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Emily Parnell
on Jun 16 2013 - 06:00 AM
Eating fresh, local produce is good for body and soul
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Jim Cosgrove
on Jun 13 2013 - 06:00 AM
I just want to buy some pants. Please, turn down the music.
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Who here remembers when I got into that car accident and we replaced our totalled compact car with a super rad minivan? Remember how excited I was?
Well, the honeymoon is over, my friends.
Let's flash back a couple of weeks. I was driving Charlotte to school one morning when I ran out of gas just off of the exit of the highway. It was very strange, because the gas gage told me I had gas. Now, it was only a sixteenth of a tank, but it certainly wasn't on empty. Luckily, I have very kind co-workers who came and rescued me. We got gas into the tank and I was on my merry way.
All was fine and dandy with the van after that until a couple of days ago. Try and imagine my anger and frustration I climbed into my awesome little van and couldn't even leave the parking lot.
I was picking Charlotte up from school when this happened. We had a very important appointment that afternoon babysitting some very beautiful twin baby girls. These girls are Charlotte's best friends. When I picked her up, I told her what we were doing, and she was so excited! I put the key in the ignition, started up the van, backed out of our parking spot, and put it in drive.
Then it died.
It died! My van! And with only thirty minutes to spare before I had to be to the babies' house? I panicked a little inside. My mind flashed back to when we ran out of gas a few weeks ago, so I checked the gas gauge.
An eighth of a tank.
Now, I know that an eighth of a tank isn't much gas, but it should be enough to at least get home. I should at the very least have been able to get to a gas station. I was in tears! I called the baby girls' parents and told them about our dilemma. Thank goodness for understanding friends.
Of course, since this is me we are talking about, I cried. I cried in front of one of the other parents at Lotte's school when she offered to take me to the gas station. I cried in front of the gas station attendent when they told me they were out of gas cans. After I found a station with a gas can and dumped the gas into my own tank, I cried when I had to tell the girls' parents that I wasn't going anywhere and they wouldn't have a sitter for the night.
I'm very emotional, you know. However, I'm not one of those people that let my emotions keep me from getting on with life. I solved my problem.
I knew Marc's dad was nearby, picking Marc up from school. He came and got us from the parking lot. We don't live close, so I asked him to just take us to a coffee shop where Lotte and I could hang out for a few hours until my husband got off of work. He was kind enough to oblige.
Lotte was good for the first hour and a half while we waiting for my hubby. The last half hour she was pretty sick and tired of the coffee shop walls. We had a little dinner at a nearby restaurant and tried to make the best of being stranded in Midtown. Eventually, Mitch came and got us. My mom-in-law drove down that night to help out, a day earlier than she had planned, so we could all get to work. I'm so grateful. Things have a way of working out.
We still don't know what's wrong. Our van is still sitting in the parking lot of Charlotte's school, all sad and broken. I have some ideas as to what the problem is, and I'm convinced we'll be back on the road in no time. The car trouble isn't the point of this story.
The point is, life happens. And when it does, you have to make the best of it. Sometimes life happens when you have a small child with you. Sometimes it happens when you can't afford for it to happen. I read somewhere that most middle class Americans are one disaster away from poverty. I think it was something like that. I could be getting that wrong. But I think about that, and I wonder what kind of disaster it would take for us.
But I don't think this is it. Let's see... Charlotte's school let us keep our car in their lot, my ex-husband picked us up so we wouldn't have to sit in a parking lot, the coffee shop employees and patrons put up with my daughter's impatience while we waited for my husband to get us, my friends offered to give us rides to where needed to go, and my mother in law drove for three hours with no notice so we could have help getting to work. Oh, and she brought wine!
I would say that this is far from a disaster, and I'm sitting here feeling very grateful for the people we have in our lives.
Have you experienced a disaster, or at least a near disaster? Who in your life are you grateful for? Life gets harder when we have children to tote around, especially when things like this happen. But I have no doubt that things will work out for the best. They always do!
Note: I promised Marc I would write a blog about him this week, but I made that promise before all of this happened. Marc, if you're reading this, I'm sorry I broke my promise! Stay tuned for next week's blog, tentatively titled "Marc hates ogres".
I am a crier too, especially when I get mad. I am sorry you are having so many issues with your car. That is always stressful. Hopefully things will get better soon!Car problems make me cry. It is two-fold. One reason I cry is because I am so mechanically un-inclined and it always ends up costing way more than I want or can spend. Then, there is the craziness that ensues, trying to figure out how I am going to get here and there. But I try really hard to remember that it can be worse. I hope it turns around for you :)I am now knocking on wood. My 10 yr old van has yet to leave me stranded. I really can't think of any real disasters. Oh yeah, flooding in the kitchen. In our old house in Atlanta we replaced the garbage disposal once, but never had any water problems. We love our house here (it only took me 2 days to find it) but we seem to have a lot of problems with flooding. First time 8 months after we moved here the garbage disposal got clogged. The dish washer was full of dishes that I was about to run (which I couldn't because it wouldn't drain) while I was getting ready for people we had just met to come for dinner. Paper plates anyone. The plumber came while the guest were with us. Since then the dishwasher has flooded. The repair man said we must have gotten regular soap in it and caused it to suds over. And about a year ago a leak under the sink that took several weeks to figure out what was leaking and how to fix it. So that is our disasters. All water related. And yes, more people than we realize are one disaster away from being broke, homeless, you name it. A lot of people are one pay check away. Econonmist say you should keep 8 months of your salary in the bank just in case something happens. I am pretty sure there are a lot of people that don't.
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