere else. Blessing number one counted.
Both Tim and I bemoaned the fact that we had to leave, but he has only so much vacation time, the dog needed us back at home, and of course, another family was coming to rent the cottage in which we stayed. So at 10 am yesterday morning, we loaded everyone into the car and headed back home.
I think part of the reason we weren't looking forward to the drive was that a storm had come through our hometown and had left us without power. Who wants to come back to a house with no power? Not me. At least we had the forewarning: I'd gotten an email saying the pool was closed for the evening on Friday, and I quickly sent a message to a couple of friends. They confirmed the power outage.
So here we are, headed down the interstate, 4 kids cackling and two adults just wishing we had a roll-up window behind our heads that we could, in fact, roll-up. I don't know how far into our journey we were (not far enough of course) and we came to a stand still. For about 2 hours. Tim found a radio station that said a roll-over had occurred which closed down the interstate, and I launched into my spiel, for the kids benefit, about how lucky we were. Sure, we were stuck in a car for a couple of hours. The alternative was far worse. Blessing number two counted.
After a potty stop and a dinner stop, we made it home just before 9 pm. All was quiet on our block, although two neighbors quickly told us of the situation, in the event we hadn't known about it. One had power and offered his freezer. We quickly took him up on the offer. Blessing number three counted.
Once we made it inside the stuffy house, I found a nice note from the dog/cat/house sitter. After I read it, I ran through the rest of my blessing counts for the day. I counted the fact that we had such nice neighbors, and that they attended to things that they could have left for us. I counted that everything was pretty much confined to a small space. I know, I know. Why did I have to count at all?
Well, Lucy took it upon himself to get closed into Melina's room. Apparently, he wasn't happy. He urinated and defecated on the bed, and on the carpet. He chewed a couple of her animals. Luckily, the sitters took care of it all. They washed the bedding and pillows (complete with bleach), aired out the room, and wet vac-ed the rug. I can't even imagine coming back home to a room full of cat urine and feces that had been roasting in house with no power. Ugh. I don't even want to imagine it. The only thing we need to do is get a new mattress and a new area rug. And since I only want to have to do this one time, from now on, Lucy will be boarded at the vet's office.
So there it is, my crazy, blessed life that likes to keep me on my toes. And as I always say (or maybe I don't write it, but I think it often), I wouldn't have it any other way.
***
And speaking of blessings, I must say Happy Birthday to my absolutely wonderful friend and loyal reader Julie! Hope your day is a great one!
Both Tim and I bemoaned the fact that we had to leave, but he has only so much vacation time, the dog needed us back at home, and of course, another family was coming to rent the cottage in which we stayed. So at 10 am yesterday morning, we loaded everyone into the car and headed back home.
I think part of the reason we weren't looking forward to the drive was that a storm had come through our hometown and had left us without power. Who wants to come back to a house with no power? Not me. At least we had the forewarning: I'd gotten an email saying the pool was closed for the evening on Friday, and I quickly sent a message to a couple of friends. They confirmed the power outage.
So here we are, headed down the interstate, 4 kids cackling and two adults just wishing we had a roll-up window behind our heads that we could, in fact, roll-up. I don't know how far into our journey we were (not far enough of course) and we came to a stand still. For about 2 hours. Tim found a radio station that said a roll-over had occurred which closed down the interstate, and I launched into my spiel, for the kids benefit, about how lucky we were. Sure, we were stuck in a car for a couple of hours. The alternative was far worse. Blessing number two counted.
After a potty stop and a dinner stop, we made it home just before 9 pm. All was quiet on our block, although two neighbors quickly told us of the situation, in the event we hadn't known about it. One had power and offered his freezer. We quickly took him up on the offer. Blessing number three counted.
Once we made it inside the stuffy house, I found a nice note from the dog/cat/house sitter. After I read it, I ran through the rest of my blessing counts for the day. I counted the fact that we had such nice neighbors, and that they attended to things that they could have left for us. I counted that everything was pretty much confined to a small space. I know, I know. Why did I have to count at all?
Well, Lucy took it upon himself to get closed into Melina's room. Apparently, he wasn't happy. He urinated and defecated on the bed, and on the carpet. He chewed a couple of her animals. Luckily, the sitters took care of it all. They washed the bedding and pillows (complete with bleach), aired out the room, and wet vac-ed the rug. I can't even imagine coming back home to a room full of cat urine and feces that had been roasting in house with no power. Ugh. I don't even want to imagine it. The only thing we need to do is get a new mattress and a new area rug. And since I only want to have to do this one time, from now on, Lucy will be boarded at the vet's office.
So there it is, my crazy, blessed life that likes to keep me on my toes. And as I always say (or maybe I don't write it, but I think it often), I wouldn't have it any other way.
***
And speaking of blessings, I must say Happy Birthday to my absolutely wonderful friend and loyal reader Julie! Hope your day is a great one!
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