Monday, February 7, 2011

Snowed In

After my last post I could tell that I needed a change. That change came in the form of a massive snow storm that took Sara and I out of work for two days. I have to say that those days were the best of 2011, so far. There was a buzz in the air all day on Tuesday before the storm. For instance: the grocery store was completely bare of any items because worried shoppers bought up enough food and water and salt and, and, and, and... like they were planning for a nuclear holocaust; salt trucks were racing around like mad; the news was ALL about the storm. Every channel was warning people to stay home and "hunker down." I was so excited; a very welcome break from monotony.

When the storm hit I was driven home from work early by my boss; we could barely see in front of us by the time we neared my apartment. Amazing.

Sara and I planned, too. We bought things to eat and movies to watch. Every hour we were peeking our heads out the door and windows to see how much had fallen. We heard plows and snow blowers and the wind swirling while snow piled up outside our door and window ledges. After it was all over, we found the ONE shovel in our complex and started to dig out. We were so full of snow and sweat from digging and digging... it was so wonderful.

The day back to work was Friday, which was a breeze and then we were off to the weekend. It was an unplanned vacation that had to be brought down from god or something. I smiled the whole week.

Saturday night I had a very small seizure at the grocery store. It's kind of embarrassing when I have to throw all of my "goods" onto a shelf so I can retrieve the magnate from inside my pocket, then lean on a cooler while waiting for the seizure to end. After it was over I was tired and I had the same warm, calm feeling that one gets after a good cry; my body and brain were recovering.

Afterwards, Sara drove me home and made pigs in a blanket (hot dogs in croissants) and mac n' cheese while I leaned my head back on the couch. Even after the seizure, I had the same smile on my face that I did all week.

My Dad always talks about life as being an adventure. He'd say, "The trip to Cleveland for a routine check on a client was worth it because it was an adventure." "The snow was coming down fast and the snow-blower broke down." "Your sister and Sara needed a ride home at two in the morning." "I finally found a way to stop water from leaking into the basement!" For him those are new experiences, new challenges... new adventures.

What I needed was an adventure; last week I got one.