FINDING THE GOOD

Today I felt just like the man hanging from this helicopter with the shark right on his tail. The sharks were sure out to get me today. It was one of those days when I shoulda just stayed in bed!


I awoke this morning before the kids (FINALLY!) and was ready to face the day! I had laundry to do, dishes to load and rooms to clean. I sat down at the kitchen table to balance the check book when it dawned on me I hadn't put in a deposit so if our landlord were to go try and cash our rent check this morning it was not gonna clear.


(Little did I know this was ONLY the beginning!)

As soon as the boys were awake I loaded them right into the van, cobwebs and all. They thought another storm was coming since I was so quickly herding them into the van. This mom was on a mission!


In my rush, I had one kid in an oversized tshirt and pullup. One kid in a too small tshirt and undies and one kid in mis-matched jammies. None of them in shoes. Even I left with flannel pj pants and a hoodie on. Afterall, we were only going straight to the bank drive thru and back home. Who was gonna see us, right? WRONG!!!!

Less than 2 miles from home I feel and hear the dreaded...thud thud thud of none other than a flat tire. I instantly pull off the side of the road, turned on the flashers and prepare to call my mom. Then I realized....I didn't remember my cell phone either. So here we are...one hot mess looking mom and her 3 barely clothed sons who looked like orphans....stuck on the side of the road with a flat tire and no cell phone. Had I had rollers in my hair and a cig in my mouth it would have been the perfect picture of trailer trash!


Just when I was trying to decide which was worse
(a) The 4 of us walking home the way we looked
OR
(b) Being stuck in the van for who knew how long with the boys

I was saved by a sheriff deputy who stopped and asked if we were ok. I explained the flat tire and lack of cell phone and she happily parked in front of us, lights on of course, and let me borrow her phone. GREAT! NOW WE LOOK LIKE WE ARE PULLED OVER!

This nice sheriff lady let me call mom who thankfully had her cell phone on for once! Then as she was about to walk back to her car to go I notice her walk to the back of my van and check my tags.

MY FEARS WERE CONFIRMED

WE DO LOOK TRAILER PARK!

We might as well had lights on my van as advertisements!


I do hope that our KY National Guard license plate was enough to make her change her mind! I swear I normally don't go out like this nor do my children. I can only imagine the thoughts going through her head....on second thought...I am NOT going there!


After I had sat there for over an hour (I can, in no words, describe how horrible that hour was) my mom finally arrived. She had been at the doctor's office when I called so we had no choice but to stay put. We had someone come change the tire and put on the spare from a tire shop down the road (less than a mile they drove to my van and took them 5 min flat to change the tire and the charge was $25!). They patched the 2 nail holes in the tire and we were on our way.


Once back at home I let the boys go out back since the sun was FINALLY shining. They were given STRICT instructions to STAY OUT OF THE MUD AND WATER! Naturally they didn't listen and I was on them every second to "get back on the deck". "Get out of the wet grass". So on and so on. They were, however, able to sneak a pail of muddy muck onto the deck to "wash" my glass patio table. THANKS BOYS! As I began to really wash the table off, the table proceeded to crash to the ground. The legs broke off in 2 places and that was all she wrote of my patio table. So much for outdoor dinners on our nice glass top table this summer. No money in the Hardin Family Budget for a new one until next year's tax refund. GRAND!


Having been in tears for approx 4 hours at this point I was pretty much spent. The boys' constant whining, fighting, bickering and screaming was about to send me to the nuthouse!


Somehow I found the inner strength to do the dishes and make a full dinner. I was so happy and proud that I had succeeded and had dinner ready to be plated at the exact time Joe should be walking in the door! Even the boys cooperated throughout my cooking (for the most part anyway). Then the call came. At the EXACT time Joe should be walking in our front door with dinner ready he was calling me...from his desk.....at work.....on Blankenbaker Pkwy. We live in far eastern Shelby County. Well, dinner was not gonna go in my favor either it appeared. By the time Joe arrived home the meat was luke warm, the mac and cheese thick and over baked, the gravy lumpy...it was a disaster! Hence more tears from me. My poor, wonderful husband ate it like it was the best meal he had ever had.


After dinner my husband cleaned up the kitchen, dishes and all. He sent me to my room to gather myself and have some time alone to do whatever I needed to do in order to relax and re-group and he handled the boys. Did I ever tell you how much I love that man??


In his own loving, special way he helped me to find the good in this horrible day! He helped me realize, just by action alone, how very much I am loved!!! Friends, it doesn't get any better than that!