Sunday, Lazy Sunday

It is quiet. Lloyd is still asleep. I am in my jammies. The t.v. is off. The radios are off. The street seems to be off. There aren't any usual sounds of summer Sundays: lawnmowers, car fixers, bike riders, dog barkers, kitty hissers, bird chirpers. I listen...... nothing. Only the slight hum of my laptop.

It is as if everyone knows the same thing: July is over. August has officially set-in. School days are around the corner. Weekday traffic will be heavier. Laughter will be fainter. Ahhhhh, but the days of fall are around a corner. I can't complain. I love fall. It's my favorite season. The unusual days of summer heat still linger and there is the occasional cold day. Maybe even some fall showers. It's the time of year when you can dust off your winter coat, scarves, and boots. Ahhhhh, but I am getting ahead of myself. It is technically still summer!

Today Lloyd and I will hang out. Just hang out. We will allow ourselves to be completely lazy. We will enjoy the ice-cream and chocolate-covered strawberries we made last night. We might dip into the fresh baked bread- despite the fact that last night I realized I forgot to include an imprtant ingredient. I started my day staring into the fridge with those juicy, delectable straweberries calling my name. I ate the "error" ones, first. What better way to welcome 8:30 a.m. than with a dessert treat?? After those 3, I stared at the rest and counted them a few times in my head. I wondered how many I could eat before Lloyd would notice that I had dived into the treats he envisioned. No matter how I worked out the numbers of the remaining, beautiful, perfectly covered strawberries, I knew I couldn't enjoy them without my husband having at least one of them. I waited.

I enjoyed a sensible bowl of cereal. The cereal I have every morning with its oats and grainy goodness. It's the one that says "You're a good girl. If you start the day off right and eat me first.... you won't crave anything bad for you.... you will wake up with the body of Giselle in a few short days." I ate this cereal, as I do every day and.... I despised it. With every granular crunch I wondered how much damage it would do to sprinkle leftover chocolate over it. I wondered, but I persisted in being good..... if only for now.

Yesterday Lloyd and I enjoyed a great day at Scandia. It was Lloyd's company picnic. It was really a wonderful time. We got there before just about every other employee because I "didn't want to be late". I knew there was a raffle and... c'mon... who doesn't love a good raffle? Once we got there the way to enter the raffle was to get 8 vendor stamps on our card. I took charge and hastened over to the vendors' booths. I enjoyed the utility companies' booths the best. This is because I am a self-professed nerd. Cam-Cam who is always looking to save on energy for a brighter tomorrow. Ohhhhhh, just saying it doubles my nerd-status. We got ourselves free low-flow showerheads and spray nozzles for our garden. I picked up an extra one for my mom because, like me, she loves a free give-away. I indulged the vendors with my interest since I slightly dislike people who run by booths only to get their stamps. Love em' and leave em' attitude.... but, again, all nerds dislike people who take the easy route. We loathe how people happily jaunt along and seem to be successful at it. We envy them. We wish we could be quite as care-free in matters of competition. I believe our card was the first to enter the drawing box. I was pleased. We bolted over to the park and rides. We jumped on the rollercoaster with Katelyn, Maria's beautiful daughter. Lloyd sat solo just in front of us. This was Scandia, not Magic Mountain so I didn't get overly zealous about the ride. That is.... until the first drop. WHOOSH!!! I was officially going to pee my pants (in a good way). I screamed. I became "that person" who yelps at the top of her lungs on a ride, even on the small dips. I have found, over time, that screaming and yelping helps me to enjoy a ride more. Either that or I am giving in to the curiosity of wondering what its all about when other people do it. I dizzily agreed to take Katelyn on the Norwegian swing looking thing. The ride that I lovingly call the "Dragon Swing" at every amusement park since that is its name at some park.... somewhere.... I sat in the back row, assuming this was the row to feel the most sensation. I must have been right, because I felt it, kiddos. On to the next.... Lloyd took a rain-check. Katelyn and I on a spinning ride. RurrRuRRruRRruRRRuRRruRR. Around and around. And again. And.... on and on. As I sat in that seashell-shaped seat I knew....I knew I wasn't a fresh spring chicken anymore. The Caminator that braved every ride and LOVES rides felt a bit quesy. Perhaps its just the Scandinavian atmosphere... unsure.

We headed back over to the park area for lunch. It was good. Lloyd and I do the same thing at every BBQ. I order everything (despite being vegetarian) and he orders everything (despite being a strict meat n' potatoes kinda' guy) and we swap at the table. He takes his second helping of burg, and I dive into his pasta salad and greens. We lingered a while, went back into the park and Lloyd and I watched, this time, his co-workers on rides. Back again to the park for the raffle. I won't get overly descriptive here since we didn't win anything. I was certain we would. We did everything right. We were the good ones. We were honest. We indulged those vendors. Humph. There were over 50 prizes and I was SURE there was something there with our names on it. But no. There was not. Lloyd walke back toward me and said "I didn't even win the pillow". We giggled. I felt defeated the way all nerds feel defeated when people who don't try quite as hard win. I questioned the ways of the world. I analyzed the situation for far too long and then.... back to the amusements for a round of "Crazy Golf" as Lloyd calls it. Ahhh, to be European.

We played a close team game against Ross and Jessica. I had moments of glory where I started to believe I might actually have a talent in golf... I literally wondered what Tiger Woods and I would talk about on the PGA tours.... (what can I say- I have a very active imagination). The triumphant moments were to be followed by holes that were embarrassingly well over par. The ones where you give up and keep watching it barely miss the hole. Lloyd had those moments too. Ironically, in the 18th hole, he managed a hole in one. This hole-in-one garners a ticket for a free game. Since the machine that spits out the free-game ticket was not working, I spoke to three workers in my very earnest, nerdy tone about how "he got a hole in one, he got a hole in one, he got a hole in one, he got a hole in one" while pointing to my husband. He didn't care about that ticket- but I sure as heck did! Did we actually plan to come back to play more mini-golf?? Not likely, but I needed to hold that trophy, albeit a thumb-sized gaming ticket, to feel like I....... I mean, we had won something that day. Nerds are like that. They need to feel like they haven't been completely defeated. With pale blue ticket in hand, I proudly beamed and knew that the world was just and fair after all.