Demon Battles, Peach Bottom Pants, And the Green Death

What a crazy weekend.

It all started when I stole away an hour on Friday to have lunch with Aubrey. I was complaining to her about my horribly tedious job that I am "so grateful for," when she, of all people, convinced me to just blow off my 9 hour shift on Saturday. Aubrey promised me a blissful day of sleeping in, shopping, dining, and quality girl time. Who can say no to that?

Instead of sleeping in, I went with Matt to the gaming convention and spent quality time with him rolling dice and battling orcs and demons. (I'll pause for your snickering laughter....done yet? Good.)

Laura, Aubrey's friend from Montana came to visit for the weekend, so I joined them on their shopping conquest. I'm not sure what is so therapeutic about swiping a credit card, and carrying around those heavy plastic bags all day, but I felt so refreshed at the end of the night. Aubrey just got her tax money and needed "professional" looking clothes to wear to her new internship. Laura and I shifted through all the racks, loaded up our arms with cute expensive things I would never dream of buying on a college students budget, and forced Aubrey in the dressing room. We blazed through the entire I.F. mall, and in six hours I only spent the amount Matt would spend on a video game. That's how I justified it to him, at least.

I made it home with a cute new outfit; a spring green wrap type top, milk chocolate wedge heels, and a pair of cream colored pants that shape my bum like a peach. Perhaps I could wear it to meet with a publisher someday?? One can only dream.

We had a nice girls night out dinner at Olive Garden where I met more of Aubrey's friends. These girls were really sweet. I didn't feel nervous or awkward around them at all. I ordered my favorite dish (which also happens to be the cheapest entree on the menu)and stuffed myself with bread sticks and salad. It just felt good to be a girl again.

I was exhausted (and stuffed) when I got home. But Matt was starving and since we "have nothing but soup" in the house, he wanted to go to Arby's.

Five minutes later, he was starring down into our car's greasy engine. It just quit. We pulled up to a stop sign and Sister Rosalina said, "Hey you know what? I'm done. Goodnight." Seriously! Just like that: the engine quit, without warning.

A half hour later, I'm back at the job I called into for the day, looking for a flashlight and car oil with number for a name I can't remember. A crabby, still hungry Matt, sits back on the side of the road, guarding our car.

Another half hour later, I'm back at Wal-Mart, fifteen minutes before they close. This time sitting on the floor of the automotive section with Aubrey and Laura, ripping open the packages of tow rope to see if they are sewn to the standards of Kenny, my on call 24 hour mechanic.

Kenny, Aubrey's husband,can speak to cars like people, and has saved our butts on numerous occasions. This being one of them. After working till midnight at his Wendy's job, he towed our car back to our apartment. He did a quick exam and decided it was either this thing he calls the timing belt, which is no big deal to fix. The other slight possibility is what I call the Green Death. Green Death is the worst possible situation. Either your wallet, or your car is inevitably going to die. But you get to decide which one lives!

After a conversation with my dad, who is not a mechanic but is fluent in their language, I believe it to be just a timing belt. However, from previous experience I have reason to believe my transmission will go out by the end of the summer, inflicting on my ten year old car the curse of the Green Death.

This might sound strange but I feel really good. Even through all this stress (Green Death + stuff I haven't written about) I can see how immensely blessed we are. In less than twenty four hours, I've had someone volunteer to tow and fix our car, I've had someone give us a car in the mean time, AND someone is going to hem my new peach bottom pants for me!

It is frustrating because every time we get a little ahead financially, the money slips right through our fingers. But what a blessing it is that these things; emergency plane tickets, car repairs, ect., happen when we have the money to pay for them. And we are so grateful for true friends and family who really step up in our times of need.

No matter what, this is going to be the beautiful, fun summer I've been waiting for. I can just tell :)