Dissociated Thoughts

An Interesting Weekend

My oldest daughter's baby shower was this past Saturday.

Friday the 13th - Since my youngest doesn't have a car, she was unable to get to the party on her own, so my husband and I drove the two and a half hours southwest of where we live the night before to pick her up. She had to work until 11 pm, so my husband and I left home around 8:30. I programmed our GPS with her address, and we were off. The trip there was uneventful, the GPS guided us there without any problem. It was the ride home where the GPS apparently decided to take us on the scenic route. Let me just say here that our GPS does this from time to time. It will choose the road much less travelled to lead us down in order for us to reach our destination. It has gotten us lost on more than one occasion. But back to the story. Once we left the lights of the city, things went downhill. The GPS led us down country roads it looked like few vehicles travel other than tractors. The night was black and all we saw were trees and fields, no signs of being inhabited. My husband joked that it felt like Deliverance and asked when the banjos were going to start playing. Deeper into this winding maze in the middle of nowhere we drove. It looked like our journey home was going to take much longer than the two and a half hours it took us to get down there. So accustomed had I become to the darkness and solitude that I was taken off guard by a mass of flashing lights at the intersection I had come to. There were at least six police vehicles, and double that many police officers at the intersection. One very friendly and helpful officer walked up to my vehicle as I stopped at the intersection. He told us that they were still looking for the convict that had escaped and suggested that we not stop along the road for any reason or pick up any hitchhikers. Fine with me. I wanted to get the heck out of Dodge and back to some semblance of civilization anyway! We drove away asking one another what escaped convict they were searching for, because none of us had heard anything about any escaped convict. It turned out that my lovely GPS had guided us on backroads toward Centerville. We finally made it back home, at about 2:30 a.m. On Saturday, before my youngest and I left for the baby shower, I looked up recent escaped convicts in Texas. I found just what I was looking for. The convict they were searching for (and I think are still searching for) is a man who was convicted of murder and attempted murder. On Thursday, he had somehow escaped his restraints, found a sharp object, and attacked and stabbed the driver of the prison bus he was on, causing the bus to crash. He then escaped into the wilderness near Centerville, both armed guards firing at him as he ran off. The reports said everyone else remained in their restraints on the bus. Sounds like there was more to it than they're letting on, but then again, they only tell us what they want us to know about most things. Better to keep the masses docile.

Saturday the 14th - While I was looking up the convict on my computer, I get a call from my oldest saying she wouldn't be able to make it to her own baby shower. The lugs on one of the tires on her car were broken and she tried to get a rental, but they wouldn't accept her credit card for whatever reason. I called the rental place and looked to see if there were any other rental places she could possibly get a car from - so did my mom. We came up with nothing. By this time, my mom is plenty angry. and said we were going to have the baby shower with or without the mom to be. Before I left home, I spoke to my oldest one last time and told her if she really wanted to be there for her baby shower, she'd find a way. (I think this is good adulting practice for her, things don't always go the way we want them to in real life and we need to find ways to take care of things anyway - instead of relying on Momma or Grandma to do it for her) She actually made an appearance, three hours after the time set for the party, but she made it. She and her guy borrowed a car from a friend in order to be there. After the shower, I had to drive my youngest back to her apartment so she could go to work the next day and return to classes on Monday. This time, rather than relying on my GPS to guide me home after I dropped her off, I preplanned my route, and got home at a decent hour without incident.

I worked Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The normal craziness a part of each day. Sunday was about as normal as they come. Monday, my coworker had a mild heart attack. Yesterday all I wanted was for my shift to be over with so I could finally get some rest. Maybe that's what I'll get to do today on my day off, after I get done with all the chores that have been stacking up. A nap is definitely in the schedule for today though. I think I deserve it!