Rally time

Sturgis is jumping, folks! I haven't seen the crowds yet, but I can hear them as they roar past my house all day and night non-stop. You think I'm kidding. I'm not. Sam is trying to sleep, but the bikes keep waking him up. It doesn't help that our house is on the corner of a busy intersection where the bikes sit at the light and rev, rev, rev their engines. It's really annoying. I'm beginning to hate the rally. We don't have A/C (not that we need it this year, as it topped out at about 65 degrees today) and so our windows are always open. Some of those pipes are incredibly loud. You literally can't hear yourself speak when you are trying to have a conversation. Not that I have anyone to talk to since my husband has been made the Incident Commander for the big operation they do during the rally. I bet you guys will see him as much as I will in the next 2 weeks. But this is a BIG deal for him. It's a huge operation. And you know how much my husband likes to be in charge!

We had vacation bible school this week. I was put in charge of the nursery for the volunteers who worked VBS. I signed up to be a measly volunteer, but somehow ended up on the short list to be the crew leader over the kids ages 0-2-ish. You know how much I hate to be in charge! Really. I don't like to be forced to make decisions or have to be responsible for anyone or anything other than myself and my belongings. I'm lazy. I just like to float along and let other people make the important decisions. I don't want to have to think too hard. I'm sooo tired! Audrey had a great time at VBS though and next year Katie will get to go too. This year she stayed with me in the nursery. I probably shouldn't say this out loud, but kids REALLY get on my nerves! Maybe the nursery isn't the right place for me! Oh, it's okay, but I definitely could not work at a day care center and do that every single day. I don't have that kind of patience or emotional stability. See, I don't tolerate whining or crying or fit-throwing very well. When my kids do it, they do it from their bedrooms. You can't really do that with other people's kids. And I'm soooo not a snuggler. I hug my kids, but after a few minutes I'm pretty much done. Geez, I sound like lots of fun, huh? My kids are gonna need therapy as adults!

Before I start scaring people out of my life, I think I'll change subjects! We tried to re-do our camping trip last weekend. We packed the car Friday morning, loaded up and headed out to our campsite in the middle of the Black Hills National Forest about an hour and a half from home and any kind of cell service. This is a place that Vince and his co-worker TJ found. It's not an actual campground. It was beautiful! Just off the road into this nice flat spot in a valley with a cold, clear mountain stream running through it and surrounded by fields of wildflowers and cliff-faces, we met TJ and his wife Becca. We unloaded kids and dogs and started setting up camp. Vince worked on getting up the tent (I use that term lightly regarding this "thing" that he calls a tent) and I worked on getting everyone lunch. Five PB&J sandwiches and one fall out of the car later, I look over to see my hubby staking down this strange looking tarp-ish structure that I will call the circus tent. That's what it looks like because basically it's a tarp with a pole in the middle and then you stake down all around the edges. It's even stripey like a circus tent. There's no floor to this thing and you can't stand up in it. What?!! I thought he was bringing our nice, big, 2 room tent that you can actually get away from the bugs in. I don't know what I was thinking (strong use of sarcasm here)? Anyway, after he got all the cots and stuff stowed in there and his hammock strung up, we gathered around the fire pit to chat. Except, that's when I started to feel queasy. Not just about the circus tent. I tried to lay down and nap while they cooked their greasy, nasty, fleshy, hot dogs over the fire. I can't stand those things when my stomach is not flip-flopping. I didn't rest for very long when it hit me! Let's just say that the PB&J didn't stay. The stomach bug is especially not fun when you are not anywhere close to a real bathroom. But I was going to try to stick it out. Vince and TJ left for work and Becca and I stayed with the kids and dogs. Poor Becca. I was not very good company. I gave up being a sport and just went to bed at the first hint of twilight. I finally got all the kids ready and into the beds and had just laid down my head when Sam started puking too. I gave up then and there. I told Becca I was sorry, but I was going home. There was no way that I was going to make it through that night trying to take care of a sick kid in a circus tent with no bathroom while trying not to barf myself. I loaded up all living things and drove all the way home at about 10:00. I felt horrible leaving her there alone, but as soon as I had cell service, I called the guys and told them what was happening. I got home around 11:30 and unloaded the sleeping kids and barking dogs only to realize that I was locked out of my house! We are having issues with doors not working properly around here. After cursing my luck, crying for a few minutes and then calling my husband to cuss at him, I jimmied a lock with a giant screw driver. At that point I didn't give a hoot if I had to rip the door from it's dang hinges, I WAS getting in that house! I would deal with the consequences later. Vince and TJ finished up what they were in the middle of and drove out to camp. TJ and Becca stayed, but Vince packed up our stuff and came home. He got in around 3 AM. I'm glad we came home though. Sam and I were so sick. Then, Audrey got it the next day and then Vince and Katie got it Sunday. I have heard that it's going around. Lots of people have had this little bug. I never would have made it out alive if we'd stayed out there trying to camp. So, that makes twice we've had to cancel our little excursion. Third time's a charm, right? Maybe we'll try again. Maybe TJ and Becca will laugh in our faces!

Here's a popular topic on this blog--cleaning my house. I should be doing just that since we will have company during the rally and my sink is full of dishes and the laundry chair is full of clean, unfolded laundry just begging to be put away. I started to do the dishes earlier, but when I opened the dishwasher, I noticed that there is water sitting in the bottom that refuses to drain. Fabulous! I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all.