Day Three Recap

"True love is when your spouse helps you clean your vomit off the wall."   - Amanda Bowen

As many of you know, I am a relational guy. So I LOVED this challenge.

One of the great things about visiting out-of-town friends and staying with them is that you get to spend so much more time with them, seeing a significant slice of their lives, sharing in many unexpected moments. You don't often get to do that with your "regular" friends, the ones who live nearby, the ones you see lots (but maybe not as much as you should considering how close they live.) So the super fun thing about this challenge was getting to have that out-of-town visitor experience with my in-town friends, Cole and Amanda.

I arrived in the early evening with a sleeping bag, sheet and pillow, but no tent. For one, temperatures have gone over 100 degrees every day for a week, and so I knew I wanted to catch every breeze I possibly could. And two, I don't own a tent. So I came without one.

I guess Cole was looking forward to putting up the tent, so sorry on that one, buddy. He even mowed their backyard. Which measures approximately three feet wide and sixteen feet long, so it probably took him all of 7 minutes. But it still looked nice mowed.

To set the mood for the "camping" experience, Cole rounded up some coat hangers, lit the grill, and we made Smores. I like my marshmallows golden, Cole likes his burned for the tiniest moment, and Amanda likes her marshmallows charred. To each their own.

Da Boys.

Here is Amanda and I. Can you tell she's due in a week?

The Smores tasted great, and we sat outside on the porch and chatted. And that's when something miraculous happened. In the middle of summer in Oklahoma, a cool breeze blew by. A summer storm rolled past, spitting bits of rain but not dumping much water, and it cooled everything down. Honestly, last night was probably THE best night of all of June or July to sleep outside, and how great is it that God made it a wonderful night for me? Such a good Father, that one.

We talked about old times, we talked about their coming baby, my travel plans, lots of great stuff. Then Amanda got a little hot, so we went inside. Now, since she has a little one in her belly, Amanda gets to call the shots on some things in the house, as she should. So she controls the thermostat. And keeps it about 68 degrees. Poor Cole. He doesn't have a whole lot of insulation to begin with. I made do with my sleeping bag.

We talked some more, late into the night, and that's when some unseen things came to light.

We were talking about vomit, particularly. I had just shared my projectile poo story from my marathon training (don't ask), and Cole was telling me about Amanda's projectile vomitting escapades. I think I should just transcribe what happened from there.

Cole: And she almost made it to the tile, but she lost it over the carpet.

Amanda (swallows): 'Scuse me for a second.

She walks around the corner to the guest bathroom.

Cole: Took us a while to clean that one up.

Amanda: Uh-HUUUUUUUUUUH (vomitting sound)

Cole (rolls eyes): Are you OK?

Amanda: BLEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH (more vomitting sound. We can hear it hitting the water in the toilet bowl.)

Cole: Are you OK?

Amanda: Uh-oh.

Cole (gets up): Well, at least you made it into the toilet this time.

(Pause.)

Amanda: No.

Cole rounds the corner and goes into the bathroom.

Cole: Oh my lord. Oh my Lord!

Amanda: I'm sorry. (giggles.) I feel better.

Cole: Ben, she splattered the wall. She splattered the wall! How did you get it so spread out? Wow.
Amanda: I'll get the clorox wipes. We'll just wipe it off.

Cole: I don't think all of it is coming off. At least we have a lot of touch-up paint.

Amanda came back into the room where I was, clearly feeling better. "I'm swearing off Mexican food," she says with conviction. I quietly offer to help clean up, but am secretly relieved when they give me a pass for being a guest and don't take me up on the offer. Cole is not big on messy things, and neither is Amanda, but they work together and get everything cleaned up and a window opened to air it out.

Despite the hurl interlude, we stay up talking for like another hour before we call it a night. I head outside and make my pallet. There is a wonderful cool breeze, and once I get used to the sound of the air conditioner turning on and off (and I thought it was loud inside the house), I fall sound asleep.

6:53 AM. This morning, I'm sleeping, though lightly, in the growing light, when a fly lands on my face. I roll over, but it finds my face again. I think houseflies are fascinated by faces. They love dive-bombing mine. I put my head on the hard concret and put the pillow over my head. The fly finds my arm. I pull the sheet over my whole body and keep my head under the pillow.

6:57 AM. The fly finds a way to get to my face. I call it a morning and go inside. I sleep on the couch another hour.

I get up and go into the guest bathroom to get ready. The smell is gone but the wall next to the toilet really is stained. I thought maybe Cole was exaggerating. He wasn't.

9:00 AM. Cole makes cinammon rolls for breakfast and we all watch TV. Cole and I make fun of a man who is blinking funny, and then the program reveals he is blind. We stop making fun of him.

9:30 AM. I head out for my July 4th challenge, and say goodbye to Cole and Amanda. It was a very relational challenge, and one of my most satisfying nights in a while. Thanks you two!