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.