she awoke early that sunday morning - there was much to be done. she wasn't even certain she'd have time for a cup of coffee since the plants needed watering outside and mass started in a short while (she was substituting for one of the other lectors).
she padded downstairs to find everyone except her husband, still asleep. there was time for a quick cup, after all. she decided they'd have breakfast after mass, so the kids got to sleep in the extra half hour.
lots to do in the day - the beach was in the plans as a priority for the sole reason her son would be unable to make the beach in the next month as he'd be recovering from the surgery he was scheduled to have on wednesday. work would have to wait, there was a beach and ocean calling their names.
after mass, they got home and quickly got their chores finished and then finally, suited up: "don't forget the SUNBLOCK GUYS!!" was heard echoing throughout the house... she heard the perfunctory "yeah, okay ma!" and knew they wouldn't forget. they practically had it drilled into them for various reasons.
despite her good efforts to get organized and out the door, they didn't make it down until around 12:45. where'd the day go? she pulled into a very cherry parking space, fed the meter 4 quarters (totalling an hour and 20 minutes since her son also had a drum lesson to cram into the day) and they set out over the dunes.
sunshine and cool breeze. perfect day. waves were about 3' and clean (per the son, to her trained eye, they were more like 2' and chop, no lines, with an occasional ankle-snapper), but he was happy to wax up the boogey board and head out. daughter and friend contented themselves with buckets and shovels and ran off to dig up all the sandcrabs they could in their limited time, and she, the matriarch, settled into her beach bag o' books and mags: country living or study bible so she could contribute to the discussion at class the following day? ahhh, the book she'd been reading about the intentially homeless guys caught her eye and she grabbed it and began to read.
"chilly," she thought, and put her cover-up back on. she settled back to dive into her book when she felt a bit sleepy. "i'll rest my eyes, just for a minute..." and i am betting you can guess what happened next.
a nap! how golden! this woman never takes naps on the beach!! good for her, how relaxed she must feel...the time was about 1:05.
she awoke slowly from overhearing the man on the blanket about 20 feet away from her describing his *nightmare* of taking his team (apparently, he was a soccer coach) to a place the bus couldn't locate and two hours later...blah blah blah...he had the kind of voice that could have cut through fog.
what time is it? she looks at her watch and discovers it's 1:50. that's not too bad, still have a bit of time left...
worse, there is a line where her livestrong bracelet was - what is that?? SUNBURN???
(cut to the music heard in the movie "psycho...")
oh my gosh, the horror of her mistake flooded her like a dam breaking - DID SHE FORGET TO PUT ON THE SUNBLOCK???
HOW COULD SHE???
oh, the mortification wasn't slow, it was as stealthy and unrelenting as a summer rainstorm...how could she forget to put on sunblock? she quickly ran through her day --- looking to the needs of all the children, packing up the car, getting to the beach, the enticement of the beach chair and coziness of the sand on her feet...no, she was frantic at this point. wiping away the sweet memories of the nap, she gathered up the children in an hurried effort and said "quickly children - we have to go --- i've gotten sunburned!!"
they were aghast. they couldn't believe it, the woman they had on the sunscreen pedestal hadn't only tumbled off, she took a header.
she got into the car and rushed home to look in the mirror. sure enough.
red.
~**~
after a sleepless night of agony and pain from her screaming skin, she had decisions to make: go and face her friends at bible study under the glare of fluorescent lighting, or miss class?
she went. the chorus of "oh, you are so sunburned..." still echoed in her head as she drove to work after class, which would inevitably be round two of questions and potential mockery.
she couldn't have been more correct.
the humiliation she suffered as a result of being the spokesperson for the use of sunblock was actually camoflaged because of the redness of her face to begin with. she fielded statements and questions left and right such as:
your face is red...
does that hurt?
have you ever heard of sunblock?
wow, you're sunburned...
your face is red...
endless loop. over and over the tape played. she was in pain for so many reasons, sensitive girl that she is.
~**~
that night at dinner, her husband asked her, "are you going to blog about this?"
to her mortification, she replied in a very hasty "NO!!!"
"i think they need to know that you aren't perfect..."
(oh, as if they thought that already...)
~**~
uhmmm...how was your day yesterday?
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