I had a great time away, but dang, it’s really good to be home!
Had a great flight with my new friends Bill and his daughter Claire. They were heading out for a visit with extended family (along with Bill’s wife and son, whom I did not get to meet). They were friendly and fun to talk with and we laughed and shared stories. It made the flight time pass so quickly and it felt strange to tell them goodbye at the end of the trip knowing that I would probably never see them again. If you are reading this, Bill and Claire, thanks for a wonderful trip and the great conversation!
I came home to two extra boys (young men, actually) at my house. Blake’s friends, Joe and Alec, came to visit us for a few days from AZ. It’s awesome to see them again and have them eating all our food and laughing around our table. They went out and gave the wiffle ball field it’s first real try. Pretty awesome! Mark has lots of fun stuff planned for them in the next few days, so hopefully this visit will be a memorable one for them. The funniest quote so far was tonight at dinner. Mark had grilled steaks. Some of them were a little rare and most had a good layer of fat on them. When Mark went to pick up Joe’s plate (Joe is 6’4″ and weighs 300 lbs.) he asked him if he didn’t finish his meat because it was undercooked. Joe’s answer was priceless. He said, “No. I’m just not really a huge “fat” guy.” Obviously, he meant the fat on the meat. He realized as soon as he said it how it sounded, though. Of course we all died laughing, including him. Hilarious! All the humor of it would have been lost on anyone else…
I am still getting accustomed to the wonderful laid back attitude of Colorado. Before dinner, I had to pick up some things from the grocery store. At the check out line, there was no one to bag my groceries, so I began doing it myself. The cashier was teasing me about it, and after ringing me up, came over to bag the groceries for me. I found myself nervous and concerned for the lady in line behind me as he was taking his sweet time with my food and joking the entire time. I voiced my concern for her, saying, “is she going to be upset with you?” His answer? “She will be fine. You were my customer first and I can only do one thing at a time.” And she was fine. She was happy as a clam standing there waiting patiently. I sighed deeply and realized again that I am in a much slower, relaxed setting. And I totally dig it!
The boys just left to go bowling so the house is quiet for a little while, giving a little time to reflect on my time away and what God has for me to do now that I am back. It will be loud and crazy again in a little while, but until then I will thank God for life and love and living out loud in a new place with new people and new experiences. I’m home again!!!!
