manic Monday

I woke up Monday morning feeling well rested. And feeling mostly better. I had decided to get a good night's sleep at my parents' house after the bbq, since they live much closer to the planned family outing.

I sleep better at their house. I haven't been sleeping well at my own for various reasons. My hip has been hurting more lately. My mattress is in dire need of being retired. And I still wake up at the slightest noise, worried it's another unwelcome late night visitor.

I drove south with my mom and dad. We drove past a ranch that my great-grandfather owned. My mom told a childhood tale of how she went out wandering around the ranch looking for her dad, and got lost. Her dad had to call the fire department to come look for her.

We got to the place. We were the only ones on time. Not a surprise in my family. Slowly the rest arrived. One brother, his wife and my nieces. The other brother and his wife. Then my sister.

We laughed and joked and played with my nieces, while their parents learned what to do, and what not to do as they jumped out of a perfectly good airplane.

My other brother was supposed to go, but he was three pounds over the weight limit. We joked that he should have laid off the beer over the long weekend. He was disappointed.

He's really tall, plays semi-pro football, and is probably the second most in shape guy I know. Other than my other brother who is a mountain-biking, tele-skiing junkie.

My sister-in-law had asked if I wanted to join them. I had laughed. There is no way. There are a lot of crazy things I've done, and will do. Sky-diving? Not one of them. Not even when it's already paid for because they denied my brother.

The rest of the family watched as my brother and his wife jumped out of the plane. Free fell. Then opened their parachutes and twirled toward the earth. Both landed beautifully.

It was cool to watch. But definitely doesn't make me want to jump. Ever.

We headed to lunch, laughing as my nieces' balloons floated to the ceiling. Not their fault, but their mom's. They would get more as we left.

As lunch lingered on, I started to get a little nervous. I had a date. I didn't want to be late. And I still had to pick up TheDog, then my car.

My sister made my nervousness worse by insisting on picking up a pizza for dinner. I was her prisoner, as I'd left my car at her house the night before.

The pizza getting took longer than expected. Then the traffic.

I should have known. Labor Day traffic gets crazy with all the RVs and campers. The traffic was making me really concerned. I let him know I would most likely be a little late.

I finally got home, jumped in the shower, and met him. Only ten minutes late. Not too bad for as crazy as my day had been.