(O-SO) Strong.

 

     Our family has always been the type of - "gotta run to the corner store, need anything?" type of family. Somehow though - most days right after the key is in the ignition and tires start to back out onto the highway - a new grand adventure takes over - off we head to Oregon, Montana or the Cascade Mountains. Destination unknown. We have found now, anytime that someone is running to get something, everyone wants to go but this time it was just Shailah, Lucee' and myself running down the street to pick up a cabinet that we had found online.

"Days Go Slow & Years Go Fast." I find that statement extremely true at these times. 

     As you know or maybe you don't or do and just weren't paying attention but as of right now - while this was being wrote ... I had 5 Children, 11 Grandchildren w/ 1 on the way, a Husband, a Dog & 2 Cats. (To date: I still have 5 Children but the Grandchildren's tally has raised to 14 - we lost 1 cat but added 2 more so now there are 3 plus and fish and a turtle ... also a "boyfriend" and 2 bonus children.)

     In our home, not a day goes by that silence is not being broken by either yelling, screaming or laughter. The kids argue. They push. They pull. Saying "NO!" is a word they all use regularly. Things are thrown. Tears are shed. I admit that many times I just want a break. I need a break. The craziness is so much to deal with most days. Quiet?! Even for just one short minute to be able to hear the second hand on the clock tick - seems more like something I should add to a bucket list then something that will ever happen in real life.

     I found a China Cabinet (online) and decided that - in the words of my kids "Couldn't live without it." Great price but catch was that it was about 90-100 miles up the road from where we reside. Eh? It was the weekend somehow. I still couldn't figure out how though. Maybe a typo on the calendar or on the schedule at work? I really didn't ponder much on the logistics of it. Shailah and I both had the day off. That in itself was strange enough for me not to question management - just go with it before they figured it out.
     
     -----> Back to paragraph one. Anyone who knows us knows that when Mista Kymm gets a little wind in his sails - he is more then happy to turn the short trips to the corner store into what will soon be referred to as Another Wood Grand Adventure.
     Very reluctant, yet after a lot of talking and pleading, I convinced Shailah to join me on this "quick" trip. I promised there would be no funny stuff, no extra twists or turns. I just wanted to go get this piece of furniture then head back home to set it up. 
      Driving along - the music, the fresh air, the scenery. I was enjoying pointing out all the trees covered in snow bending towards the ground - trying to lash up like a bubble from a child's magical wand. Colors. Pretty colors. Colors that dreams are made of. OSO! Not where we were "told" we were going but where the GPS came to rest. Lord, nothing around for as far as the eye could see. Nothing but the quietness of a still life. Looking from side to side, I take a deep breath in THEN begin to panic. My mind starts racing like that of a kid on Christmas Eve in anticipation of Santa not forgetting their house. Coffee! Where are the coffee stands? Oh no! How do people live out here without coffee?  As the sun starts to set, we need to get home. Lucee' is getting bored but I really think she is just tired but likes to name it different things .... The road a head is long. So long. To long. 

     The sky turns a pink hue, orange and then a yellowish. I see a coffee stand. A little corner store. There is a God, I think to myself. It looks like a little Mom and Pop kind of place. We have to stop. We have to. It had been so long that I had forgot what coffee tastes like. I never wanted to forget that guilty pleasure of life. Pulling in - my heart is leaping in spins of joy. Now when I mentioned a second ago this was a Mom and Pop kind of place - it was a Mom and Pop place. (no kind of to it) Certainly not big enough for both of them to fit in comfortably, closing the door behind. I wasn't about to complain though - 2 minutes in - Coffee then back on the road again. When the line finally died down from what seemed like the whole town was standing in ... it was our turn. They had coffee. Coffee! That wonderful, wonderful stuff that held my frazzled life together. Shailah and I both ordered our usual. We weren't about trying something new at someplace new like this. We grabbed a few pieces of Laffy Taffy, Banana. They had Banana. Who would have thought? 
     Loading back into the Big Red Boat, we are off again. Destination HOME!  Getting closer to our address, random horns are honking, other cars headlights blinding and people, people are everyplace. The Country is nice. Peaceful. This though? This chaos is where I belong and honestly? I wouldn't want it any other way.

     As for the coffee we purchased at that tiny little road stop attraction - we left it behind just like the China Cabinet we didn't end up getting. You know though? It's a Wonderful life.

                                                                                                                                                                 Kazz 💋