Grab Some Coffee...We Have a Tale to Tell

It's been a while since we had a proper Ryan-and-Bekah story to tell you. But we have a good one for you today! Pull up a chair.

It all started a week ago today. Memorial Day proved to be central Indiana's first true day of summer weather, and it did not hold back a thing. Full sun, full heat, full delight...for all those who have boats and lake properties. It was absolutely the most perfect lake day. We, however, were not at a lake. We were at home and ever so happy to be there! I had grand plans for cooking, and Ryan planned to do some yard work.

And our air conditioning planned to break.

It would have been nice if it had told us of its plans, but it didn't. So there we sat on our first proper day of summer, nearly matching outside temps on the inside. Of course it was Memorial Day, so we couldn't call the repair guy. He deserves a holiday too.

I got up early, early, early Tuesday morning to return to full-time office life after nine weeks of working from home. Our house was almost 80 degrees even at 5:30 in the morning, and I wasn't sure I could get anywhere near a flat iron. I threw on a sleeveless dress, powered through the flat iron, and I sure was glad I did, because a half hour after I arrived at work, one of my co-workers sent a group text reminding the staff that it was picture day for the new website pictures. Oh, my soul. Nine weeks of pandemic roots and an 80 degree house, and this is how I shall be introduced! Ha! But how glad was I that I'd powered through the flat iron and hadn't tried a ponytail day?

Ryan called the air conditioner guy that day, but he was in the middle of a big job and couldn't come over. He promised to call and let us know if he could come Wednesday instead, since we planned to leave for our little birthday getaway on Thursday. If he could come before we left, and we needed parts for the repair, he could go ahead and order them.

So that brings me to last Wednesday. I got up to another 80 degree house and absolutely could not mess with the hair. Not that day. I threw it in a ponytail, donned a skirt and dressy tank top, and sat miserably on the edge of the couch.

Heat does funny things to people. Some people sweat. Some people get a headache. I get sick to my stomach. Ryan asked if I was sick, and I knew I wasn't for real. I knew I was just heat-sick. But it really doesn't matter what the root cause is - nausea is miserable in every single form.

Ugh.

"Just go to work," Ryan said. "It'll be better there. You'll have air." I knew he was right, so I dragged myself from the couch and out to the car. I opened the back door to put my work luggage on the seat and recoiled into the wall.

WHAT....IS THAT!?!?!!??!

Ryan just looked at me, and I pointed at the car. "SMELL!!!!!"

He walked around to the other side, opened the back door and recoiled into the truck.

Did something die in there?????

He started poking around while I stepped as far back as I could. In about two seconds, he held up the culprit.

It turns out that FIVE DAYS EARLIER, when I unloaded the car after our grocery shopping, I missed a pound of ground turkey sausage. It had been sitting in the little cooler in the back of the car and had exploded after five days and the arrival of summer.

It smelled like a rat had died in there after eating a bag of rotten broccoli.

And there I was, sick to my stomach from the heat and needing to drive that very vehicle to work.

And it was raining, so I couldn't drive with the windows down.

Ryan offered to take me in the truck, but I wanted a vehicle at church with me, in case the whole rolling-stomach thing took over and I needed to go home. I told him I'd be fine. Wasn't that far of a drive. (He told me it sure was a good thing I wasn't still commuting an hour - and he was RIGHT!) He asked if I had anything I could spray in there, and the only thing I could think of was my bug spray that I make with essential oils. It smells pretty good, I think.

I grabbed the spray bottle from the cabinet and put it in the cup holder, right next to my coffee. I cracked the windows just the tiniest bit and craned my neck as near to the crack as I could reach and still drive safely. And all the way to work, I randomly spritzed bug spray all over the car. I'm really sorry no one was able to grab video footage of that adventure.

I checked with Ryan throughout the day and he still hadn't heard from the repair guy. Right before I left to come home, Ryan called me. "I have bad news. I ran to work for just a minute to drop off something, and the guy called while I was there. The call didn't come through and I just now got his voicemail. He could have come right then, but since I missed him, it will be next week."

The whole day had been too ridiculous to even cry over that news. Ryan's hospital is a BUNKER. Unless he stands against a window, he can't get a signal in that place. It's actually very strange, because texts go through to him - but not calls. He hasn't been inside that building in about two months. The ONE HOUR OF ONE DAY he stopped to visit, the guy called.

I came home and started working on our trip prep. We already felt like this was the least prepared for a trip we had ever been. Part of it was because I haven't tried to trip prep while working in about five years. Part of it was not knowing what we would be able to access while we were gone, since everything is so up and down right now. It was going to be our first trip without a color coded itinerary, and I felt like an utter failure because of it.

I knew what would make me feel better, though! Food prep! Since we couldn't count on restaurants to be open, we planned to be prepared for every single meal on our own. If we found places to eat out - great! If not, we were ready. I started with the protein balls, because I knew they needed to chill before I rolled them into balls. I started dumping ingredients into my dish and even decided to double the batch for good measure.

As I dumped the next to the last ingredient in the bowl, I realized I was making the wrong recipe!!!! The one I thought I was making wasn't in my recipe book. And while there was nothing wrong with the one I did make, it just wasn't what I planned.

I soldiered on, though, assembling and packing the rest of the food. I sent my sister this picture, and she said...

And the meat's already in the car!

Smarty pants.