Reflections
Since I just spent the most fantastic weekend at a gorgeous lake, I figure that's an apropo title.
First the fun stuff:
got to the lake Friday night around something like 9:30ish. Robin's dad came to the shore and got us (And all our stuff). When we got to the island we were pretty much all beat so we headed to bed. Ben had to work Friday, so he was going to drive all the way up after work, and was expected to get in around 4am. Basically, Robin was going to call him when he woke up and then meet him at the shore.
Now for those of you who know me, I am not a morning person. However, at 7am all weekend, I was just plain awake. So Saturday morning I woke up to the boys downstairs talking and this other sound that I just couldn't place. It kept going, and I soon realized that I was not going to fall back asleep. I got up and dressed and as I was doing so, a hot air balloon floated past the island. It was a pretty nifty way to start the day. (I later learned that there were actually three balloons going past the island that morning, and the unnatural noise I heard was the gas to heat the air in the balloon).
We spent the day running around. Food shopping, picking more people up from the shore. but Robin and Liz had brought scuba stuff, so Ben and I went out on the boat with them so they could dive. That was fun, a good excuse to sit on a boat and look at the pretty water and get a tan. :) Sunday was a better diving day for them, but they seemed to have fun both days.
Ben brought his boat and we cruised around the lake and went fishing and talked. It was great to see everybody and that lake and island are beautiful retreats. It's amazing for there to be a place on Earth still where time moves more slowly, days last for weeks and you care truly simply "be".
All in all a great time.
The Bats......Well, let's start with the fact that there are bats on the island and essentially living in the attic of the house. Robin's dad had hired a "Bat Man" to do something to get the out of the house. So Saturday the guy came out and spent a lot of time putting in these little doors that would let the bats out, but not back in. So that night we're sitting around and we start to see the bats fly out and start to feed. They get very loud and realize they can't get back in. The next thing I know, there are like 10 bats in the house in the upstairs bedroom where Liz, Robin, Ben and I are sleeping. So the men go dashing upstairs and start chasing these bats.
Liz and I made ourselves useful doing dishes in the safety of downstairs, but we could hear the bat hunters upstairs. It was all pretty funny. They thought they had it all taken care of and everybody went back outside. I went upstairs to put on warmer clothes and Ben and I ended up staying up there, just talking. That didn't last terribly long though, because another bat decided to join us. I leapt up, screming a bit and then just started laughing. We caught it and got rid of it, but everybody was thoroughly amused by me. And a special thanks to Ben for trying to "save me" from the bat. :)
The next morning, we get up and we're sitting on the back porch and we can see a bat or two who have made a new home in between the porch screen and the window tarps that cover the screens (to keep out the rain). So Robin, his Dad and I go outside to open unsnap the tarps from the house and get those bats out. hehehehe, little did we realize what we were in for. It wasn't just a few bats, it was a few 30 bats. They had ALL decided to make that area their new home. Needless to say there was more jumping, screaming and laughing by Jenny. but I kept coming back to help. (Not that I'm sure I was all that much help, but anyway). I now have a whole new respect for bats :)
I know, it's amazing I could have serious things to say after a bat-hunting filled weekend, right?
I had a nice heart-to-heart with a good friend this weekend. We talked a lot about the philosophies of life and how we live. We talked about what in life makes us happy and what the last thing we think about each night before bed is.
I decided something out there, a sort of realization. I've been spending a lot of time sticking my head in the sand and beliving (at least internally) that certain things are out of my reach, specifically love. I've let myself believe that because it didn't work out the first time, because I've been rejected many times and because I'm more of the "elephant" in the room than the "pretty girl" in the room that I don't stand a chance and will either end up alone or settling for someone just to be married.
But you know what? I have friends who would walk through fire for me and I have a profession and career that I'm proud of. I just spent a great weekend where I had a ton of fun being exactly who I am, both goofy and serious, and I didn't worry for one minute whether my hair was curling right or whether someone was judging me. I was just there to live and enjoy the world. So I'm going to try and do more of that. I am who I am, and one way or another I will take the world by storm. And anybody who doesn't like me, or my weight, or anything else can just jump off a cliff!
First the fun stuff:
got to the lake Friday night around something like 9:30ish. Robin's dad came to the shore and got us (And all our stuff). When we got to the island we were pretty much all beat so we headed to bed. Ben had to work Friday, so he was going to drive all the way up after work, and was expected to get in around 4am. Basically, Robin was going to call him when he woke up and then meet him at the shore.
Now for those of you who know me, I am not a morning person. However, at 7am all weekend, I was just plain awake. So Saturday morning I woke up to the boys downstairs talking and this other sound that I just couldn't place. It kept going, and I soon realized that I was not going to fall back asleep. I got up and dressed and as I was doing so, a hot air balloon floated past the island. It was a pretty nifty way to start the day. (I later learned that there were actually three balloons going past the island that morning, and the unnatural noise I heard was the gas to heat the air in the balloon).
We spent the day running around. Food shopping, picking more people up from the shore. but Robin and Liz had brought scuba stuff, so Ben and I went out on the boat with them so they could dive. That was fun, a good excuse to sit on a boat and look at the pretty water and get a tan. :) Sunday was a better diving day for them, but they seemed to have fun both days.
Ben brought his boat and we cruised around the lake and went fishing and talked. It was great to see everybody and that lake and island are beautiful retreats. It's amazing for there to be a place on Earth still where time moves more slowly, days last for weeks and you care truly simply "be".
All in all a great time.
The Bats......Well, let's start with the fact that there are bats on the island and essentially living in the attic of the house. Robin's dad had hired a "Bat Man" to do something to get the out of the house. So Saturday the guy came out and spent a lot of time putting in these little doors that would let the bats out, but not back in. So that night we're sitting around and we start to see the bats fly out and start to feed. They get very loud and realize they can't get back in. The next thing I know, there are like 10 bats in the house in the upstairs bedroom where Liz, Robin, Ben and I are sleeping. So the men go dashing upstairs and start chasing these bats.
Liz and I made ourselves useful doing dishes in the safety of downstairs, but we could hear the bat hunters upstairs. It was all pretty funny. They thought they had it all taken care of and everybody went back outside. I went upstairs to put on warmer clothes and Ben and I ended up staying up there, just talking. That didn't last terribly long though, because another bat decided to join us. I leapt up, screming a bit and then just started laughing. We caught it and got rid of it, but everybody was thoroughly amused by me. And a special thanks to Ben for trying to "save me" from the bat. :)
The next morning, we get up and we're sitting on the back porch and we can see a bat or two who have made a new home in between the porch screen and the window tarps that cover the screens (to keep out the rain). So Robin, his Dad and I go outside to open unsnap the tarps from the house and get those bats out. hehehehe, little did we realize what we were in for. It wasn't just a few bats, it was a few 30 bats. They had ALL decided to make that area their new home. Needless to say there was more jumping, screaming and laughing by Jenny. but I kept coming back to help. (Not that I'm sure I was all that much help, but anyway). I now have a whole new respect for bats :)
I know, it's amazing I could have serious things to say after a bat-hunting filled weekend, right?
I had a nice heart-to-heart with a good friend this weekend. We talked a lot about the philosophies of life and how we live. We talked about what in life makes us happy and what the last thing we think about each night before bed is.
I decided something out there, a sort of realization. I've been spending a lot of time sticking my head in the sand and beliving (at least internally) that certain things are out of my reach, specifically love. I've let myself believe that because it didn't work out the first time, because I've been rejected many times and because I'm more of the "elephant" in the room than the "pretty girl" in the room that I don't stand a chance and will either end up alone or settling for someone just to be married.
But you know what? I have friends who would walk through fire for me and I have a profession and career that I'm proud of. I just spent a great weekend where I had a ton of fun being exactly who I am, both goofy and serious, and I didn't worry for one minute whether my hair was curling right or whether someone was judging me. I was just there to live and enjoy the world. So I'm going to try and do more of that. I am who I am, and one way or another I will take the world by storm. And anybody who doesn't like me, or my weight, or anything else can just jump off a cliff!