HOW I SACRIFICED A SOUR PATCH KID FOR A WORTHY CAUSE

I know it’s been a while, my bad. The weekend of March 14, Clint and I took a short but much appreciated escapade to Moab. Clint was invited by some buds to play in a volleyball tournament with them. Gee, let’s see if I can remember all of their names: John, Dixon, Bill, Tyson, and Chris. Chris brought his wife, Heather; Clint and I roomed with them. Oh wow, kay…that’s a whole story by itself! That first night, Friday, was going to be a short night anyway because the boys had to get up at 6 the next morning to make it to their tournament game by 7. Yikes. So we go to bed at midnight; we’re thinking “Yeah, okay, we’re only gonna get 6 hours of sleep, it’s ok, we’re on vacation, we can deal.” Whatever, no biggie. But somewhere between like 1 and 2 am, I woke up to the loudest snoring I had ever heard. This was not normal snoring. This was the sound of a sick, angry bear rampaging around in the room looking for food and growling and snarling at everything in his path. It was so loud that apparently the other guys in the room next door heard it too! It was Chris. And we both still like him, don’t worry, but I’m telling you: it was amazing. Clint and I tossed and turned. I pulled a pillow over my head and packed it around my ears. No good. A couple of times I heard Heather nudge him and try to get him to turn over. But always, within less than a minute, those raucous snores began again. Finally, I remembered the sour patch kids lying on the table right next to our bed. I rolled over (the motel room was small enough that I didn’t have to get out of bed), fumbled around on the table, and finally found the open bag with my fingers. I listened to Curtis snoring for a minute to determine his position and distance in the dark. Then, I sneakily sent the sour patch kid hurling across the room! I heard a soft thud in the side of their bed and the snoring hesitated for an instant. Then started again. Oh goody. I fumbled for the bag again. Another sour patch kid. I listened again…then…hurl!!!! I heard a THWACK on the headboard--it must have been right above his head!!! Chris' snoring hitched in surprise, and to my relief he stopped without waking up! I rolled over and tried to fall asleep as quickly as possible before it started again. But sleep wasn’t quite fast enough. *SIGH*

No fear, there is a happy ending to this story. Thankfully, I have a sweet husband who wrapped his arm under my neck, then up and around my head so that his hand reached my ear and covered it completely. And so, happily nestled here with my head clamped between his shoulder and his hand, I somehow…finally…slept. Amazing how that works. (Oh, and, the next night, we bought ear plugs. ha ha)

(Pictures of the volleyball playing and Arches up next.)