just messed up...

I have failed TLC (Please forgive me, Daughter…) this week. Promised I’d do a blog post Thursday. Then yesterday. Now it’s Saturday night and I’m pooped and basically out of energy and ideas. In the past, I’ve given her quite a hard time when she’s done the same…promised me a post that kept getting delayed. I’m grateful she’s forgotten it’s my turn! If she hasn’t forgotten? She’s being kind. Kind is good. Thanky, TLC.

I saw this on Pinterest the other night and laughed and laughed. (I have no clue as to who I should give credit to for this tres cute and accurate meme.) Not sure why I laughed…because it actually sums up my current life:

I lost my car

chapstick and now

my purse chapstick

is in my room and

my room chapstick

is in my car and my

whole life is just

messed up.

A week ago this afternoon, I was in the midst of trying to get home from The Metroplex. I’d spent the night at TLC’s on Friday. She and Her Hubby were going out to dinner with friends. Her Hubby had, unfortunately, gotten quite sick and they had had to cancel. I was scheduled to attend a Homecoming/Reunion for my high school at a Club only 20ish minutes from TLC’s casa the next morning so I stuck with my plan to spend the night.

(My high school was brand new the year I was a sophomore. In l968. It was a Six MILLION dollar school and that, My Dear Friends, was a lot of dough in those days! This, obviously, is it’s 50^th year and there were going to be all kinds of celebrations last week to acknowledge it.)

I was excited to enjoy Brunch and a Catchup-Visit with my classmates Saturday morn. I looked pretty darn cute—if I do say so myself. Winky. Wink. My hair was AMAZING. Just the right “BIG.”

At this point: I need to tell Y’all we’ve had nothing but rainy and dark days for what seems like well over a month. Last Friday and Saturday were quite scary—weather-wise. Lots of hard rain. Lots of wind. Cold COLD COLD air. (Well, cold for Texans.) I’d hoped I could get to said Brunch and make a quick visit to my parents’ home for an hour-ish before I headed West late afternoon to see My Sweet Hubby (aka MSH), Buddy Boo Bear and Hunter the Cat.

When I was approximately 15 minutes from my destination, I hydroplaned on the freeway. I wasn’t going fast—at all. I couldn’t. Because I couldn’t see three feet in front of my car. I pulled off and promptly texted my precious friend, Christy (The Queen of All  Class of l971 Reunions), that I was turning around and going home. Then I texted TLC. Finally, I called MSH, almost in tears, to say I was white-knuckling it to our place immediately.

I got home at 1:00 p.m. after pulling over twice for fifteen minutes each time. (I should have been home no later than 12:15, by the way.) I watched FOOLS fly by me—doing 70-80 miles an hour—and many other cautious drivers doing anywhere between 45 and 55 miles an hour. I cursed them. I prayed. I cursed some more. I prayed from more. I bargained. I begged. I cursed and cursed.

I cannot imagine that every person I saw driving at a dangerously fast speed in that horrid weather had any reason to behave that way other than to just get where they were going as fast as possible. (Yes, perhaps some of them had an emergency. Or were sick. Or needed a restroom. Certainly not all of them. No way.) To hell with the rest of us. THEY were the important people. What they had going on was a million times more important than anything the rest of us had going on—like…oh, I don’t know…living to see another hour or day or month or year.

I made it home. Truly grateful to be alive. Sad I’d missed my friends. Glad I’d not caused anyone else on the road to have an accident. (Oh—and I forgot to tell Y’all—I saw at least four wrecks that were NOT GREAT. Cars smashed up. Many MANY emergency vehicles. In three of them? An 18-wheeler was involved. No judgment—stating facts.)

The rest of my week? Sheesh. Every day it was something else. At the risk of Y’all deciding you no longer want to read about this whiny Senior Citizen’s daily issues, I’ll leave you with this: It was not my most fun week. We all have weeks we’d like to forget, don’t we? Months? Yikes. Sometimes maybe years. If we’re lucky and determined and somewhat patient? We survive. By the Grace of Almighty God—we survive.

Here’s hoping each of Y’all have a Sweet Sunday and a WONDERFUL (NEW!) Week! Don’t drive too fast, okay? Especially in dangerous weather. Be kind. Be wise. Be grateful. Don’t simply survive—THRIVE.

Smooches and Hugs,

ELC