To Flush ... or Not To Flush

I am really itching for vacation. When one comes close or I start planning one I spend A LOT of time day dreaming. I think about the future and what to pack. I think about the past and fun times I've had. Seriously, Boston cannot get her fast enough!! I found the perfect messenger bag and it is just hanging on the coat rack waiting to be used. Hurry up, April!!

Perhaps something that triggered memory mode in my head was a little sign I have in my bathroom that is a little souvenir from my childhood. Our family had a cabin at Tenmile Lake over near the Oregon coast. (For those of you in sunnier locales, in Oregon we mostly say we are going to the "coast" - NOT to the beach.) It was the coolest place to go for a long weekend or a full-blown summer vacation. You could only get there by boat. That meant anything you wanted, you had to bring with you because trips into "town" to the market were rare. We even had to bring our own distilled water for cooking and drinking! While rustic for ME, it was pretty posh! I mean we had an indoor toilet, microwave, oven, beds, couches and a table. We even had a television, but you had to bring VHS movies to watch anything - we didn't get ANY channels at all. The radio could sometimes get a fuzzy signal, so mostly if we heard music it was from tapes we brought out.... or Grandpa's old country music cassettes ... think Eddy Arnold and the Statler Brothers.

During the day we'd water ski, knee board, raft, canoe, swim and hike. The adults (which I later became) would sunbathe and play cards. We were serious - we played Shanghai and we played for money! Movies were a big thing. I can't tell you how many times we watched Goonies and Weekend at Bernie's out there.

My grandma always made a big breakfast to get us started. French Toast was my favorite, but we'd only get that one day usually. Otherwise it was pancakes. We'd always have potatoes, eggs, bacon, sausage.... it was a feast! For lunch it was every man for himself ... which meant I was always making macaroni and cheese, then being intensely annoyed when I had to share it with my younger cousin. Hot dogs and chips were also popular. Dinner would be big too (I must be hungry right now). Usually we'd have spaghetti or BBQ'd hamburgers. It was such a great time out there! And you always went home with tons of leftover food and feeling completely stuffed from filling your gut with junk.

 Ooh - what a transition.... so you fill your body, naturally what goes in must come out! Bathroom time!! *We did have a bunk house with more beds. Eventually my dad added on a little section with a functioning shower which had hot water 50% of the time* Back to the toilet ... the bathroom was in the cabin between the two bedrooms, right by the kitchen/living room dividing point. It was small but functional. We had a sink. You only ran the water when you were using it. NO wasting! If you were brushing your teeth, first - you didn't swallow the water!, second - you only ran the water when your brush was under the faucet. Going to the bathroom - you always prayed that my aunt's husband wouldn't clog the thing. The unofficial rule was told to us every time we went to sit down. You couldn't miss it because we had a sign! You'd walk in, see the sign, laugh, say "Yeah right" then check to make sure there weren't any slugs crawling around in the bowl (trust me, it's happened. So gross!!). THEN ... every time .. you'd flush.