Road Trippin

I realized that I have never blogged about "road trippin"! I have been road trippin my entire life. I am not really sure why, but sometimes, often at very inappropriate times mind you, I have complete fits of laughter. The things that trigger these fits are not... ummm... always funny to other's. They usually look at me like I am a bit crazy and/or wonder if I have been drinking or smoking something funny! After many years of road trippin by myself, I was presented with two people in the world that would 'get' my humor... my son and daughter! Mostly my daughter. It was on a road trip from Florida to home (Colorado) that the fits got their honorable title... road trippin.

We left Florida a full two days before her boyfriend and his Dad left, and... they beat us home! We stopped often, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves... and everytime one of the boys (her boyfriend Nate, Ross - my husband, or Adam) would call we were usually in the middle of fits of laughter. They were umm... annoyed.

It all started because the night before we left for the trip, we stayed up literally all night talking. I haven't done that for years and years. We left early in the morning and were to meet Ross's Aunts at a Cracker Barrel for breakfast on our way out of Florida. We stopped about 20 minutes away for gas, and his Aunt (who is a long time member of road-tripping herself) said, "where are you at? what did you do? stop for breakfast!" Now remember that the things that set me off aren't always funny in somber moments... but this set me off. We arrived in high spirits and had a wonderful time with the Aunts.

Then we drove on into Georgia. By the time we got to a little town called Mason Georgia we were both tired and I was feeling a bit light headed. This is really where the big road trippin became legend on our trip. We pulled up to a Wendy's to get some dinner and as we were talking about what to get, with the window rolled up still, every time Laura would say an item, a different item would appear on the screen. She would say something else, and another item would show up. It was weird and apparently worthy of my undying laughter. We were laughing so hard, tears streaming down our faces, that we couldn't order... which only made things even funnier. Now, remember that we were running on no sleep at this point and please don't judge us for road tripping worthiness. Of course, the boys called during this umm event. and the rest of the trip was more of the same.

Here are some other... umm... 'gems' of our trip together:

In Alabama we began to see weird and different 'road kill' on the side of the road, and created a game to determine what the dead animal was. Wild life is definitely different in the south than in Colorado.

Also in Alabama we saw a huge line, I swear there were literally hundreds, of port-a-potties. They were all lined up in the middle of nowhere. We couldn't figure out why there was such a need for so many! We determined that this was where port-a-potties get sent to when they are 'set out to pasture'. Was REALLY funny! honest!

Then we were driving in the middle of New Mexico on the way to the Carlsbad Caverns. I was getting low on gas, there was nothing around for miles, and the sun was setting for literally hours! It felt like time had stopped and we were in the 'Twilight Zone'. Then there was a run down trailer on the side of the road, and I imagined a creepy maniac living there. We turned on a small dirt road and I swear that all the rabbits started going crazy! They were crossing the road in front of us, back and forth, back and forth! We both started road tripping and I was so worried that I would run one of them over due to all the tears in my eye.

We had so much fun, the boys were so annoyed, and that, my friend, is how laughing for no apparent reason (at least no logical one) until your stomach aches and tears are streaming down your face has come to be called 'road trippin'.

How often do you road trip? you should try it! it's fun!

Lovely People

Have you ever met someone that just seems to radiate love? To everyone. Not just to their friends and family, but literally everyone they come in contact with gets showered with their light. I have been so blessed and fortunate to meet several people like this. I think I will call them 'lovely' people, for they truly are!

Of course, Kelly (see my husband's blog www.run4kelly.blogspot.com) was one of these people. Actually, her whole family seemed to radiate love out to the ends of the earth. The pastor's wife at my church is another. The entire congregation lines up after the sermon every Sunday to get a hug and smile from Kristen. She is so genuine, so interested in you, makes you feel special, in a word... so lovely. There is a man at work who works in the building maintenance, and he has a smile and laugh for everyone! Once I used to see a man selling newspapers by the side of the road, and I waved and smiled at him everyday! Just seeing him made me happy. He was so lovely!

I know many, many reasons to not show love to everyone. There are people that have hurt me, people that have disappointed me, I have been ignored and humiliated and I KNOW that there are people out in the world that could hurt me again! But, I don't want them to be able to take my love away from the world. Because I can't think of a single other thing that would have a greater impact than having more lovely people in the world. Just think of what life would be like if most of the people that you meet have that same loving light about them!

I have made and broken probably hundreds of resolutions in my life, but this year, I am going to strive to become a LOVELY person! What would the world look like if more people became a beacon of love? I imagine that that is what heaven is like, everyone fully expressing their love freely! Will you join me? Become a beacon of LOVE in the world! God will help! I am sure of it!