Not the planned morning I was hoping for....

I backed out of my driveway this morning to take the boy to school and my emergency brake light and ABS light on the dashboard were both on. Hmm.

I pulled forward. The car felt like the brake was on. Oh silly. I reached down to release it. Um... it was not engaged. Freaky. The car was driving like the brake was on, the lights were on... but the brake itself was not on.

Thankfully I was able to get my son to ride to school with my neighbor who was just pulling out of her driveway to take her kids there. (THANKS GOD!)

I managed to get the van back in our driveway. Called hubby. Explained. Explained again. Sometimes I think he, and other guys in general, think women are overreacting. Like the car isn't really broke and I've lost my mind. What part of "it is driving like the brake is on" is not clear? Put your parking brake on and try driving. That pretty much sums it up.

So I go in the house after unloading all three other kids and start researching the internet. Turns out, when those two particular lights are on and the brake 'feels' stuck, it is extremely dangerous to drive the car.

Can I trust the internet? I call the local mechanic. Yep. Call for a tow. Don't drive the van ma'am. Okay. Tow on the way. What a morning! I was supposed to be at Target getting errands accomplished! Oh well! Thank you God that I didn't try driving it! (THANKS GOD!)




The tow truck driver comes and is from Randy's towing. I know the owners wife and son and daughter. I ask him if these are still the owners. They are. And then, all of a sudden, the tow truck driver and I bond. He has been working for them for 30 years and knows the owners like family. We talk about what a great family they are and how they have helped him through some really rough patches in his life. Aww.. a moment with the tow truck driver. (THANKS GOD.)

So, the morning didn't go as planned. In fact, if the internet is correct, we may be out several hundred dollars. Bummer. But, in the midst of a very different day than I foresaw, God has been here. My son has a ride home from school, we are all safe. The van got safely to the mechanic, and I had a moment with someone I would not have had otherwise. It is nice to see the fingerprints of God on your life, even when He is painting a different picture than you had in mind!

'Tis the Reason

I'm guessing you assume that I am talking about the 'reason for the season'. No... not today, but perhaps soon. I am talking about the reason my house is a mess.

It came to me like an epiphany. This is how the morning started:

I woke up with a bunch of motivation to 'get going'. Yea! Mornings are not my thing... so it took me a minute (okay an hour or so...) but by 8:00am I was up and running.

That is when I realized why the house is a disaster. Here is my quest to do laundry and the dishes. Two very basic, everyday chores that must be completed....or so you would hope.

I am dressed, ah.... now to grab the laundry basket in my room to take to the washer..."mom! Can I color on the computer?" No.... I pick up the basket and walk to the stairs.

(Screams from the girl's room) I run to check on them. Everyone is alive. I head back to take the dirty laundry downstairs. I actually get all the way to the laundry room when another child comes running in to say that the baby spit up all over. "I'll get it in a minute...." I casually say. But when they tell me it is up her noise, I decide to run to rescue the babe.

While I am upstairs I realize the babe has also exploded her morning diaper. So I change her. Oops! The diaper pail is overflowing. I go to put the baby in the living room to play and grab a trash bag.

I go into the kitchen to get a trash bag and realize I still haven't packed Alex his school lunch. I yell for him to bring me his lunchbox and unpack it.

I take the trash bag back to the baby's room and start to put it in the pail. The phone rings. It is my husband. He needs the number to (church/a friend/ the bank...). I put the trash bag down and head for the phone book. "Can I call you back?" I ask. The baby is being "moved" by her older sister and this is looking scary.

I scold the older sister for trying to move the baby and my son announces that his backpack is "missing."

Well... you get the point I hope. So, here I wake up with all this motivation and so far in the last hour these are my accomplishments:

Laundry is IN the laundry room, but not started.

I realized I have a lunch to make.

The baby is changed and rescued (twice).

The diaper pail has been emptied, but there is no new bag replaced. Good luck to the next diaper changer.

I am now on a hunt for a backpack - since school starts in 30 minutes.


So... an hour later my house still looks like crud, and some may argue it is even worse off.... At least I realized WHY it looks like this. I never get to finish a single blazing task!!


....Oh my goodness.... I still need to call my hubby back!!