Sailing Saturday

Winding down the day...

Looking back on all the events of today, the Pack had an eventful day! Even though it was Saturday, I had a 6am wake up call, with pilates, seeing AlphaJ off to his day (Yay work!), and a 6 mile bikeride.

Breakfast with the girls and then getting ready for the day was the easy part of the day...

The girls were actually cooperative in occupying their time while Mom had her "prepare for the day 'Me Time.'" We got our snacks and activity bag ready, double checked that we had all our shopping supplies (for grocery [yay reusable bags!] and School shopping [OH MY!]), and headed out... or So we thought...

[I noticed that my passenger side front tire was slightly low in air pressure yesterday
(Friday) and mentioned something to AlphaJ. Today, before he left, he performed the "thumb check" and deemed it worthy to make it to Coop to air-up].

Ironically, not two days ago (Thursday, in case the brain doesn't want to do math...), when the girlies and I set out to meet AlphaJ in M'boro, we forgot the activity bag. As it was today, Kaia actually remembered that we forgot this particular bag almost 15 minutes (and a drive through 2 towns!) EARLIER (since we're Trying to teach her to be responsible for her own belongings and "livihoods" ... ) than she did on Thurs.

Talk about being in a Higher Power's hands (as I have been, recently)... As I made the U-turn to go back home for the bag, I felt my flat tire. I Knew I was close enough to home ( half a mile ) that I could slowly drive and make it to the front of the driveway, in the street, to change to my spare and get to a tire shop.

The girls and I tugged along... gently... and slowly home. I situated the car and analyzed our circumstances. It was about 10:30-ish in the morning, so we still had decent hours to get things accomplished. I started digging through the trunk, getting ready for the tire change, when I remembered that, not 2 months ago, I couldn't find my bolt lock lever (cross-bar) when I had another flat tire (again, arriving at a safe place for a tire change and repair... even more ironic... ).
I called AlphaJ and he suggested that I look in his Concorde for a cross-bar (no luck, but I got a tick from looking... damn ticks). I listened to my intuition that said, "this isn't right... Why would you NOT have at least a BAR looking-thing to loosen the bolts on your tires Somewhere in your kitty-littered trunk?!?"

And so, I dug deeper. And found my lever. Go ME! I was Determined. I got the car jacked-up, with the jack in the proper place underneath my car (yes, I know how to find the divots), and started on the bolts. [I have learned how to use my body weight and balance skills to loosen tire bolts (I have previous experience, teens, pregnant, and living), so I was on the "ball" today].
A car drove by at one point and asked if I needed help, but I didn't know them and I was feeling fema-macho... so I denied their help. But then, my neighbor Joel came out to help and I was actually greatful. He referred me to a tire shop just down the hwy, that AlphaJ actually goes to all the time. Joel gave me his home # just in case I needed some assistance, since I let him know that my J was off to work today and was not around at the moment to help.

I got to Stephen's Tire shop and learned that a staple had embedded itself into my tire. It stayed in place long enough to cause a leak, but something about making that U-turn today caused the staple to split and make a true flat. An hour and a half and $15.00 later, the girls and I were on our way to Murfreesboro.

I missed the meeting that was supposed to have visited at noon, but the girls and I took a much needed lunch break at Chick-Fil-A! Yum, yum! They took a few minutes to play in the play area after munchies (phew, it had been a long day, so far!) and then it was off to Target for School supplies! We didn't get All what we needed there, but we got some good stuff. And of course, it was all pink!

...And then on our way to Walmart. Surprisingly, it wasn't THAT bad, busy and craziness wise; but then again, the girls and I were in the grocery area there, rather that Back-to-School... Oh, the insanity...

I had my list, two buggies (yes, Train-Style! - K - dry goods; H - Cold goods & produce), and we were On Our Way!! Finally! ... An hour and a half later, with Lots of Good encounters with vendors, associates, and customers alike, we were on our way to checkout! Our cashier (Ty) was super helpful and she was soo friendly! We joked and chatted... She even commented on how organized I was with my layout of items on the checkout belt :-)

By 4pm, the girls and I were done and headed to Starbucks for coffee and hot chocolate for the ride home to Woodbury. (I snacked on a freshly purchased GA peach, as well... mmm... Juicy!) [Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me!].

What a crazy day! And the funny thing is: the whole time, dealing with my car and the tire, traffic, the RAIN that was going ALL day long, I maintained my cool; my calm. Nothing really seemed to break my spirit today... I lived and let lived. And that's All that I could do today. And It Felt Great :-D

After the Fabulous coffee on the ride home, I was ready for the "put-away." It was like the calm before the storm. [Only, when it's fluffing your fridge and pantry, it's not a storm]. AlphaJ was ready and waiting for our arrival and helped get all the groceries inside with 3 trips total. Hooray for good packing and cashier bagging!

I love grocery days, as we have all renewed food-fuel resources available to use for consumption; as it was J's idea last night for tonight: we had Pork Sandwiches, with baked Zucc/Sq veggies. De-Licious!

Tomorrow is a whole new day... Sunday is Revival Day and my day is Packed with things to do! Until next time...

 - Omegan :-D