Obstacles

Yesterday was one weird day, not the smooth-sailing one I had planned; to be sure. A series of challenging obstacles were placed, strategically, smack dab in my path.The Quilt Ministry Pot Luck picnic was scheduled here at Chez Goodneedle for 11 AM. An annual event, signaling the beginning of our summer break time, it is usually a time for relaxed fellowship, fun and food. The house was clean, the floors were mopped and my dishes were prepared. A quick look out my front window as the pick-up trucks poured into the driveway at 7:30 AM were the first indicators that the BEAR was stepping into the river, so to speak. I spoke with the job foreman and he confirmed that they'd be working at our house all day; replacing our front steps, this after three days of complete inactivity. Bricks were to be delivered and the driveway was effectively being blocked for guests. OK. I looked the bear straight in the eye and called the church office, sure... we could move the picnic down there. Nothing that a few dozen phone calls to the attendees couldn't remedy. No bear's standing in my way; no sirree! I loaded up my car with everything that makes serving at home so much simpler and easier and drove to church, the ever-determined hostess. When I arrived it became abundantly clear that the bear was getting comfortable in the water, settling in for a spell. Other situations demanded my immediate attention there. I politely cut an impromptu meeting as short as possible to fix tea and lemonade for the picnic downstairs. As usual, despite the change of venue, the food and fun were paramount but that pesky bear refused to be ignored. Halfway through the picnic, while we all ate and relaxed, shared stories and recipes, a huge CRASH interrupted the reverie. An otherwise well-behaved and oft-used Pyrex oven dish decided to explode, sending glass and casserole contents all over the table and floor. Thank goodness no one was standing near the table at the time! We all counted up our abundant blessings, yet this incident became the talk of day. Why did this happen? No one knows*. The dish had been prepared in an oven at home, carried by automobile to the church, rewarmed and placed on the buffet table. We'd all served ourselves and moved out of the way... and then... ka-pow! OK, this bear was getting just plain annoying now. A quick shopping trip followed the picnic. The gift registry that I needed to consult couldn't be printed from the store's computer; paper jam. That bear thinks he's getting to me now. Uh-uh, no way, I can make a gazillion trips back to the computer monitor and check items; take that... ha!! One more stop, to visit the doctor whose appointment I had totally forgotten last week. I pulled my car down the familiar street but was unable to find the office sign I'd come to recognize. Was I in the wrong block? No... I was sure it used to be right there... but, no, it was now a Medical Lab. I called my husband to double check the address, he wasn't available. Time was a wastin'. I'd missed one appointment, I just couldn't be LATE for this one, arrggh. I called Quiltkeemosabe, she looked up the address for me; exactly where I thought it should have been, clearly the doctor's office I was looking for had moved! Great. I was beginning to think that the bear had won. I stopped and asked for directions, I was only one street away from the new location and arrived with minutes to spare. I received a clean bill of health and wasn't assessed for the missed appointment, either. The bear was leaving, going elsewhere; head down, defeated...

Life IS Good!

Go away, bear, I'm not afraid of you.
You're not welcome to wade here anymore!

* This wasn't my oven dish, but I use similar ones such as this all the time. After doing some further research I have discovered that this isn't an isolated incident. Apparently Pyrex glass oven bakeware isn't constructed with the same materials as it used to be. Pyrex has a safety 'use and care' tab on their homepage and suggests that a crack or chip would render the piece unsafe. This piece was certainly intact, and free of any known imperfections.
Be careful, it's a jungle out there! Lions and tigers and BEARS... oh, my!