I have very little experience backing up with a trailer and I knew I should have practised more. We got to the lake and I was happy to see that there was almost no one there. I thought to myself, “This might not be so bad.” With no one waiting on me, I can take my time. We got the boat prepped to launch, and by that time there were a couple vehicles in line to launch their boats. We got in line and by the time it was my turn, there must have been ten vehicles behind me. The lump in my stomach became a lead brick.

I started to panic a little bit inside. I tried to back up the trailer too quickly and it did not go well. After my third attempt, someone in line behind me came up and asked if I needed some help. I said, “That would be great,” and he patiently came alongside me and walked me through backing the trailer down the launch.

I decided right then that I was not going to pull that boat out of the water until after every last trailer was gone from the parking lot. That way I’d have lots of time and no pressure.

We had a great day at the beach with a couple other families. My plan of waiting until everyone else left was coming along nicely until the thunderstorm started to build in the West. The thought of five kids on the beach or sitting in their seats in the van during a thunderstorm while I waited on all the other boats to leave wasn’t a good one. I waited as long as I could, but the wind and the waves came up quickly and we finally had to get the car in line to pull the boat out of the water.

Backing the empty trailer down was even worse. I tried to go slower this time, but I couldn’t see the trailer out the back window. Again, I knew I should have practised in an empty parking lot before we went out. After a number of failed attempts, another person from the line behind us came and helped me get the trailer down the ramp.

I’ve learned my lesson. Never again until I practice, practice, practice!

This is all too obvious to me today as I barely seem to be able to stay awake at my desk. Thursday night, I stayed up until 1 AM working on a Flash banner ad for work. I said to myself, 5 hours sleep, I can function on that tomorrow. Unfortunately, 1 hour later, Keilan woke up colicky and at 4:17 AM I started to lose it. Good thing Christy woke up and she graciously spelled me off.

The next day was better than I expected, but after work I had to drive to Creston to pick up two of my other kids. Talk about a late night. I got into Creston around midnight and was out for 10 hours as soon as my head hit the pillow. Six hours after that I was back on the highway headed for Calgary. Sunday was fairly restful, but not enough I guess.

A good point from the Sermon on Sunday and one I saw again in the Bible story I read my kids last night brought it to realization for me: our bodies were originally designed to last forever, but we broke them when we allowed sin into the world. Wow, is that ever true. I no longer feel invincible like I used to. I’m NOT 25 anymore…

There’s just something about taking the kids and driving away from the hustle and bustle of the city to spend the day with friends and their children. Life and work in Calgary just gets too hectic and it’s easy to forget the important things in life. Sometimes we just need to stop and take a break and spend time with the ones around us that we care about.

Last year when we went, it was very cold, so only my eldest son and I along with most of the other adults went hunting for the ideal “Charlie Brown Christmas tree.” The rest of the kids stayed inside, supervised of course, and they still had a very good time.

This year, the weather was much nicer so all the kids came along to find the trees. The kids got pulled on tobogans and they had a blast.

I think the highlight of the whole afternoon came after finding the Christmas trees. We went back to the house, shared a meal together and watched 14 small children instantly become friends. Granted, they weren’t all strangers to each other, but it’s amazing to watch how kids can walk up to one another, introduce themselves and just play. Somewhere along the line we seem to lose that as adults with all of our responsibilities and hang-ups.

The bottom line in all of this is that life is just too busy. Take the time to slow down and spend some quality time with the people you care about in your life. It doesn’t have to be going out and cutting down your own Christmas tree (although if you have kids, I’d highly recommend it). Spend some time with your loved ones doing things that you all enjoy. You won’t regret that you did.