A Look Back (2 years earlier) - Ridiculous

Amanda was home with the little boys by herself. The day was going smoothly enough, although Justin, the 2-year-old, had managed to get his leg stuck on a sticky mousetrap when he fell off the side of the couch. He had hollered and fussed as she pulled it off, the thick glue not wanting to let go. A new use for eye-makeup remover was discovered when she used it to remove the sticky residue left on his leg. Amanda had chuckled to herself. I wonder just how good it is to put that on your face when it has that kind of power.

It was lunchtime now so Jesse, only a year old, was in his highchair while Amanda was making sandwiches in the kitchen. Jared, 6-years-old, was actually being helpful by putting Jesse’s bib on him.

A sudden scream right behind her caused Amanda to jump, startled. Spinning around, she saw Justin standing in front of the refrigerator, crying, with his foot stuck to yet another trap.

Amanda rolled her eyes, exasperated. She reached down to pull it off. “Justin, calm down. Hold still so I can….AAAHH!” There was a mouse stuck to the trap! Her yell scared Justin and he jerked away, dragging the mouse with him and crying harder.

“Ok! Ok, um….ew!...hold still!” Amanda cringed. She hated mice! Of course this would happen when the big boys are all gone! Now I have to deal with a dead mouse stuck to a 2-year-old. She gingerly stepped on the quarter inch edge around the glue with her slipper. There was no way she was going to put her hand near that thing. She reached down and took hold of Justin’s leg, pulling his foot off the trap.

Then, the mouse moved.

“AAAUUGH!!” Amanda’s hysterical scream was joined by Justin’s, although only she was stuck to the trap with the mouse now. Her moment of panic had caused her foot to slip just enough to touch the glue.

Jared came rushing into the kitchen, saw the mouse, and screamed too. A brief thought flashed through her head of how funny it must look to have a 20-year-old, a 2-year-old and a 6-year-old all screaming in the kitchen about a mouse.

“OK! JUST CALM DOWN!” Jared had stopped freaking out first and now stood with his hands out, yelling at Justin and Amanda so he could be heard. She quieted, almost wanting to laugh at how ridiculous it was to be told to “calm down” by a 6-year-old. Almost, but not quite. She was still stuck to a trap with a live mouse on it.

“Take your foot out of the slipper and I’ll pull it off!” Jared said, looking all business-like now. She followed his instruction, not a bit ashamed to let her little brother do the dirty work. Jared managed to pull the slipper off, holding onto the edges of the trap carefully with his small fingers.

Amanda shuddered. Mice were so nasty. “You can kill it if you want. Take it ou…”

Too late. WHACK-WHACK-WHACK!

“Stop! Jared, NO! Not with my slipper!”

He stopped and looked sheepish as he grinned. “Oops. Sorry. But it’s dead now!”

Amanda didn’t doubt him with how hard he had hit the thing. She groaned, not sure she ever wanted to wear his “weapon” again. And now the trap with the dead mouse was flipped over and stuck to the linoleum, thanks to the vigorous beating it had taken. She shook her head. “You’re cleaning that up since you flipped it over.”

“Aw, man!”

Jared took care of the trap and mouse as Amanda cleaned Justin’s foot and finished getting lunch together. Now that the panic was over, she kept laughing as she thought about how crazy the whole thing must have looked.

“If only there had been a video camera!”

Talent

The tortilla soup smelled great as Amanda turned off the stove and scooped some into the blender. She hadn’t used the blender very much and was excited to do so again.

Hold the lid, press the button…

Whrr-SPLAT!

She gasped as hot soup flew everywhere, but she somehow managed to keep the lid on and turn the blender off. It grew quiet as she stood there for a minute in disbelief, the soup dripping off the counter onto the floor.

What the heck?? How’d that happen? She opened it and looked at the soup, then replaced the lid. Maybe I just need to hold the lid tighter. She pressed the pulse button so it would only run for a split second when she pressed the puree button again.

Whrr-SPLAT!

“Ow!!” Amanda pranced around the kitchen before turning the cold water on full blast to rinse the hot soup off her wrist. As it took the sting away, she surveyed the mess. Soup on the sink. And on the clean dishes. And the counter, cabinets, rug…and herself. A red mark was beginning to show where the soup had almost burned her.

“Wow. That takes talent.” She shook her head. Apparently the hot air built up enough pressure in the blender that it forced the lid open when turned on.

I swear I’ve made more messes in my own kitchen than I did in all the years with Mom and Dad. This mess topped them all, though. A dropped spoon that slung melted chocolate all over the rug. Twice dropping eggs on the floor. Spilled water on the floor from sneezing while walking with an open pitcher. And an over-full quiche that spilled egg mess three times before Amanda managed to get it in the oven. The list went on and she had a feeling it wasn’t going to end with this bigger mess.

She swiped some soup off the side of the blender and licked her finger. Oh well. At least it still tastes good. She grinned. Besides, isn’t it true that a messy cook makes a good cook?

Scott

"He said, "I'm listening to the music." And then, "Fantastic....wow!""

The words of a dying man repeated at his memorial service. Amanda had known Scott for over 17 years, the father of her childhood best friend. He had died of cancer, just short of being 50-years-old. The battle with cancer had taken a year and while some may see that battle as lost, Amanda knew God had won. She was thankful to God for His love for Scott, His child. Scott was at peace now. But tears still threatened to fall as she thought of the family left behind. Four children, two married and two still teenagers, the youngest almost 16. And a wonderful wife, Joyce, one of the sweetest women Amanda knew.

Old pictures of Scott and his family in the slideshow brought laughter and tears to those attending. Joyce had chosen the songs that were playing on KLOVE as Scott was dying to accompany the photos. "Home" by Daughtry and "You Raise Me Up" by Selah. The whole service spoke of Scott's quiet and strong faith, his full joy in both living and dying. Memories of family get-togethers filled Amanda's mind as she thought of how much his two daughters and two sons would miss him. And how much Joyce would miss him.

I've been married for only two months and can't imagine loosing Brandon. But to lose a husband of two decades? I know I have no idea of what that's like. Amanda's heart hurt. Words wouldn't heal this family's pain and she didn't have any to give them.

Amanda watched as Joyce received hug after hug when the service was finished. At the moment, Joyce's joy for Scott being with Jesus was shining through the rest of the emotions that came with the day. Could I be so strong if this happened to me? Lord, please continue to give her Your strength and peace. No one else will be able to hold her up, but You can. Amanda's prayers for them followed the same thoughts all day.

After the service, life continued. For many who came their lives would be the same as before, with work, family, fun and worship. For others, a piece is now missing. Praise God that one day all will be restored for His children, in His name! But until then, remember those in your own life who are missing pieces. The Church is here to love, encourage and uplift them. The Body of Christ. This is why God gave us each other.

Changes

Life is so very un-plan-able sometimes. Amanda's weekend (the first one where Brandon was taking off two days of work instead of one) was supposed to have consisted of going to Niagara Falls on Saturday and then the local theme park with him and his sister and brother on Sunday. Then they found out that one of Brandon's cousins was graduating high school that Sunday back home in Kansas. Brandon looked up flights and found that tickets were as reasonable as they would ever be.

"Is it okay with you if I go?" he asked Amanda, standing behind her with his arms around her waist.

"I'll let you go." she replied.

"But is it okay with you?"

"I'll support you if you decide to go."

In all reality, she was not okay with the idea. Her flight home to go to her own brother's graduation had been booked for two weeks and Amanda was already partially dreading being away from her husband for the first time. Now, if he left, he would be gone Saturday night through Monday night. Amanda was leaving Thursday morning and not coming back until Tuesday.

She growled inwardly as he bought the plane tickets. It's not fair. We finally have a real weekend and this happens! She blinked back tears. Stop it, Amanda. You're being a brat. You should be thankful that he has today off and isn't leaving directly from work.

Amanda knew God's hand was in this. Brandon had a peace about going and if she would stop and admit it to herself, she did too. It was hard not to hang onto her grumpiness though, as they finally got on the road and realized they didn't have time to  go to the Falls and make it worthwhile. But she didn't want Brandon to leave on a sour note, so she sent a quick prayer asking for help with an attitude adjustment. They changed course and went to a mall just a few minutes away from the airport. They were going to try to answer the question : Cuisinart, KitchenAid or Rachael Ray? JCPenny carried all three cookware sets they were looking at online and Amanda wanted to look at them in person.

As she let go of her irritation, they were able to enjoy the couple hours they had left before making sure Brandon caught his flight. Brandon even bought Amanda a piece of cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory (peanut butter fudge ripple!), saying he was "bribing" her with it to be happy.

She managed to send Brandon off with a smile and hug. It was a deja vu moment, remembering how often she had to say goodbye the same way while they were courting. She reminded herself that it was just a couple days this time, not a couple months. On her way home (thanking God for GPS and a F150 to drive instead of a huge dually) she changed her mind about staying at home by herself the next day. She called her sister-in-law when she got home.

"Hey! Do you want to come over and spend the night? You can bring Austin and we'll watch a movie or something. Oh, did you measure him to see if he's tall enough for the rides at the theme park?"

"Yeah, he is except for three of them. Sure, we'll come over. It'll be 7 or 8 though, I'm helping Mindy with her business cards tonight."

"That's fine. We'll do breakfast in the morning and head over to the theme park when we're ready."

"Sounds good. See ya in a bit."

"Alright, talk to you later! Bye."

Pizza Hut pizza, The Princess Bride and Bride and Prejudice made for a fun and late evening. (Bride and Prejudice can't be started and not finished when someone hasn't seen it before! Even if it does mean staying up until 3am. "Marriage has come to town! Laughter, color, light and sound!")

The next day the three of them headed over to the theme park. Amanda was excited about going to her first real theme park, since she didn't think Joyland in Wichita probably counted. She was also cautious, knowing her tendency towards motion sickness. Carefully choosing which rides to go on would save her from crawling back to the truck and feeling like she was going to die.

"The Viper" rollercoaster was their first stop. Austin's mouth was running non-stop, he was so excited. "I don't get to do this very often! Sorry!" was often repeated as he bounced along. Amanda looked at the multiple loops and twists, wondering about the wisdom of this. Well, it doesn't have too many circles. Surely I can handle going upside-down...six times? Her guess of enjoying the ride but being done with it afterward proved accurate. The blast-off at the beginning caused a half-laugh, half-scream to come from her. And the six loops and black tunnel at the end caused her to say, "Um...let's go try something else" as she and Amanda Beth walked slowly, dizzy and Austin ran ahead, ready to go again.

The afternoon consisted of a ride, a break, watching the other two on a ride, a ride, a break, watching the other two on a ride, et cetera. One of the best times was Amanda's fake freak-out as they rode the coaster "The Predator" for the second time, while Amanda Beth laughed hysterically in the next seat.

"Oh-my-gosh. Oh-my-gosh. I can't do this! Let me off, take me back, we're gonna die, I know it! Please stop, stop, I can't handle it....AAAUUGGGHHHHH!!!"

Soft-serve custard was a highlight and people-watching provided some entertainment. All-in-all, a very good day. But she shouldn't have gone on her last ride. The "Ride of Steel" had two circles that went 'round and 'round...and 'round. Amanda was ready to go straight to bed when she got off of it. And as soon as they were back to her home, she did.

Okay, that was really awesome. Her eyes closed as she tried to hold very still. But I don't think I want to do it again for awhile.

Ordinary...

Ordinary life. Normal life. Phrases that have a unique meaning for every single person on earth...

She sat in the truck, drowsy as the sun warmed the passenger side. It was 2:30 in the afternoon and so far it had been one of two kinds of a "normal" day. Amanda had come to work with her husband Brandon, which meant for her sitting in his Dodge from 7am to ... well, whenever they left. Amazingly, there was a possibility of leaving early since this particular job site would be finished quickly with the joint efforts of Brandon, his dad Stan, and his sister Amanda.

Father-in-law. Sister-in-law. Being married still had its strange moments for her. But Amanda was surprised at how quickly her new life felt "normal". Two months didn't hardly seem long enough for that to happen. She grinned as she thought of a conversation with her friend Mel, who was in Liberia.

"How's the family?" she had asked.
"Um...which one?" They had both laughed at the confused answer Amanda had given.

It showed a truth, though. Her mom and dad, brothers and sister, were close to her heart, but 1,200 miles away. The family she saw almost every day was just as much a part of her now. She hadn't felt welcomed into Brandon's family because it felt like she had always been a part of it. It was as if she stepped into their hearts only to find she was already there.

Melanie, Brandon's mom, and Austin, his 9-year-old brother, had made it to Batavia, New York the night before. They had been home to Wichita to take care of Melanie's mom, who had had double by-pass surgery and who was now recovering well. Everyone would probably go over to Amanda and Brandon's home that evening for supper. Amanda grimaced as she remembered the dishes on the counter. Oh well, she thought, it won't be the last time there's dirty dishes in my kitchen. Besides, it's the fridge and mattress that add the most interesting character right now. 

She had asked the owner of the campground they were staying in near Batavia (at least, she assumed he was the owner) where a local landfill might be, so she and Brandon could get rid of the old, possessed refrigerator and the cardboard-like mattress they had replaced. He had suggested instead to take the refrigerator to a junkyard down the road and to put the mattress outside, he would "have my guys pick it up and put it on our burn pile".

Four days later, after it had rained on everything, the mattress was still leaning against the end of the 5th-wheel and because of late work hours, the refrigerator, with both doors ripped off, sat on a piece of cardboard in front of the door. If it hadn't been so funny (and it did look funny) it would have been irritating. Amanda thought it was probably better to be amused than mad.

She turned her attention from home back to where she was. She might as well get a couple things done before they left work. There were wedding pictures to go through, the audio book The Count of Monte Cristo to listen to, and a blog to set up.