Sooooo, this year Christmas is all set to be super tough for this mama! This year will be the first year ever, that I have not had all of my children with me on Christmas morning...four of my six will not be with us. We have one on a mission, one incarcerated, and two out of the state visiting in Alabama. I knew this time was coming and had worked hard trying to steel myself against the sadness that was sure to take hold on Christmas morning. I was a woman on the edge Christmas eve morning and then....well, here goes.
A month ago one of our cars was stolen while I was in the store with our youngest two. To save money we had just recently dropped our rental coverage because SERIOUSLY we have paid for it for over 13 years and never needed it. I've paid enough in rental insurance to buy a freaking car so......we are out one car and don't have rental...GREAT! While the insurance company is trying to "work it out" I have been driving a different car, which on December 23rd started to make some very strange noises. I took it by a local dealer and was informed it was the timing belt and needed to be replaced immediately! He could fix it the day after Christmas, for $1000! UGH!
Due to my inability to process any further stress during this holiday season, I parked the car at home and began to drive my husbands truck. I was all Scarlet O'hara "oh I can't think about that right now, if I do I'll go crazy....after all tomorrow is another day."
Then comes "tomorrow" the 24th. I get up at the crack of dawn so I can get into work early and can leave early because it's Christmas eve and I'm not done with Christmas yet...surprise surprise. On the drive to work I thought the truck was making the same noise...probably just my crazy coming out, I turned down the radio and opened the windows...nothing. I parked, got out and as I was walking away I heard....something...it sounded like whistling...of course the tire is leaking air! Why wouldn't it be!? I called Matt and said ummm tire is going flat, he said go to the store and get fix-a-flat...HA! It's almost flat..it isn't leaking air it is gushing air...in one minute the tire and I both found ourselves...airless :(
Matt gets the babies (17 months and 2 months) up and comes to rescue me. He gets to my work, changes the tire and puts on a rather pathetic donut.
On a side note..come on! The invention of the donut was awesome for those of us to irresponsible to ensure we have a full size spare but even as a quick fix...on a full size truck not only it is ridiculous looking, it's a death trap!
So...my knight in shining pajamas with two crusty eyed babies take the flat to go get it fixed. An hour later Matt calls to say the tire shop closest to our home (approximately 20 minutes away) does not have the tire in stock and there is only ONE in town about 40 (more) minutes away and that he will have to go there to get it. I was surprised when my cell rang 2 minutes later, Matt was slightly distressed...he was in such a hurry to come rescue me, he had left his wallet at home!
Daddy with now hungry babies in tow drove home. He grabbed the wallet, and some baggies of cereal and left to seek the infamous tire located almost an hour from home. I was relived to get the call just over an hour later hoping that he had arrived at the tire shop safely....he had...however, he was SO flustered when he realized he did not have his wallet at the first shop that he ran out to go get it.....and left the flat tire there! Dad is now 2 & 1/2 hours into this trip and on his way back across town to retrieve our abandoned flat. It's nap time now...thing 1 (Piper-17 months old) who hates her car-seat more than anything in this world, has come COMPLETELY unglued!
She has eaten everything she can find, drank all three of her sippies and 1 of the baby's bottles and has almost figured out how to get out of her seat. Thing 2 (Sayler-2 months) is remaining graceful under pressure and has slept the entire time thus far.
Dad is still hanging in there...I'm not even in this and with every call I feel my blood pressure rising...being entirely honest, in my current state I wold have driven myself into a light pole by now!
Daddy gets the tire and begins to head back to tire shop #2....well, thing 1 has some quiet bags that some women from church and myself made, the one made by me was a plastic sandwich baggie filled with clear hair gel and little alphabet tiles (it was hot glued shut!) and...my cell rings...
"Tonight won't be alphabet soup, it will be alphabet poop!" is what I hear...What? Yep, she got the baggie opened, had generously applied hair gel all over her body and eaten a number of the letters.
Now dad is on the side of the freeway trying to un-sticky thing 1 but, after two poops on this journey already...he only has 3 wipes left! Of course he didn't bring a change of clothes, this was supposed to be a 45 minute job. He gets her "clean" makes it to tire shop #2, and well....it is going to take an hour to change the tires out!
So, Dad takes thing 1 & thing 2 to McDonald's next door...mom is HORRIFIED! I want to scream...NO, those babies look homeless! I hear the small voice in my head that says if I want to remain married, I'm going to have to let this one go.... let the babies....sticky, dirty, without matching clothes....without SHOES, go in public (it was JUST McDonald's) and let dad unwind or he wasn't going to make it!
(Dad is using an iPhone to photo this trek only because he knows how much pictures them mean to me - he does NOT focus on quality)
Almost 6 hours after dad and babies show up at mommies work to "fix" the flat....dad pulls back in with a new tire! Thing 1 & 2 are both asleep, actually other than two diaper changes and one bottle, little bitty slept the ENTIRE time!
Christmas is tomorrow and my heart already aches to think of waking without most my crew but...on this day I am SO very thankful for my husband...for his patience, for his love, I am so thankful for the father he is and that he is always there to save me, no matter how long the rescuing takes :)
I am even more thankful that this adventure was his and NOT mine...the Lord gives us what we can handle....I would not have handled this well!
