Today WordPress informed me that I haven’t written a post in 22 days. As I read the reminder, I imagined the word “SLACKER” in a thought bubble over my head.   Knowing the word means “a person who avoids work and responsibilities” I don’t like thinking of myself as a slacker, so  I shot that thought bubble right out of the picture with an imaginary flamethrower ( which caught my imaginary hair on fire).

But then, as my imaginary hands were putting an imaginary hat on my imaginary burning hair , I thought that maybe the word applied just a little bit since I wasn’t at work because I was on another one of my “sandwich” trips (with Las Vegas as the bread and Tucson as the peanut butter).

The first few days alone in Las Vegas were normal vacation-y type days. Lots of casino fun, dinner with a friend, more casino fun and a hotel room all to myself.  Good slacker stuff.  The sun was shining and even though I wasn’t outside, I did peer out the window from the 28th floor to watch all the other slackers enjoy their slacker time in the pool.

After slacking for three nights in Las Vegas,  I flew to Tucson to visit family. Because my mother’s dementia continues to progress and my sister recently had additional surgery, I want to spend as much time with them as often as I can.   I had planned for five nights in Tucson, enough time to see my mom and visit with my sister.

I planned and as the saying goes life happened. (“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.” )

My brother in law had a health emergency and spent several days in the hospital.  I stayed one extra day, and I’m so glad I was there to help the little bit that I did.  Besides being happy to help my sister and brother in law, those days saved me from the “total slacker” label.

Then it was time for the trip in reverse. A day and a half in Las Vegas, a bit more slacker time, before I had to come home and back to non-slacking reality.  It was raining when I landed, and it continued to rain for the time I was there.     This time, instead of watching the other slackers sunning in the pool, I stood at the window and watched two weddings in the garden go on as planned despite the rain.  While I wasn’t close enough to see the brides faces, I did see one very carefully placing the mermaid-style hem of her dress on the wet pavement as she posed for pictures. The way she moved indicated that she might have been feeling a little irritated with the circumstances.    I murmured into the window “rain on your wedding day is supposed to be good luck…..but maybe not for your white dress.  I wish you a happy life and the ability to go happily with the flow”.

My sandwich trip ended with a  flight home on Sunday at 6:15 am. I was up at 2 am and out of the room by 3:50 am.   I sat in the lobby for a few minutes and watched all the young people come in from the clubs that closed at 4 am.   Most were very intoxicated young women tottering in on sky high heels that made them weeble wobble on ankles that looked as if they were going to turn at any minute.   I have a feeling they were weeble wobbling even before they had anything to drink because some of those shoes looked lethal.  “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” certainly did with a few of them as they wobbled to the nearest trash can and left the alcohol soaked contents of their sloppy slacker stomachs.    I did not take pictures of this so you will have to use your imagination ( feel free to use my flamethrower).

I arrived at the airport in plenty of time to have my last slacker cup of coffee and as my flight took off I settled back in my seat to enjoy my last few slacker hours.  As I’m finishing this ramble, I imagine that thought bubble again but this time beside the word “slacker” is a yellow happy face. A happy yellow slacker face that tells me we all need a little time to slack now and then and for that reason I won’t shoot this one with the imaginary flame thrower.

Well, that reason and the fact that my imaginary hair is still crispy from the earlier incident…