Monday, December 02, 2013

It Was On a Monday

We had no children today. No one to put on or off the school bus, and no one to keep an eye on for the day. So, Hannah and I decided to go shopping. First I needed to renew my dog's license and buy a roll of postage stamps, and after that we headed toward Webster. Hannah was my chauffeur. We had just crossed the county line when the van bleated out a loud warning, "BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!!!" and the right rear wheel started to make a strange thumping sound. Hannah said something about having a heart attack and pulled off the side of the highway. A quick glance out the passenger side door confirmed our suspicions, the back tire was flat.

I did what any quick witted and able-bodied woman would do in this situation. I pulled out my cell phone and put in a call to My Darling. Thankfully he answered his phone and was soon on his way to rescue the damsels in distress. (Hannah may have a bit of experience changing tires, but I don't.) As we sat waiting, hazard lights blinking, radio singing, and van shaking every time something passed by, we thought of good reasons to be thankful.

- I have a cell phone.
- The battery, which started to cry out an "I'm dying" warning just after my call to James, was not too dead to make a call.
- It wasn't raining.
- It was 40 degrees instead of 20, like a few days ago.
- The wind wasn't whipping around.
- It wasn't dark
-We weren't in a hurry.
- We were only in Webster instead of on the other side of Rochester.
- We had no children with us.
- We had no Grandma with us.
- My bladder, though full, was not ready to explode.
- Help was on the way.

James soon pulled up behind us, yanked the offending tire from it's moorings, and replaced it with a funny, gold-rimmed spare. "Drive slow," he advised. "Maybe you should take Ridge Road." So, off we went to the shopping plaza where I suddenly found myself overwhelmed and not quite sure what to do. In spite of my inability to think during the holiday madness, Hannah was able to pick out a couple of gifts. I think maybe I'll just throw a grand holiday party when Jim and Michele come home.

10 comments:

  1. lots to be thankful for! inconvenient, but not horrible. ha.
    There was holiday madness even at the grocery today...which wasn't there last week. Wow...it turned December and people lost their minds. ha. Crazy. I'm staying home. lol.....

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    1. It does appear that people get a little bit psycho as soon as December arrives. What happened to those merry days of our childhood Christmases?

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  2. That is quite a list of thankfulness. God is good to look after us, isn't He. I decided to really cut down on my Christmas decorations this year. Save the money, and use what I have..So I put up one Nativity Scene (My favorite Willow Tree set) and all my snowmen. And I have a bunch. The Kitchen looks really festive and that's where I live!!
    Glad your day worked out OK, and Hannah was able to get a couple of gifts.
    I'm mailing Jill's box tomorrow.

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    1. A thankful list always helps put things back in perspective. I should have put that I was thankful to have Hannah with me too. It's much better being stranded together than it is to be stranded and alone.

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  3. I am like you Martha....I get in the store...and then I am...like...get me out of here!!!
    I am going out tomorrow...to try and get my boyfriend a gift...
    Hard to buy for "The Man Who Has Everything"!!!
    Relax......the party sounds like a great idea♥

    Cheers!
    Linda :o)

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    1. Every year I set out to keep things simple and yet feel overwhelmed. Just having my family here should be holiday enough.

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  4. You might think about getting a phone charger for your vehicle. More than once I have been VERY thankful for mine when I have gone to use the phone and it is dead. You can plug it in and use it while it charges.....magic :-) Here where I live it is -18C today - not sure what that is in F, but it is cold - and snowing. My honey and I are going grocery shopping.......he has to push the trolley through the snow in the parking lot. Thank goodness we have wonderful sweetied eh? Another thing to be thankful for.

    Marilyn from Canada

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    1. Marilyn, it looks like that is down around 0° Fahrenheit. Brrr! That is booger freezing weather!
      Yes, It would probably be a good idea to have a charger in the van, especially in the winter. Oy! Technology! Yes, thank goodness for wonderful sweeties. Every woman should have a n=knight in shining armor.

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  5. I love that you made that thankfulness list! We do things like that too. My knight is out of the country, so I hope I don't have any emergencies like that:)

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    1. I don't know who I would call without him. Well, yes, I do now. He says we have roadside service through Allstate. All the valve stems on my tires have been replaced now. We didn't do the more expensive fix with the sensor on the dash. I'll just have to ignore the tire pressure warning light. That shouldn't be too difficult. :)

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