Have you ever been hit by a duck?
Last week, before we went on vacation, I ordered five small rugs from a major retailer. They didn't have them in stock, so I had them sent to my home, free of charge. I expected them to arrive today, so I was surprised to see on our external video cam that they had been delivered last week. I was excited to get home today to try them out in our space, and I was even more surprised to see that additional rugs had been delivered yesterday! My hubby, tired from our travel, rolled his eyes at me. "Why did you order so many rugs?" he asked. I wondered if I had made a mistake in the order, and I piled the additional rugs inside the house.
This evening, as I walked outside to gather some items that were drying in the sun, I burst into laughing tears when I saw that UPS had delivered a pile of rugs on the driveway. I now have TWENTY rugs piled on my floor.
When I called customer service to ask them to stop sending me rugs, the gentleman on the other end of the phone had a hard time believing what I was telling him. I wanted to explain that this wasn't the oddest thing that had happened to me in the last two days...
We were coming to the end of a lovely week in Florida, where we had spent two days at the Kennedy Space Center, followed by five days at Disney World. We explored the new Pandora at Animal Kingdom and rode the BEST. RIDE. EVER - Flight of Passage. We saw the new Happily Ever After fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, and marveled at the transformation of the castle. We spent a week with family, including a big surprise visit from Uncle Matt, who lives in California. Basically, it had been a kiddo paradise vacation, which we were culminating with a walk to the gift shop at Epcot to spend some birthday money.
On the way back to the hotel, my kids and I separated from my mom, who wanted to do a little more shopping. The three of us held hands, chatting happily about our trip and wondering how many steps my Fitbit would track during our walk to the Beach Club. As we crossed into the World Showcase, we turned right and continued our banter. And then...
BAM!
My head exploded, as I heard my son scream, "What happened?"
I think I replied, "What happened?" and then my daughter yelled, "A duck!"
Through my foggy vision, I saw a duck on the ground in front of me, but it didn't register. All I wanted to do was to get out of the walkway as my kids yelled, "Mama, are you ok?"
I didn't know. I couldn't comprehend what had happened, what was happening, or what I needed to do. I sat down, stars in my eyes and pain exploding through my jaw and across my head. Someone, a passerby, asked me if I needed help. I asked her what happened, if I was bleeding.
"You were hit by a duck," she said.
(Seriously, I burst out laughing just now as I wrote that sentence. It's okay if you laugh too.)
"Is there duck on my face?" I asked. I couldn't feel anything but dampness, which I realized later were the tears streaming down.
"I was hit by a duck!" I finished for her. I laugh-cried along with the rest of the onlookers.
My family has an incredible amount of duck jokes now, and I think we will be finishing many sentences with "mama got hit by a duck." We definitely have new material to add to our family lore.
And perhaps this story is why I can't stop laughing about the TWENTY rugs piled in my hall.
When that last delivery of rugs arrived tonight, my husband gave me "the look" that meant he was about to yell.
This evening, as I walked outside to gather some items that were drying in the sun, I burst into laughing tears when I saw that UPS had delivered a pile of rugs on the driveway. I now have TWENTY rugs piled on my floor.
We were coming to the end of a lovely week in Florida, where we had spent two days at the Kennedy Space Center, followed by five days at Disney World. We explored the new Pandora at Animal Kingdom and rode the BEST. RIDE. EVER - Flight of Passage. We saw the new Happily Ever After fireworks at the Magic Kingdom, and marveled at the transformation of the castle. We spent a week with family, including a big surprise visit from Uncle Matt, who lives in California. Basically, it had been a kiddo paradise vacation, which we were culminating with a walk to the gift shop at Epcot to spend some birthday money.
On the way back to the hotel, my kids and I separated from my mom, who wanted to do a little more shopping. The three of us held hands, chatting happily about our trip and wondering how many steps my Fitbit would track during our walk to the Beach Club. As we crossed into the World Showcase, we turned right and continued our banter. And then...
BAM!
My head exploded, as I heard my son scream, "What happened?"
I think I replied, "What happened?" and then my daughter yelled, "A duck!"
Through my foggy vision, I saw a duck on the ground in front of me, but it didn't register. All I wanted to do was to get out of the walkway as my kids yelled, "Mama, are you ok?"
I didn't know. I couldn't comprehend what had happened, what was happening, or what I needed to do. I sat down, stars in my eyes and pain exploding through my jaw and across my head. Someone, a passerby, asked me if I needed help. I asked her what happened, if I was bleeding. "You were hit by a duck," she said.
(Seriously, I burst out laughing just now as I wrote that sentence. It's okay if you laugh too.)
"Is there duck on my face?" I asked. I couldn't feel anything but dampness, which I realized later were the tears streaming down.
My daughter called my mom.
"Granna, we need you. Mama got hit by a duck." (Yep, I laughed again.)
My mom thought we were playing a joke on her until she heard the urgency in my little girl's voice.
The good samaritans brought a cast member who tried to ask me whether I wanted to go to first aid. I couldn't think. The pain was intense, and my mind was foggy. My mom arrived, asking me if I was ok. "I don't know," I responded. "I don't think I can walk anywhere."
The cast member called the paramedics, and as she explained our location, she tried to explain what had happened.
"Um, she was walking across World Showcase, and..."
"I was hit by a duck!" I finished for her. I laugh-cried along with the rest of the onlookers.
Eventually the paramedics came, gave me an icepack, and told me to stay away from flying birds.
As I waited for a wheelchariot to take me across the park, I asked the cast members present how often this kind of thing happened. Because of course this kind of thing would happen, right?
"I've never heard of it before," she responded. And we all burst out laughing again. It really hurt to laugh, but I couldn't help it.
Behind us, a flock of ducks relaxed in the shade. One of them has the right hook of Muhammad Ali. He or she definitely got a TKO.
My family has an incredible amount of duck jokes now, and I think we will be finishing many sentences with "mama got hit by a duck." We definitely have new material to add to our family lore.
And perhaps this story is why I can't stop laughing about the TWENTY rugs piled in my hall.
When that last delivery of rugs arrived tonight, my husband gave me "the look" that meant he was about to yell.
"You cannot get mad at me for this!" I exclaimed. "That would be like getting mad at me for being hit by a duck!" And yes, I burst out laughing. I think, perhaps, I always will.
🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆
🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆🦆
I'm laughing so hard the tears are streaming down my face. I know you hurt, but ultimately since you're okay, I can laugh... my daughter was hit... by a duck!
ReplyDeleteI laughed one laugh then caught myself - what a wallop - now we can better imagine how bird strikes affect airplanes. (I know I'm a worrywart - it's just too late.)
ReplyDeleteBlame it on Mercury Retrograde! Christy
ReplyDelete