The Journey

August 9, 2009

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

~ Ursula K. Le Guin

"Vacation with Friends" to Kansas City

Maddie brought her friend Marissa.

Elizabeth brought her friend Madeline.

I brought my friend Chris Fowler.

About a half hour south of DSM, Chris started to fall asleep, so I offered (BEGGED) to drive. I thought it might ruin the trip if we died.

Goal 1: Do something with the borrowed children that we were pretty sure their parents would not approve of. We signed Marissa (and Maddie) up for the Ripcord thing - giant bungee flying ride.

Unanticipated Outcome: Every other ride was a bit of a letdown for Maddie after that.

Goal 2: Test everyone's stamina. I think (and this is not an exaggeration) that Chris said the heat index was 110 degrees the day we were there. It was very, very hot.

Goal 3: Feed the children. Madeline wouldn't eat anything at the park. She had a frozen lemonade and for lunch a roll and some chips. Fortunately, that night she ate pizza. The second day, at Ocean's of Fun, we had the worst food ever. Chicken nuggets that were virtually chickenless, burned fries, and yucky hotdogs. Amazingly, no one complained. Not even a little.

Goal 4: Get home safely. We managed this, even with crankpot Maddie in the car. I'm not sure that ending the trip with true life scary stories was a good idea, but it helped to pass the time.

We spent the rest of the week doing chores around the house. Accomplishments:

* Cleaned Office / Organized Files

Side Note: So, I just turned around to talk with Chris - who is cleaning out the last of her boxes in the office - and she's wearing a headlight. Headlamp? light on a strap that goes around your head. Her response when I shook my head? "Oh, c'mon! Don't tell me you don't like wearing these!"

* Got windshield on the van replaced. Yes, it cracked the day before we left on our trip. We took it anyway.

* Cleaned storage room in the basement.

* Changed the filter on the furnace.

* Got a leaky pipe fixed.

* Cleared dead vines and plants and put in new flowers on the south side of our lot. In the process we also met our neighbors across the street on that side. Chris told them that we knew when we saw their Hillary sign that this would be a good neighborhood for us.

Today we're finishing up a few tasks - office, flowers, cleaning bedrooms. But in our world, it's never that simple. There is always another storyline going on somewhere. For example, currently Elizabeth is charging Maddie for a massage ($7.50 for 20 minutes). She just walked past the door carrying a rock with a set of kitchen tongs. Apparently, she's giving Maddie a hot rock massage. I do not know if that costs extra or not.