Spring Forward!

This is the first time in my life, and I’m not a “spring chicken,” that I can honestly say that I have been awake for the literal “springing forward” of time! I usually move my clocks up an hour early in the evening, accept the fact that I will lose an hour of time, and go to bed waking up a little more tired than usual. But tonight, I kept a promise to Nick.

He has been saving his money since Christmas to buy a game that was scheduled to come out on March 9, 2008. This meant that it would go on sale tonight at midnight. So, I called my oldest son Erich, who is in college, and asked him if he would go on a little trip to Ashland with us. He said he would, and I was thrilled. The roads are a little icy, and I really wasn’t interested in going on this journey with only Nick. We decided to leave at 11:15 in case there was a line in the electronics section…..what was I thinking???? It is well-below freezing, the roads are a little icy, and everyone knows they are going to lose an hour of sleep! Why would ANYONE else be out tonight just to buy a video game?!?!?!? We got to the store and headed straight back to the electronics department only to find one very tired and very bored employee. I told her why we there and quickly discovered that friendliness wasn’t her spiritual gift, so we decided to do a little other shopping. When we returned at 11:59, I noticed that she was handing over her position to someone who “never works this section.” It was obvious that she didn’t bother to tell him about us and why we were there. As it turns out, this young man was very friendly and happened to be nice enough to tell us that the truck with deliveries had not made it to their store today because of the weather. (Hmmmmmm…..I, a middle-aged woman with very little extreme-weather driving practice, made it to Wal-Mart and the Wal Mart truck couldn’t?) Well, the friendly worker went the extra mile and called another WalMart 20 minutes away and found out they did get their shipment!! So, off we went. At this point, we couldn’t go home empty-handed. We’d been gone an hour already!!! As we finally drove home with our long-awaited purchase, I looked at the clock and said, “This is the first time in my life I have actually been awake for the springing forward of time!” I don’t think either of the boys realized just how cool I thought this was! When we got home, I sat here at the computer and watched the little clock in the bottom of the screen and sure enough! At 1:59 it clicked to 3:00 a.m.! Who is in charge of the computer clock!??!?!? That was just so fun to watch! Now, as the reality sinks in that I teach Sunday school in the morning and then have the nursery during church, I am definitely thinking that a Sunday afternoon nap is on my list of things to do tomorrow. But for tonight, I am happy and thankful! Happy that Nick was able to get his game. Thankful that he is doing so well and that every once in a while he can have a special memory like this that makes him grin ear to ear! Happy that Erich is here to enjoy the fun night with him (he decided to stay all night here instead of in the dorm). Thankful that Erich and Nick are so close!

So, to me “springing forward” has gained an entirely new meaning! I will always remember the year I was able to watch the computer literally skip an hour. I will remember driving all over Ashland to make Nick’s little dream come true! I will remember Erich making us laugh all along the way! I will remember how someone going the extra mile made my day…..and hopefully I can carry that on in my life with others.

I will remember that sleep is not always as important as making another memory!

And……..what I lost in sleep I gained in joy! Here’s to a great spring!