Hi everyone! I'd like you all to just assume that I posted this immediately after the Fourth instead of two weeks late. Truthfully this post has been sitting in my draft box for precisely that amount of time but I just haven't had the brain power to sit down and fully apply myself to writing. So with this brief intro, I continue into what my post would have been like if I had actually posted it on time:
Happy belated 4th of July, all! I hope that everyone reading this (as well as the ones that don't) had a fantastic day and weekend. Josh and I headed back to Forsyth, GA (about 20 miles North of Macon) to see the family for 4th of July. What a crazy trip! Josh works across the street from his apartment complex and has the strangest hours. His shift Saturday was from 6pm to 2am. I didn't manage to get to sleep so while he was away at work I cleaned and packed everything (all while taking advantage of Netflix for all it's worth... and conversely not being nearly as productive as I could be). After Joshua returned we watched another movie, finished loading up the truck, and headed off to Forsyth bright and early at 5am, fresh coffee sitting in the cup holder. I was honestly surprised I was still awake. Anyone that knows me well can vouch that I am not a morning person and that I do not function well without a decent night's sleep.
The trip from Statesboro to Forsyth on I-16 is incredibly boring. I-16 drives through such the middle of nowhere that you don't even see any cows. Just fields... and trees... and flat land. Exits with one run-down gas station at them. Thankfully, though, Joshua keeping me company in the car made the 2 hour trip go by so much faster, even if the FM transmitter for the iPod was being a butt and deciding not to work. Coein, Joshua's beagle, also decided that he wanted to drive halfway through the trip. He forgot that he was not invisible as he attempted to crawl into my lap and see over the steering wheel. We did finally make it to Forsyth in one piece at around 7:10 am, where I grabbed more coffee from the coffee pot and was informed that we would be attending church that morning at 10am. No rest for the weary...
I hopped in the shower to rinse off and wake myself up, and slipped on a clean white dress. Thank goodness for foundation to cover up the circles that must have lurked under my eyes! I spent so much time getting ready though that I went running to the kitchen right before we left, and remembered, "Oh hey, I'm Diabetic." I tested my BG and find that it was at 69 and falling. I threw some cereal into a measuring cup and, from there, into the bowl and poured in some milk. Breaking the record for "fastest time to ever inhale cereal" I was finally ready to go and hopped into the car with everyone else, a can of Diet Coke in hand to tide me over and keep my eyes open.
The Church we were going to was called Rock Springs Church and was located in Jackson, GA, about 20 miles up I-75 and through a great deal of corn fields. As we neared the Church, we were greeted by a sign that read "Rock Springs Church: The Perfect Place for People Who Aren't." When we arrived, Jake and I were grouped into the college study group and Marleigh into the High School group. Not wanting Marleigh to have to be alone, however, we recruited her and all made our way into study. All of us ended up feeling very young. The youngest people there in the "college group" seemed to be a married couple in their 30's. It hit me about 8 minutes in that I was exhausted. I hated to be so impolite - especially in Church and my first time there as a guest, for that matter - but try as I could, I could not keep my eyes open as I sat there, unable to remain awake. I spent the next hour drifting in and out of sleep and woke with a final start when study group was over. Flashing an apologetic look at our study group leader, we made our way out the door and into worship service in the main hall.
Rock Springs Church was amazing. (More on it in a further post.)
After Church we planned to go back to Forsyth and grill hamburgers. However, Laurie "Mamabird", Josh's mom, got a call from a friend who invited us to come down to her cabin in Juliette, Ga, for hamburgers and a swim in the Ocmulgee River.
What a surprise we had waiting for us!
We arrived at a huge multistory cabin on the banks of the Ocmulgee River and Juliette Falls. Brandy, Laurie's friend who invited us over, led us on a trek down to the falls to see the incredible view. The water was full of visitors fishing, swimming, and just enjoying the sights.
It was a hot day and we couldn't wait to get into the water. The hot trek through the sun was making me low, though, and after touring the falls, we filed back to the cabin and had lunch. Pepper bacon, hamburgers, sausage, chicken, green beans and watermelon awaited us. We took our watermelon outside to enjoy on the porch as we gazed at the river. Stomachs full, we changed into our bathing suits and trodded across the yard down to the river bank. Down a pair of rickety metal steps, we descended down to the water and cast off our shoes on a sandy outcropping. I dipped my foot in the water and sighed. "Oh, it feels so good!" I exclaimed. I grabbed the rope and eased myself into the current. We spent the next couple of hours swimming in the river, climbing over rocks, and digging our toes in the sand. I even found an old tooth that belonged to some animal - it looked like a shark tooth to me!
A couple hours in and I was doing pretty okay. All of the activity had chased my tiredness away. Marleigh and I climbed back up to the cabin for more hamburgers, swimming having given us a huge appetite. Soon everyone came back inside as grey clouds rolled in, thunder boomed, and the wind picked up. We talked and lounged as the rain pattered down and soon it was time to leave. I got progressively more exhausted. Laurie, Joshua, Marleigh and I decided to go over to Marleigh and Josh's Aunt Tonya's house near Jackson, GA. A little unsure of the way, we drove down rural quiet roads until we finally made it to the house, stopping at a gas station on the way to pick up some Diet Coke AKA caffeine.
We spent a few hours at Tonya's. We talked out on the back porch, and all the girls painted their nails. I downed two cups of coffee. Finally though, the caffeine could only do so much. I'd have had to start chugging Monsters by the six pack just to maintain coherency for much longer. I begged utter and complete exhaustion and we left for home. On the way back, we saw fireworks exploding in bursts of beautiful color in the night sky over the tree tops. It was quite a sight on those quiet country roads, the fireworks soaring towards the sky to join the stars. I recollected all the times I had seen the incredible and expensive firework shows at Disney but somehow, the quaint and stark beauty of these fireworks stood out as even more lovely to me. We parked the car and stopped on the side of the road to gaze at them, even though I protested at first because I was absolutely exhausted - up 36 hours and counting! I was very glad we stopped to see the fireworks but happy to get home quickly when they were over. Unfortunately, as my rotten luck would have it, home turned out to be farther away than we thought, afterwards, when we were stopped on the road by a police officer who told us that we had to sit and wait until all of the thousands of people at the baseball fields drove out of the field from seeing the fireworks. "Please..." I moaned as he left the car window and walked away. "Just take out your gun and shoot me right now, in the face." It was ridiculous. We waited close to 30 minutes, traffic completely backed up.
Finally, though, we made it home. I was grateful for the copious amounts of caffeine that I had downed for the last 36 hours in order to remain awake, but goodness! A bed had never felt so good. In fact, I don't think a floor could have felt much better. At that point, it didn't matter to me where I slept. I had the best night's sleep I'd had in a long time.
