A Delivered Memory

It was four years ago this month that we were packing our suitcase for Cabo San Lucas. Tom decided to indulge in a few new shirts and a light jacket for our trip, but when he came home from the mall, I wasn’t real thrilled with the style of the new jacket. “It looks like the kind of thing a delivery man would wear to work,” I lovingly exclaimed. “Don’t you want a tropical look?” He said that he liked it and he seemed very proud of his independent selection of new clothes. “Okay, but you look like you’re going to deliver a UPS package.”

Tom wore that jacket everywhere we toured in Cabo. It’s on all of our vacation pictures. Even after we returned home and went back to work, he wore his boring brown jacket. Then something funny happened when he went to the grocery store during lunch one afternoon. When he returned to the office he told me about the guy that approached him in the parking lot and asked him, “Is UPS hiring?” He never wore the jacket again.

Yesterday, Tom had to pitch his current much worn gray & black jacket. I started to suggest he stop at the mall when he is in town next weekend, and quipped “Don’t buy a UPS jacket though; maybe we should do this together!” We both laughed merrily, and we’re not even going on vacation.

Comments

The Venomous Intruder

It’s the middle of rattlesnake season here on the ranch. The local news anchor confirmed it. I’ve seen two already. While driving along our dirt road yesterday, I mistook a virulent enemy for a branch. I backed up the car, looked again and noticed the branch shifted revealing a rattle at its end. At one of our road association meetings in the barn, Shelby stood up and shouted, “ BOB !” to my next door neighbor. He’s our vice president and the one all eyes were on as he gave a presentation in the middle of the room. I sensed fear in the way she yelled his name. I learned after the meeting that Shelby called out to him like that because she saw a rattler slither in the barn door where she and I sat. Bob yielded to the interruption and quietly dispatched the enemy. Ten minutes later, this tough guy was back to center stage falling right back in step with the business at hand. Bob is my new best friend. ...

It's Not Always About the Tomatoes

I like to travel with buddies and rename them. I vacationed in Costa Rica with Lupe who loves margaritas and gets a little loopy. I don’t drink but I’m a fun gal. Just ask my co-worker, Frank. I nicknamed him Jellyfish. I packed my underwater camera. Jellyfish can hold his breath really long. He modeled for my underwater photo shoot in the colossal pool at the resort our company chose for us. I am fascinated with rain forests so my favorite thing to do in Costa Rica is to take walks in them. I signed up for the tour of an organic cacao working farm. Lupe chose it too. A group of us piled into tractors to view crops of watermelon, mango, rice and cattle while we chewed on natural sugar cane, their largest product. We observed monkeys, Toucans, and sloths. The best part of the tour for me taught about climate change and harvest time as we walked single file among papaya trees, cacao trees, as we...

Marriage Tip #44: Do What He Wants

I thought about our upcoming anniversary. I prayed one morning for the marriages in my family, and a sentence about my own dropped in my spirit: “ Do What He Wants .” I paused, “Really?” He’s his own man. What if I end up in the wilderness camping by night and target shooting by day? What if a coyote decides to have me as a late night snack? We celebrated our anniversary early this year, Before the kids come next week. And we did it his way . This is how it happened. I never asked him about a plan or even mentioned our day. I remember how it all unfolded at the roundabout just as we drove into Sedona. He asked me if I would like to go to a baseball game. I responded excitedly, “Yeah!” Before the day was over, he purchased tickets for a Diamondbacks home game. He printed them out. He booked a hotel room so we wouldn’t have to drive home from the city after the late evening game. ...

Choose Joy in the Journey

Search This Blog