Family and friends, in the land of fire, and ice.
Fjölskylda og vinir, í landi eldi og ís.
We're going back to Iceland!
Last July, we were discussing what to do for Ashley's (my daughter) birthday. Somehow the conversation turned to my birthday.
I'll be turning 50 this year, and apparently the act of staying above ground and breathing for that long is cause for major celebration. In my case, that may be true.
Julie asked, "Given the constraints of our budget, if you could do anything,what would it be?"
Without hesitation, I said, "Take Ashley with us to Iceland."
Julie asked Ashley if that sounded like a good present for her as well. She was stoked on the idea.
Julie is a woman of action. Dates and flights were researched, and tickets purchased that evening.
We were all talking excitedly about our upcoming adventure, when someone mentioned it was a shame to be so close to Sweden, and not see our friends. So, we invited them to join us, and much to my delight, 6 of them are.
Our research showed that a round trip flight was only $300 US. Julie asked Ashley if she would like to split off from us, and spend another week in Sweden. Ashley jumped at the chance.
We ended up inviting everyone we know. At this point we are 10 confirmed adventurers. Including our 70 year old neighbor, Sally.
Sally has been dealing with the heartbreaking reality, of placing her husband, my friend, Barney, in full time care for Alzheimer's. She is more than ready for a spectacular distraction, and our invitation fit the bill.
There was a bit of convincing to be done with Sally's wonderfully protective daughters. Once they saw what a truly amazing, friendly, and safe place Iceland is, as well as the fact we had been there before, they gave their blessing. (Cool, but I'm pretty sure she was going to go anyway.)
Yesterday was reserved for errands. I was in and out all day. I guess, after arriving home from the store, I forgot to take the key out of my truck. I had told my folks they could borrow my truck, while we are gone.
Well, as we were eating dinner, the dogs started going nuts, and my truck started up, then backed out of the driveway. I looked out of the door, and saw it was my stepfather, and he was pulling over. Figuring he saw me, I went back inside to wait to tell him we hadn't left yet, and I may need my truck one more day. He pulled into the driveway, my front tire was completely flat. There was a huge gash in the sidewall, where he had hit the low retaining wall on his way out.
He called my mom to come back and pick him up, then sat down to wait. He told me to take it in, get it fixed, and let him know how much he owed me.
Being the gentleman that he is, I never doubted he would pay for the tire. And hey, we all make mistakes. But, as the words washed over me, I felt my blood pressure rise. I was thinking; WTF? my day is packed tomorrow, I don't have time to deal with this, I need my truck for one more day! A tiny but insistent voice way in the back of my head said, "Warning, Scotty will be losing his shit in, 3, 2, ..." Deep breath, then, "You know what would be helpful? If you would come over tomorrow, and take the truck in for me. I'll put the spare on." He agreed.
This morning I set to changing the tire, of course, it's raining. Once finished, I decided to check for anything I might need from the cab. That's when I noticed, he had left the key on, and the battery was done. I hooked up the charger, and texted Julie. She called back immediately, and we laughed till our sides hurt.
Isn't it weird, how when someone is having a string of bad luck, it can actually splash onto you a little?
He came to get the truck, I told him about the key, and if it didn't start at the tire shop, it would need a new battery. With that, I bumped my charger up to start mode, and started the truck. As I was wrapping up the charger, the poor guy looked like he wanted to crawl in a hole and die. All this, just to take a load to the dump.
The rest of my day will be; packing, unpacking, repacking, at least three times. It's just my process. Also, getting the house ready to leave, and doing those last minute errands... on my motorcycle... in the rain.
And I couldn't be happier.
You know why?
Because, WE'RE GOING TO ICELAND!
