Ready for anything!

The big day arrived! We dropped off Sarah and Heather at BYU yesterday. I was so ready! I put all my money, ID, and credit cards and secured them safely into the pocket of my cute, black, BYU approved, knee-length shorts. I had my camera and we were all set!

We drove down to BYU and hurried to the ID center so the girls could get their BYU Id's. The room was full of fellow students all waiting for their id. "Huh," I remarked loudly. "It looks like no one else brought their mom!" Sarah moaned and elbowed me. Hard.

I knew we had an appointment at the bank next, so I reached my hand into my pocket to reassure myself that I had the money and my ID. And it was empty. I felt that rush of panic start as I frantically put my hand into all my other pockets just to check, but they were empty as well.

I clearly remembered putting everything I needed into my pocket. I know I had! I looked down in dismay at my black shorts feeling very betrayed.

Except I wasn't wearing black shorts.

Then I remembered. Right before we left I had changed into a pair of jean capris!

Off to the bank we went anyway. I informed the bank guy that not only did I not have the money to put into the accounts, I didn't have any id on me either.

So much for feeling like I was on the ball...But I did have a camera! That has to count for something, right?

Laundry time.

When we drove up to Massillon, Ohio to visit Nick we thought it would be fun to surprise him by washing his laundry while he was busy marching.

His laundry was very dirty. And by saying "very dirty" I am being kind. It was more of a "toxic-nasty-should be burned" kind of dirty.

Anyway, we put all his laundry in one of those super-duper-triple capacity sized washing machines, put it on the "For The Love Of All That Is Holy, Get This Laundry Clean!!!" setting. And watched it work it's magic.

We finished and put his laundry away nice and neatly into his duffel bag. And waited to see if he would notice.

That night my son came over and asked us what we had done to his clothes.

Hummm. "We washed it?" My daughter replied.

"Why?" I wanted to know.

"It's so clean!" he replied sounding surprised and amazed.

Well we had just washed it...I wonder how he does his laundry?

Maybe he just hasn't found the special setting yet.

Self-discovery.

We learn things about one's self when we are in adverse situations. This summer I spent 3 weeks "volunteering" on the Cadets food truck. We worked 15 hour days, slept on an RV with 8 other volunteers and worked hard all day in the sun.

Things I have discovered:

1. You can judge a shower by how it looks. I can forgive a lot about a shower if the floors are clean.

2. I require more than 3 hours a sleep at night. My brain just doesn't function properly and it takes me a long time to connect the dots when going on only a few hours of sleep.

For example: I put the other food truck crew members cell phone numbers into my cell phone using their first name and food. (Mainly because I don't know their last names and it gives me a quick reference to who they are.) So one day I got a call from Robin Hood. And I was like: "How did Robin Hood get my number? And why is he calling me?" It took me several minutes before it finally occurred to me that I had mistyped "Food" and put "Hood" and that it was Robin from the food truck calling. See? Not so quick...

3. I don't require a lot of time to get ready. I was amazed at how quickly I could take a freezing cold shower. And without access to a mirror, I can be dressed and back to the food truck in only minutes.

4. Please and thank you can go a long way. It was amazing how just a simple thank you from one of the kids made it all seem worth while. Some of the kids were so polite and gracious and thankful for the work we were doing for them.

5. Aprons are wonderful things. The first day I went through 3 changes of clothes. Then someone introduced me to the aprons and it was, well, amazing.

6. I do not like heat, hard physical labor, and functioning on little to no sleep.

I'm so thankful to know this about myself.

And after saying this, I can guarantee that I will be one of the first to volunteer to be back on the food truck next summer.