On the Bright Side

Yesterday I woke ten minutes before the meeting I was supposed to be attending--24 minutes from my house. I made a couple of frantic phone calls, left a message that I'd be half an hour late, hurriedly got ready and jetted out the door. I was driving through town (not speeding and making complete stops at stop signs) when I saw a police car turn on its lights, make a u-turn and head my direction. Shoot. I honestly had no idea what I had done, but I pulled over. My window was frozen and wouldn't roll down so as the police officer approached I opened my door. He told me to close my door and I explained that my window was frozen which gave him a little bit of a chuckle. He asked for my license, registration and proof of insurance (which I was having a hard time finding in the mess that is my glove compartment), told me my back driver's side tire was low and then explained that he had stopped me because my safety inspection was expired. It had expired at the end of December. Five days earlier. I had totally forgotten about it in all the holiday bustle. Apparently the new inspection stickers are blue and my yellow one "stuck out like a sore thumb."

He told me he'd make life easier on both of us and let me off with a warning but he still had to go run my license and insurance and I still had to sit there and wait while the clock was ticking and I was getting later all the time.

After a few minutes he came back, told me everything was good but to take care of the inspection "ASAP, because you will get pulled over again with that yellow sticker" and wished me a better day.
I went on my way relieved but feeling badly that my friends had to wait for me. I picked up Hannah who had been waiting patiently for a ride and we made it to the church for our meeting forty-five minutes late. When we walked in, Liz had just heated water for hot chocolate. She had a table set up for our meeting with muffins and bananas and orange juice! What a welcome sight! I hadn't had a chance for breakfast so I was extra grateful for her thoughtfulness.

She said when she had gotten my message she knew she'd have enough time to go to the store. Despite the rough start, the events of the morning left me feeling very blessed and loved. Bonus: we were able to get a lot done at our meeting.

I had thought about driving into Clay (the closest town with a Target and a Hobby Lobby) but I felt like I shouldn't press my luck so I headed home after dropping Hannah off. There was a beautiful cemetery near Hannah's house that I couldn't resist stopping to take some pictures of, then I drove the scenic way home because I was thinking about my word of the year and wondered what I could notice on my drive that I hadn't noticed before.

When I got back into town I decided to go get my inspection done on my car. The garage hadn't gotten their delivery of blue stickers in yet so I had them check my tires (they put air in all four of them) and promised to come back today then I ran a bunch of pointless errands and did a little grocery shopping.

Sorry. Food pic. I just thought the marbled rye bread was so pretty though.

I wrapped up the day by making Reubens for dinner and playing some Slap Jack with my boys.

This morning I remembered that I hadn't gotten cereal yesterday. I like buying cereal in the industrial sized bags from Walmart (my kids have been known to eat one of those 40-servings-per-bag bags of cereal in less than 24 hours in the past), so I went back out today. I went back to the garage--still no stickers; check back tomorrow--and then to Walmart for the cereal.

When I came out of Walmart I had a flat tire--and get this--it wasn't even the tire that had been low yesterday. It was not just low on air. We're talking flat flat. Like the hubcap was almost resting on the pavement flat. *Sigh*.

I don't have a cell phone, so I walked back inside, waited in the line at customer service and then asked them to borrow their phone. I called David and he stopped at home and got our tire inflater thingy and then came to my rescue.

We were able to pump the tire up enough to drive the car home before the inflater's battery died. The battery is charging as I type, but it's looking like we'll probably need to buy a new tire. Bummer.

I was thinking about it though, and while getting pulled over and getting a flat tire are not ideal ways to start a new year, things could have been worse in both situations. I could have gotten a ticket. I could have gotten the flat tire on a much colder day, at night, out in the middle of nowhere, with no phone, and a car full of kids. I guess the moral of the story is, I'm blessed.

The sun was shining and we had blue skies today. It was a welcome change from all the gray days we've had lately.

Also, I think my word of the year was inspired. It really helped me to notice the positive things in both of these situations. Things could always be worse I guess. Things could be like they were at this time last year.