To Infinity, and Beyond!

Sometimes I like to think of myself as Superwoman. There is nothing I cannot accomplish when I'm motivated. Well, at least that is what I like to think. I have been known to tackle projects that are totally inappropriate for me to be doing on my own (like the time Matt came home and found me half way up the stairs from the basement precariously holding my digital Yamaha keyboard. . . good thing he walked in when he did - I had been standing there for about 3 minutes trying not to drop it and attempting to discern the best course of action).

Today was another one of those days. I decided I should borrow a friend's pickup truck and take a load of trash to the dump about 10 miles from our house (I've never done this before, by the way). I was feeling pretty good about that decision at first. I got that truck filled to overflowing without too much trouble. I covered the whole load with a large tarp that I tucked down into the bed around the garbage. As I backed out of my driveway I was feeling a little smug and self-satisfied at what an exceptionally versatile woman I am.

Then I drove about a 1/8 of a mile, and the wind caught my little tarp.

The next half hour consisted of me driving as slow as I possibly could, stopping every mile or so to try to secure my load and re-tuck my tarp, and half praying/half crying that the whole ordeal would just end. I'm pretty sure I looked totally ridiculous driving down the highway at 40 miles an hour with my tarp flapping in the wind behind me.

You would hope that my arrival at the dump would conclude the humiliating portion of my experience today, but oh no, it did not. You see, having never been to the dump and being completely unaware of "dump etiquette" I was totally self conscious about how to distribute my trash in the warehouse collection center. I was instructed to back my truck into the large space and just throw my trash inside. It didn't matter where I put it because a large machine would come sweeping across the floor, gathering all of the stuff into one spot.

Well, I didn't realize I was supposed to take those instructions so literally. So I proceeded to neatly pile my trash in the middle of the room. I organized it by type; plastic bags, cardboard boxes, etc. I neatly piled our used fluorescent lights on top of the boxes and felt relieved to have the experience over. And then another truck pulled up through the stall next to me. It was at that moment that I realized I should have listened more carefully to the instructions.

The two men that hopped out began throwing their trash off the back of the truck into the middle of the warehouse. Actually, it wasn't so much throwing as it was launching. Glass broke and junk spread all over. I looked from their disastrous ejection over to my nice, neat little pile of garbage. . . and I felt totally ridiculous all over again.

I should also point out that the office was next to the warehouse and lined with windows facing into the enormous collection center. I'm quite sure I brought a little laughter to some lives today. . .

Apparently I am not Superwoman. Although, my frantically flapping tarp is as close as I've ever been to wearing a cape before. . .

There is no spiritual significance to this post. Just thought you'd enjoy hearing that in the midst of my deep revelations and emotional blogging I am also totally capable of being completely ridiculous.

Have a fabulous night, my friends. . .