A Week to Remember at Christie Lake

Vacation time is over and a mound of laundry is sitting in the laundry tub.  I can hear my Mom chiding me as she reads this.  But I told you to wash your laundry while you were up there!

The week started out with Steven’s baseball team’s championship win.  No sooner did we arrive back up in Michigan and the storm clouds began to roll in.  We covered up the boats just before the skies let loose with angry mix of wind and rain.  The electric went out from Wednesday evening until Friday morning.

Everyone made the best of it.  Shortly after we lit up the lanterns, the kids began to make up dances in the kitchen.  Mom and my cousin, Marilyn, began doing line dances, the fox trot and the cha-cha (at least, I think that’s what the hopping around looked like).

On the fourth of July, the weather was beautiful.  The kids decorated the pontoon for the annual boat parade.  We didn’t have many boats this year–either the price of gas kept everyone on shore or they didn’t want to particpate in the water fights afterwards.

Right after the parade, we threw a surprise 40th birthday party for my cousin Cheri.  Cheri’s brother passed away when she was a teen, so her actual birthday at the end of the year always holds sad memories.  So we celebrated her “half” birthday instead.  The cake was decorated in black icing, with two nice mounds of icing-covered oranges in honor of her new growth.  That’s right, Cheri’s gift to herself this year was never-before-seen cleavage.  I gotta tell ya, my cousin rocks.  She took up running, lost weight and looks like a knock-out.  She’s my inspiration.  I’ve got the boobs, now I want the body to match.

There’s more.  The vacation wouldn’t be memorable if it wasn’t for the way it started… and ended.  On Saturday night, we were next door at a party.  The beer was flowing freely and the roasted pig was actually delicious, even after I declared that I wouldn’t eat it–there I was–sitting with a plate of it and downing it with my fourth cup of beer.  Those who know me, you can pick your jaw up off the floor.  Yes, I do like to imbibe every now and then.

Cheri’s husband came bounding over.  “The septic tank just overflowed on the driveway,” he announced.  Uh oh.  So that smell– it was wafting over from our driveway.  We tried to keep the news away from Mom as Dad slipped back home to call the septic company.  Of course, there wasn’t anyone who was willing to come out over the weekend and empty the tank.

So there we were, with a bunch of people in the house and strict orders not to flush.   Mom hollered at Dad for a bit.  “I told you to call the septic company earlier in the week!”  But then she quickly went into problem-solving mode, pulling out kitchen garbage bags and announcing that anyone who wanted to void themselves of solid contents would have to cover the toilet with a garbage bag first.  We managed to get everyone through the weekend minus working toilets.

What can I say?  It was definitely a memorable week.