All Aboard!

Portland City Skyline with Mt. Hood

Brian and I were in need of a weekend get-away at the end of last term, so we decided to take advantage of the fact that Eugene has an Amtrak station and hop on the rail to Portland!  We got a sweet deal on a downtown hotel room, and had a list of spots we wanted to hit, snacks were packed, and no computers allowed.  In the words of Flight of the Concords (insert lovely Kiwi accent), "the conditions were perfect."

So, when our train was initially an hour late arriving to Eugene to pick us up, we weren't phased!  When we sat in front of a group of people who were loud and crude, that didn't throw us off, we just put on some headphones!  When there was a derailment that caused us to be delayed at the Albany, OR train station for three more hours, we still didn't break down.  And when the train was ready to leave again, but was delayed further by a medical emergency (a man two rows in front of us had a heart attack and the ambulance came!) we still were able to laugh at the absurdity of all of it!  That's right!  We VanderYost's just roll with it...easy breezy...that's us!

But then we finally got to Portland and when we walked outside the station, 4 1/2 hours later than expected, looking to see which way we needed to walk, holding hands, Brian tugged on mine to lead us in a direction....and that was what finally did it.

This is part of the wall decor at the new Jimmy John's in Eugene,
where we ate the following weekend...very apropo! 

Me: "Hey!  Don't just pull me like a dog on a leash!"
Brian:  "What?  I always do this.  You never know which way we're going."
Me: "Well, maybe I want to know before you just yank me around!"
Brian: "How am I supposed to know when I can take charge and when I can't?!?"
Me: "I'm not an idiot, you know!  I can read a map, believe it or not!"
Brian: "Ok, fine.  Sorry.  But we need to go this way."
Me: "Fine."

Walking in silence.  No longer holding hands.

And there you have it, folks!  Proof that little things might be little, but they do in fact eventually add up.  The final result of tiny cumulative stressors.  Seemingly innocuous tiny pokes that eventually morph into a tiff.  They sneaked their way in...like those six extra cookies at a holiday party.  But who's counting.

Don't worry.  We worked out our grumpy moment and lived happily ever after for the rest of the weekend...eating and drinking our way through Portland, with a little NCAA basketball on the side :)

These little stressors, though, blow my mind every time I finally have the privilege of hindsight.  I'll think "I'm fine!  Thwart away, plans!  Can't rattle this one!"  And then they do.  And then I do.

And every time this happens, I am so thankful for the benediction we chose for our wedding that Brian Marsh so eloquently recited:  May all your expectations be frustrated.  May all your plans be thwarted.  And may you come to know the powerlessness and peaceful contentment of a child.  What can I say, it ain't always pretty, but it's a work in progress :)