The Blue Ridge Pig

 

Of all the things Jim does for me, I think my very favorite might be his getting up with the girls every morning. I can stay up all night long or get up every hour with a baby, and I've learned to do both happily enough and without complaint. But I'm not by nature a morning person, and--baby or no, if I've ever gotten up with the sun on the "right side of the bed"--I sure don't remember it.

On weekdays, I get up very shortly after Jim and the girls because he has to leave for work, and Sundays aren't much better because--even if we skip Sunday school--it takes a long time to get six people ready and out the door for church. So I dearly love my long, Saturday mornings, curled up with Baby Chip in the shadowy hush of my bed. 

This morning, Sunday morning, I indulged and slept late a second morning in a row. I was so worn down and out that, no lie, extra sleep felt holy. Totally.

After I got up, Jim and Cade worked a big chunk of the day outside, after which I asked Jim to take us all for a drive. He asked where I might like to go, and I told him I knew where to get the best barbeque in all of Virginia, matter of fact, if he were willing to drive a mere hour and a half to get it.

And look, here's more proof positive that I married the right person: Jim didn't blink. Cade grumbled a little, but only because he wanted to play a video game, not because he's unaccustomed to my road-trip shenanigans.

Fast-forward a couple hours.

"Oh my, Brandee. Are you sure?" Jim asked. (We had passed several more respectable-looking establishments on the way.)

"Oh, yes," I told him.

 

And I guess this is something I want you to know about me: when we all get to heaven, if you can't find me?, look for me off to the side somewhere, on a picnic bench under a bare light bulb surrounded by business cards. There may well be dust, even a cobweb.

I'll be eating off a styrofoam plate. I'll be licking vinegar-based barbeque sauce from my fingers and chair dancing, just a little, to Paul McCartney's singing "Band on the Run."

If I'm particularly blessed, I'll be in the company of Jesus and these people:

 

 

And I won't give a care if the moon is rising above a Blue Ridge Pig (or anything else) on a school night.