He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalms 91:1

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Summer Funnies

Cousins at the beach  2008


  I seem to have an affinity to being down and out for the summer.  Here I am, one month into summer, with a list a mile long of projects, church happenings, fun with my grandkids on school vacation, lunches with my teacher friends on summer break and I am stuck on the couch with this MUSCLE thing...  Doing too much with my very wimpy body gets me in trouble every time.

  Two years ago, just before our last big family trip to FL for a sisters and their families reunion....I got a wild hair to dig in my flower gardens and get them organized for the summer.  After a long year at school with many many more "tasks" (extra car duty, lunch duty, early bus duty, more playground duty, afternoon bus duty) my knees were already bothering me.  Stomping on that shovel in hard dry dirt left me with a brace on my right leg from my upper thigh to my ankle.  It was much like this back injury as I couldn't move without help, and the only thing I could do was lay on the couch--for weeks.  My dear and good good friend brought me her crutches and her husband sawed off the bottoms to fit my very short stature.  I was headed for Florida!  No stress fractures on my tibia bone would stop me from that trip!

 I was laying here today thinking about that trip (comparing notes to this miserable confinement) and I remembered ONE funny story that happened to me while we were on this WELL PLANNED trip with two of my sisters and their families.

   Anita, my big sis, lives in Florida.  She and her husband own a darling beach cottage close to where we rented.  She and I knew we needed groceries for our family cookout, so she came and picked me up.  We headed to the nearest Publix, crutches, list and sun glasses in tow.  I hobbled into the grocery store and spotted the handicap scooters they so wonderfully have provided at grocery stores now.

 "Anita, I'll just ride this and you can put the groceries in this basket.  Okay?"

Anita is VERY expressive in her manner of talking.  "You AREN'T going to ride THAT are you?"  she said with her eyes as big as the hot Florida sun.  (A quick note about Anita.  She is darling, cute, perky, looks twenty years younger than her age, and always looks like she stepped off the page of a fashion magazine~figure and all).  She was a little intimidated by her little sis riding a handicap vehicle.

I just laughed and got on it.  "Here, Anita, you'll have to carry my crutch."  I handed it to her, and off I went about twenty miles an hour down the produce aisle.


I was looking over the lettuce selections, and here comes Anita,  not looking particularly thrilled. She had her arm shoved between the bars of the crutch like a purse.  I almost fell off the scooter, laughing!  She went her way, and I went mine to find the ingredients we needed for homemade ice cream.

I was getting pretty happy driving this new toy, wishing I had one at home.  It was fun!  You push the lever forward, and the scooter goes forward.  You pull it back, and it backs up! (Not a good move in the grocery store, I might add).  I was really getting the hang of it and was testing it out to see how fast it would go.  I would holler at Anita if she wasn't in site, and she would come running.  It was turning out to be a FUN trip!  I mastered doing wheelies in the extra wide cereal aisle.

I needed something more for pain, so those of you who shop Publix know the last aisle next to the cheese and yogurt is where they have vitamins, and I THOUGHT the pain medicines.  NOT.  So off I go toward the front of the store.  A little lady and her tiny little elderly husband was sort of in my way, but I had gotten pretty good at driving this thing, so I thought I could make it.  WELL.  Not quite.

There was this display of "Pirates of the Caribbean" dishes for kids sitting just a few inches TOO FAR out in the isle.  I was truly trying to miss it, or at least not hit this little old lady---CRASH.

I ran into the display and all the hard plastic dishes came THUNDERING down and rolling all over the newly polished black and white checkered floor.  I managed to stop the cart, but it hung up on the cardboard display.  Oh me.  What to do now???  I looked at the little old man and said "If I move back it will fall over.  If I move forward it will knock all the Ester-C and Cod Liver Oil off in the floor."

He looked rather bewildered.

Then he walked a little closer and said, "Go for it, sweetie.  It couldn't be much worse!"

I backed that baby up and the rest of the display came tumbling down.  I heard Anita (SEVERAL aisles over, I need to say)  "OH ME.  She wrecked that thing!"

Don't have a clue why.
Making memories


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