A few weekends ago Dan left to go out of town for a week long training through the Air Force in Florida. He left really early on a Saturday. After dropping him off I spent the day with my good friend Jenni and her kids. We had lots of fun shopping (well minus the second trip to Hobby Lobby due to us forgetting something....), crafting, and just visiting. I always enjoy hanging out with her on a Saturday and I love her kids as well. Her youngest, Colt, who is about to turn two, always makes me happy. Everytime I see him he clings to me, always wants to sit in my buggy (shopping cart for those that don't get my southern talk!) at the store, and always asks lots of questions. He is probably one of the most inquisitive boys I have ever met, mostly because he just likes to always have a conversation going and doesn't know how to say much other than "What's this???". So about every 10 seconds either I will ask him "What's this??" and point to something or vice versa. He practically had me name almost EVERYTHING to him at Hobby Lobby. Jacob, her other boy, was really cute too. He knows his mom likes Flor De Lis so every time he would see one in Hobby Lobby or anything that looked close to one he would get really, really excited and start saying "Flor De Lis, Flor De Lis Mommy!!" or "Look Ms. Sierra!!! Flor De Lis!!!" It was really cute and funny. Those boys definitely boost your spirits when you are around them.
The main purpose of our shopping/crafting day this time was for a baby shower Jenni is planning for a friend. We seem to have a day like this at least twice a month but this one had an actual purpose. She is planning a firefighter themed shower for a friend from high school. She asked me to help her make the invitations, part of a gift, and the shower cake. We made the invitations on Saturday and they turned out so cute! And were way fun too! I will have to add a picture of them tomorrow when I get to work. Jenni has them on her computer. We also got a really cute red metal bucket (that is what we forgot from Hobby Lobby the first time) and put vinyl on it. I cut out a firetruck and the baby's name for her. The cake we will be making at a later date but I am really excited for it.
By the time we had finished all the invites and our shopping I was quite exhausted. Especially since Dan and I had to be at the base at like 6:30am that morning. After I left Jenni's house at like 5:30 or so I called Donna, Dan's step mom, on the way home. I had planned on just crashing on the couch for the rest of the night but when I called we both realized that we were home alone for the weekend. Paul was in Utah visiting his mom. She teasingly said "If you left to come see me right now you could get in by 9pm and then we would have a full day together tomorrow!". We kept on talking and I quickly packed my bags without saying a word and started driving. By the time we finished talking I had already been on the road for about 20 minutes. She was quite surprised when I spilled the beans and told her I was on my way! I knew both of us would enjoy it and I totally understood what she was going through.
Dan's dad is taking a volunteer assignment to Iraq for 14 months. He leaves the first of March. Donna seemed a little down and I totally understand how that is. Whenever Dan would be gone for a day or more before he left on his deployment I would start comparing it to what it would be like when he deployed. For example, when he went to scout camp about 2 months before it was one of the hardest weeks of my life because I was comparing it to when I wouldn't see him for awhile. The brain does annoying things sometimes it seems. Had he been gone for a week at any other time I would have handled it just fine. So anyways, my point was, I understood why Donna was a little down with Paul being gone even though he isn't "officially gone" yet.
Donna and I had a great time. We stayed up talking to 2 am (I know, we are nuts...especially after I thought I was ready to crash at 5:30pm). The next day we had fun chatting, shopping, eating, etc...just enjoying our girl time. All day long I had been trying to decide whether I was going to go home Sunday night in time for work Monday morning or if I would take Monday off of work. I finally decided to go home that night so I could save my vacation day for when we came back to visit in a few weeks.
By the time I got on the road it was probably a little later than I should have left, but I wasn't too worried, especially since Dan was okay with it and I had been fine driving the 3 1/2 hour drive in the dark the night before. About an hour into the drive, while talking to my mom, I hit a piece of metal in the road that INSTANTLY blew up my tire. I had absolutely no time to react. It was the driver's side front tire as well, which I learned is the worst one to blow out. I felt really bad for my family, who knew I was in trouble but couldn't do much about it being close to 2000 miles away. I was hoping to be able to make it to the next exit which was quite close but since my tire was so bad I couldn't make it that far. My car was shaking so bad that I had to stop short about 50 yards from the exit. So close but yet so far....
I called Donna needing help and luckily she knew of a cousin who lived in the town nearby where I was stranded. I was so lucky he was there to come and help me! Especially with both Paul and Dan out of town. He was there within 10 minutes and put my spare on and I was on my way back to Donna's house. My spare was a little donut so I couldn't drive the remaining two hours home on it. By the time I got back to Donna's it was late enough I should have been back in Shreveport...oh well! Not my best moment in life, but I survived it. I felt bad for scaring myself, Donna, and my family but I am glad it turned out so well.
I am still glad I went and visited Donna for the weekend but I definitely failed on the execution. If I EVER, which won't be anytime soon or possibly never again Mom and Dad...don't worry....drive that far by myself again I definitely won't do it at night. There is a chance that could have happened to me in town during the day here in Shreveport and I still would have needed help but it was much scarier at night on the side of the highway.
So in the end, I got to see Donna for a extra day, still missed work, and cost myself close to $200 between replacing my tire and getting an alignment! Oh well...the price it sometimes costs to be me I guess!
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