Top Ten of 2008: Part 2

As promised, I return to the top ten most surreal moments of 2008. Rounding out the list are the following, again, in no particular order:

1. Part of the fun of moving into a new house with Henry was buying new furniture to fill it up. We bought most of the new stuff from Talsma Furniture. We had purchased a nightstand that had been delivered in early July, but the rest of the furniture didn't come until after the wedding in August. I was at work on furniture delivery day when Henry called, asking if we had ordered two nightstands because Talsma was attempting to deliver a second one. I told him it was a mistake, that they had already delivered a nightstand, and went on with my day. Later when I came home from work, I went to the family room to see our new end tables and coffee table. I was surprised to see that things looked a little crowded and realized that they had given us an extra end table--there were three instead of two. When I called the store to clear up the mistake with Susan, our salesperson, a man answered and said that Susan wasn't working but that he could probably help me. I explained what had happened, and he offered to come pick up the extra table when it was convenient for us. We were going to be home that evening, so he offered to come that night after the store closed. It was just getting dark when the doorbell rang later that evening, and Henry answered the door. We had both forgotten that someone was coming, and as I came down the steps, I heard the man saying, "I'm Richard Talsma. I spoke with your wife earlier, and I'm here to pick up the end table." I thought that voice had sounded a little familiar on the phone. While Richard Talsma isn't exactly a celebrity, I didn't expect the commercial guy who obviously owns the store to come pick up end tables mistakenly delivered. He came in, literally picked up the end table, and thanked us for our honesty. As he was leaving, he told us that when he had come in, he had seen a big hawk sitting up on our roof. It was just one of those times when we found ourselves asking, "Was Richard Talsma here to pick up an end table? Did he say he saw a hawk on our roof?" It was just a little bit weird.

2. Our honeymoon was a wonderful week. We had decided soon after we were engaged that we really didn't want to travel far--definitely didn't want to gamble our honeymoon fate with the airlines--and decided that since Michigan is such a great vacation spot, we'd just honeymoon in state, especially since there were some places in the UP that neither of us had visited. We did spend most of our week in the civilized part of Michigan, but for a couple of days we hit the UP hot spots. The UP is truly beautiful, one of those nice places to visit but we wouldn't want to live there. Our first night was at a hotel near Tahquamenon Falls that literally was only a few feet from the lake. It was beautiful! We walked down to the small beach early in the evening before we went to dinner--but only stayed a short time because the flies started biting us. The next day, at Whitefish Point, same problem. After wading for a few minutes in Lake Superior, we retreated. The plague hit its peak at Pictured Rock the next day. We took a boat tour, and since we were a little late, the upper deck was filled up. We decided it would be fine to ride on the lower deck since it was a little bit cool. As the boat got out on the lake, we suddenly were attacked by the flies. The crew members were out with fly swatters, encouraging passengers to go up higher because it would be better. I don't ever think I've bled before from a fly bite, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

3. It was a definite scene from a chick flick. On wedding day, a hair styling crisis and some miscommunication about ride arrangements over to the Postma Center for pre-wedding pictures left us running behind and meant that all of us girls--wedding and bridesmaid dresses on--piled into my little white Subaru for a crazy ride. I could barely breathe or sit in my dress, so my matron of honor, Julie, was the only person who could drive us there. She's from Columbus, Ohio, where flashing red lights to turn left don't exist, and found herself driving a car she had never driven to a place she had never been in her matron-of-honor dress, with Katie and Elizabeth in the backseat. You probably had to be there to fully appreciate the scene, but we somehow made it and managed to get a few pictures in once we got there.

4. Apparently, the wedding caused more drama than I realized as I reflect on the surreal of '08. The whole postage-for-the-invitations, which I wrote about last May, definitely makes the list.

5. Last spring, I took Katie on a college visit to Trinity College in Palos Heights, Illinois. Leaving her on campus with a sleeping bag and a smiling young student who would see that she found her way to the dorm and cafeteria while I made my way to a lonely hotel in Tinley Park was a little more surreal than I liked as I realized that she really was going to go to college. Hearing an explanation of costs the next day shot it over the top. But I was glad to see Katie's searching face looking (relieved, perhaps?) when I arrived the next day to meet her for the campus tour. At least she's probably a little hesitant about leaving home.

And that's just a sampling from 2008. Things like the catering bill for the reception, the fact that I'm now Mrs. Gysen and say things like, "I'll have to check with my husband," and buying clothes for Jonathan in the men's section because he goes through about a size a month also make the list. So a merry Christmas to you, and blessed new year--and, of course, many surreal moments of your own.