Good morning all you lovely people! I am having a wonderful day so far. Sure it's only approaching 9am, I've been up since 5, taking a break from my shuttle to school for kid drop offs (because of my husbands new job, I started yesterday and have the rest of the year...) because there's no school today and have dishes and laundry waiting for me but STILL! So far... pretty... good. But this isn't about today and all of the fun wife/mom things I have to do.. This story is about WEDNESDAY... I have a hope that karma exists and is dealt both bad and good to those who deserve it at times. Signs that bad things or good things are going to happen... I don't know. Some days I have way more belief than others mainly because the BAD ones seem to punch me square in the face. Bad luck, however, is something I am VERY familiar with. Bad luck is like bad karma on steroids that tends to pop out at the worst of the worst times just to test you and your mental stability. Mine anyway... It's like when your mom makes this amazing chocolate cake and gives a piece to you and your sister and tells you it's the only one you get. While you both walk from the kitchen to the dining room, your sister trips and her cake goes soaring to the floor. You're thinking "better you than me!" and maybe even snicker a little bit. But then, you stumble yourself and before you know it, your cake is on the floor too. I can see that being a little bit of both karma and bad luck. So now that you've got that little scenario in your mind, I'm going to tell you straight away that my situation (sadly) has nothing to do with cake... Why don't I just start...
My husband works five minutes down the road 8am-5pm Monday to Friday. My kids start school at 8am... Monday to Friday. Conveniently for me, HE takes them to school every morning before work (an extra five minutes) which makes it so I don't have to load up the baby every morning just to take them in. It's a great feeling because she's usually up around 5 or 6 and by the time they leave to go to school, she's about ready for her first nap. I know that it's not a BIG deal because the school is only a few minutes away but as you know, (especially the mom's out there) we take our convenience where and when we can get it! I knew that it was going to change when my husband accepted a new job 45 minutes away. Not only was I going to be in charge of drop offs for the rest of the year, but I also had to trade vehicles with him to save on freaking gas for his drive! I drive a Jeep Grand Cherokee... It's my size, I'm used to it, there's room for the stroller and groceries and toys, my stereo's in there that hooks up to my phone... It's been MY car for a long time and suddenly I was faced with the switch. Wednesday was my last in my Jeep running errands since it was his last day of work at his old job. I went and grabbed a few groceries, had lunch with my friend April and was ready to go home and start the laundry. I was listening to a song on my phone when I realized... I'm not going to be able to do this in the truck. Oh yeah, my husbands car is a Ford F150 extended cab that I literally CLIMB up into since I'm a super tall 5'2" person. Bench seat damn near kissing the dash... the whole nine! I feel like the opposite of a clown car when I get out of it at places. Instead of a tiny little car with ten people, it's a beast of a car with a tiny person. Thinking of alterations I could make to the beast to make it feel somewhat "homey" to me, I made a U-turn and headed to Best Buy to get me a new stereo. I found one, got it, went to another store after realizing I need more than just the actual radio, got what I needed and headed home. I called a few places to see how much it would be for them to install it for me and the cheapest rate I found was $149! I've seen people do this shit in 15 minutes and you want me to pay MORE than what I paid for the radio so you can put it in? PASS! Look out YouTube, here I come! I got home and surprisingly, so did my husband. He helped me take in the baby and the groceries and I told him my impatient impulse surprise... He asked if I was going to take it somewhere and I said I was going to do it myself. Being a very impatient person like I am, I tend to do things myself just so I don't have to wait or rely on someone else. I can't stand wanting something done and being told I have to wait. It's a ridiculous condition but I'm thinking it's not going anywhere anytime soon so I accept it and say it. Frequently. While we watched a movie, I started splicing together the new stereo to the wiring harness that would be hooked to the car. Once I got all of those done, we headed outside. My husband disconnected the battery and helped me pry out the old unit. From there it was hook up, set in, replace and done. One of the bolts on the battery adapter was so corroded (pretty old..) that it snapped in half when he went to replace it. After hunting down a replacement, he tightened it up and it was the moment of truth... I started the engine and the cool blue lights of the new system popped on.. I connected the Bluetooth to my phone, tested out a song... I DID IT!!! AWESOME!!!! So glad I didn't have to pay more money!!! After we swapped out his stuff and mine, I turned the radio off and the truck off so we could go inside for dinner. By the time the kids and baby were all in bed, my husband set off to his game room to connect with his dorks from online while I sat on the couch still stoked from my small victory. (I don't care how dorky that sounds, small victories are just as valuable as convenience!) It was about 8:10 and I had nothing to do while I waited for the time to head to the movies with April. We were going to see "The Other Side of the Door" the night before but after she worked all day, she ended up getting a crazy severe headache that made her sick. I may be considered somewhat sadistic at times but I wasn't going to drag my friend out like that so we decided we would go the next night. The movie was going to start at 9:30, we were going to meet up at the theater at 9:20 and there it was only 8:15.... There was nothing on TV I was wanting to watch and though I was enjoying doing NOTHING, I was getting tired just sitting. Sure... I could've done the laundry that I didn't do when I got home... Nah.. I decided I would go to the store (Wal-Mart of all places..) to grab a few things before the movie started. The store was right up the street from the theater so it would be perfect to kill time and be there when she got there. I kissed my husband goodbye and went out to my new ride.. I started it up, buckled up, connected my phone, started the music and started the drive. I made it to the store and was brave enough to park the big beast in a spot close to the doors instead of way out in the open. I go inside and grab a few tubes of Pringles to replace the ones my kids devoured and then headed to electronics to grab a replacement battery for my new door lock and start pad. Since the battery died, my husband decided he would leave it on the key hook instead of replacing the battery... When you go from having the ability to unlock the car with a button versus a key... You realize quickly what you miss when it's gone. As I walked from the back of the store to the front, I was being followed by a man who was constantly licking his lips. That only made me want to get out of there that much faster. So I did. I get out to the car, check my phone and saw that I had just under ten minutes until I was supposed to meet her so it was perfect timing. Buckle up, put the key in, turn it and... Nothing. Breathe in... Try again... Nothing... Look at lights, switches, the door, the brakes... Try again.. NOTHING! Are you FREAKING kidding me right now! Try to call April... Ring.. ring... ring... voicemail. Grrrr.... Call again... same thing. "APRIL!" Call my husband who was not happy because he was thinking he would have to wake the kids to come save me. I told him April would hopefully help me out and that I would let him know. When I hung up with him I looked at the clock and saw 9:22. I knew she was already at the movies probably wondering where the hell I was. I took a breath and tried her number again. FINALLY! She picked up and asked where I was as she walked toward the ticket booth. After explaining that I was sitting with my dead beast of a truck in the freaking Wal-Mart parking lot down the street, she said she would be there soon and that we'd figure it out. She got there and we tried jumping the truck from hers.. nothing. We googled anti theft release tricks just on the off chance that was the problem.. nope. Eventually, after crying to the man on the phone at O'Reilly Auto Parts and two random strangers offering to jump my truck again, I KNEW I'd have to replace the damn battery. April called her fiancé who was close and he brought a battery charger to try before I spent the money. After a TINY turn over attempt (and a puff of smoke from her machine..) it was a no-go. He (David, the fiancé) complained that he was missing his game as he started packing the machine away. "Well this isn't the movie we're supposed to be watching right now is it..." Deep breath... I was so thankful to both of them, especially April, for helping me. She went into the store with me and we headed for the car crap on the opposite end of the store. It was not surprising that we'd need the biggest damn brick of a battery the place sold and after finding it and the tools I needed to remove the old one, we were on our way to the front. We both carried the battery between us (because who really NEEDS a cart for things like THAT...) and it felt like we each had the leg of a baby elephant. FINALLY, we make it to the front and $140 later... we have a battery. Thankfully, her fiancé is over 6 feet tall and strong enough to pluck the old one out and set the new one in without too much of a problem. While he was doing that, another stranger (a guy who looked mechanically inclined unlike the three of us) walked up and asked if we needed help. I told him that we pretty much had it if the battery was the problem and he was doing it right. "Feel free to jump in if you know what you're doing." Is all I could really say. I held my breath as the stranger assured me that he was doing everything right and the last bolt was being put in place. It was in and now was the time for truth... I took the keys, climbed up in the cab and put the keys in the ignition. With one last silent prayer of hope, I turned the key. IT STARTED!!!! I felt a wave of relief flood over me and I was even happier than I had been when I put the stereo in. I turned it off and like a crazy person (I'm sure he thought I was "off") I went up to the stranger and hugged him. I know he didn't DO anything but I hugged him and said "It was you! It was you!" And after I apologized I squeezed April and thanked her and then threw a short "Thanks Dave" with a wave (Yes, we're both obnoxious like that so it's ok). The stranger left with a smile, David went home to play his precious game and since we had officially missed our movie for the second night in a ROW, I asked April if she would like to join me for a late dinner since I missed by opportunity to pig out on buttered movie popcorn. She laughed and said she'd meet me at Denny's. We drove, parked, I hugged her again and kissed her cheek while thanking her for being an amazing friend and we inside. A skinny waiter is behind the counter by the time we get back from washing our hands. The first thing he said was "Are you waiting for a ride?" Hmm.. "No.. just want to eat.. if we can." We laughed, both confused, and after he explained his question of mixed-upness, he sat us at a booth. I was drained... My face still had traces of red splotches from when I lost it on the phone to the parts guy. (He sounded genuinely concerned for me, asked me where I was and if someone was there with me... So either concerned and wanting to help or abduct me... You know what, I'm going to remember him as concerned...) We ordered, talked, swore a few times (that made our waitress laugh), and she secretly coveted the check when it came. So after saving money on the radio by doing it myself, I ended up stranded and missed the movie for the SECOND TIME and had to pay almost what it would have been for the stereo labor in battery replacement..... I told her we're just not meant to see the damn movie, CLEARLY. Who knows.. MAYBE I'll give it one last attempt and hope that it was all just very precisely timed coincidences and NOT bad luck... But maybe not.. It was a long freaking day. Good news... My truck still starts! Happy Friday everyone! May your dreaded trips to Wal-Mart be quick with an easy escape always! -Super Mom
