The refrigerator story...

*Based on a true story*

It was a chilly Thursday as I walked into work only to be met with an atrocious dead animal smell.  After inquiring around, I discovered that the smell must be coming from a mouse that had died in the walls overnight.  So we (Greg, Andrew, and I) not being able to bear the smell, set out to see if we could find the mouse & quickly dispose of him.  Andrew decided to pull out the refrigerator to see if he had been caught in a mouse trap that was back there.  (First of all, let me explain the way our refrigerator is set up.  There's a tiny breakroom with a microwave, table, plates & such that is on the left side of the hallway.  At the very end of the hallway, is a little alcove that the refrigerator [which will be referred to as the fridge from now on] is nicely situated right next to the breakroom.)  As big strong Andrew pulled the fridge out about a foot away from the back wall, the cord came unplugged from the socket.  After peaking through the crack between the side wall & fridge, Andrew decided that the stinky mouse wasn't to be found back there.  "Hey, Esther, come here for a second!" 

"Watcha need?"

"Here, you're little; step on my hands, get on top of the fridge, reach down, plug the cord back in, then jump down."

"Umm ok," I innocently replied, "but I don't want to stand on your hands."  So Andrew drug over a ladder, and I climbed up & sat on top of the fridge.  "Uhh I hate to tell you this, but the cord is all the way at the bottom."

"Ok, well just jump down there & plug it back in." 

"Ok."  Brave widdle Esther jumped down, plugged the cord back in, and said "Now what?"

"Now you just jump back on top & climb down the ladder."  (Let me interject that I had been sick for a couple of days, so I didn't have all my strength back yet.) 

"Andrew, there is no way that I can do that!  The fridge is pretty tall & I don't have anything to boost myself on."  A couple seconds went by, and it suddenly hit us.....I was stuck behind the fridge!! 

"Are you seriously stuck back there?  I can't believe I got you to go back there without thinking about how you would get back out!  Ohh, this is a priceless moment!"  Of course, I burst out laughing at his victory moment & he flipped open his cell phone to take pictures.  Then Greg (who had been on the phone not knowing what was going on) walked down the hallway and said, "Don't tell me, you got Esther stuck behind the fridge??"  My laughter that followed was precisely the answer to his question.  Andrew climbed on top of the fridge, stuck his hand down, & said, "Here, grab my hand, and I'll help pull you up."  That didn't work because I was weak from getting over a cold & laughing so hard.  So Andrew decided that the only way was if he jumped down & pushed the fridge out far enough for us to squeeze through the gap in between the fridge & the breakroom.  (Pushing the fridge out farther means that the cord will come unplugged again.)  While he was jumping down, Greg walked over to the General Manager Edward's office and said, "Edward I think we need a new memo.  No getting stuck behind fridges!"  Then when Greg came back and realized we were both back there, "Ooh now they're both back there!  What are you guys doing??"  Right at that moment, the phone started ringing.  Now normally, Andrew & I are the ones that are responsible for answering the phone; so Greg chimes in again, "Oh great, now that they're both stuck back there, who's going to answer the phone?!"  I might add that through this whole ordeal, I am still laughing so hard that I'm starting to cry, and that of course makes Andrew laugh.  Finally, I squeeze into the breakroom while Andrew wrapped the cord up higher so I could reach it later.  The end of this story is that I composed myself, Andrew & Greg pushed the fridge back, I climbed on top, & plugged it back in saving the day! 

Moral of this story = never listen to your best friend when they tell you to plug the fridge cord in.

Wow and now for a very long and very overdue update.........

Oh my goodness, the cruise was soo awesome!  I didn't even get seasick at all.   The first two days we were going through the aftermath of Ernesto, so it was pretty choppy.  It was hilarious walking behind people in the halls cuz they would sway back and forth.  They had a ping-pong table set up on the deck outside, so Alex, Andrew, my parents, and I played that for at least 30 minutes.  I think that was probably the funnest ping-pong game I have ever played!  Besides the fact that we were swaying back and forth while playing, it was a little windy so the ping-pong ball was going everywhere. lol  People would smile as they walked by because we were having so much fun.   I have so many stories, so I will try to tell one each time I post. 

Work has been a little crazy since I got back.  I had lots of paperwork to check over and such.  I actually like it busy because it makes the day go by faster.  hehe My little animals missed us so much!  My cat kept following us around, and I don't think she took one cat nap the day we got back.   I think my dog missed our cuddle time because he just came up to me the other night and started licking me all over when I was trying to do my Pilates workout on the floor!  I normally don't mind cuddling with him, but I was a little more than preturbed this morning when he jumped onto my stomach with his cold, wet paws.  

Riding lessons start up tomorrow!!!   I can't wait to be around the kids and horses again.  I think I seriously went through some ranch withdrawals this summer.  I wonder if any of my previous kids will come back again...

God is super super awesome!  Yesterday I wasn't having a very good day because I was so confused about a situation, so I took off on my bike when I got home and went back in the cornfields behind my house.  The first 10 minutes consisted of me biking really hard and fast trying to get some pent-up energy out.  After awhile, I slowed down and finally just stopped to look around.  It was a beautiful day because fall is right around the corner making the air a little crisp.  I was a little surprised that I didn't see any deer or wildlife of some type.  Suddenly, I just started crying at thought of how beautiful God's creation is.  I think it was God's gentle reminder to me that I need to take time to "stop and smell the roses" instead of letting my problems swallow me up.  We were able to have a talk about what was going on, and He completely comforted me and filled me with peace.  A couple minutes later, I turned around to find a small fox staring at me from about 15 feet away!  Of course, it caught me off guard so I gasped a little, but the fox still stood there.  After a couple minutes of us staring at each other, he (I don't really know if it was a male, but let's just say it was) started to lick his jaws and slowly proceed towards me.  At first I was like, whoa this is totally awesome!  But then, I was like, umm what if he has rabies?  So I turned my bike around and started talking which sent him bounding and leaping back into the cornfield.  Seeing the fox just topped of my completely happy and peaceful mood.  hehe I think it was God's special way of sending something that He knew I would enjoy.