It was my new record night, one table and walked with well over two hundred fifty dollars after tip out and couldn't have come at a better time.
Our clown car broke down. Seems it needed a new timing belt. I was relieved it was only twenty six bucks. Zach and my next door husband's son put it on only to discover the alternator was cracked.
Yep, that sounds about right for us.
Off to Autozone they went... an alternator was $240. Thanks to the businessmen we had the part paid for and some money for a few groceries.
When I left for work last night I dolled out orders. Tim had gotten all my summer clothes out of the attic and I wanted Massey to wash, dry and put them up. I wanted Tim to clean up the kitchen (to MY standards) meaning all counters cleaned, junk moved off the kitchen table and chairs cleared of backpacks.
I, of course bummed a ride home from work. When I got out of my friend's car and walked down the driveway I had to pick up my next door husband's battery charger out of the driveway and take it into the garage. Then I went back out and wound up the two drop cords and brought them into the garage.
It didn't get any better when I went into the house.
Yes the dishes were loaded in the dishwasher. The table was cleared but had food crumbs and grass from the bottom of the dog's water bowls. At least I knew they had given the dogs fresh water.
I moved the lazy Susan off the table and cleaned it with Murphy's Oil Soap. (Pretty clever, huh?)
The trash was so full the bag had slipped down into the can. Don't think THAT stopped them from cramming more on top! I took the trash out and relined the can.
Just wait...it gets worse.
I walked up to the living room and all my summer clothes were in piles. Some were folded and some weren't. I picked up the first pile and immediately realized they were still damp.
Okay...NOW I WAS TICKED.
That's one of my biggest pet peeves, although I seem to have dozens if you ask my family.
If you start a load of laundry you need to finish it. That doesn't mean just leave it in the washer, that doesn't mean leave it in the dryer. That means wash, dry, fold and put away.
I grabbed all my clothes and went back downstairs to the laundry room. I opened the dryer to throw them back in and what do you think I found?
Let's all us moms say it together... "Another load of clothes not yet dry."
I piled my clothes into a basket on the floor, turned the dryer back on and went into the kitchen for a Natty Light. By this time it was after one AM. I had to be at work at ten thirty AM.
I had called home at eleven to tell them I would be late but had a ride and asked Massey if my clothes were done?
Yes Maam!
At four AM, I put up the last of the clothes, hanging up the dresses and simply crashed on the couch.
Don't ask what's wrong with me but I woke up at seven thirty. Oh now I remember...That's when TJ came home through the front door.
I slept til nine thirty and got up to get dressed for work. Tim came into the kitchen while I was getting a glass of water and taking my daily (store brand) Zyrtec.
I had text a girl last night who works with me on Wednesday day shifts asking if she could swing by and pick me up? I checked my phone...no response.
Tim told me our next door neighbors (who are most probably looking for a house very far away from us) said he could take me to work in their spare truck, a little Ford Ranger.
I began to unload on Massey about the clothes when she said TJ had wanted to do some laundry of his own last night and after she told him I wanted my summer clothes washed, said he would wash mine first.
Once again..."WASH DRY FOLD AND PUT AWAY!"
Tim and I trudged across the front lawn when I was ready and climbed into my neighbor's truck. We got as far as the stop sign when I started.
"When I ask you guys to do something, just DO it. Don't half do it, don't skip steps or think the attempt will make me happy because it won't. Yes the dishes were done but that's the first step. The counters weren't wiped down, the trash was overflowing and there were backpacks, hats and work clothes in every chair. I know you all think I'm a total bee-otch but if you just follow through and complete the task I would come home and rave about it. Instead I stay up until 4AM not only steaming about but getting it done myself, then fall asleep on the couch for a three hour nap, wake up, zone out for a couple more hours then start the drill again.
Then I went into overdrive and the tears started. When you're upset and ranting, once that first tear drops it's all over.
While I had been getting ready for work Tim had a phone call from the company he had applied with. They told him to come in tomorrow to start.
By this point I was like "Now what are we going to do about getting ME to work?"
Yep, I was on a "ME" tirade (and doing a pretty good job of if I may say so my selfish self) when we arrived at my work. I got out of the truck and went inside to clock in.
I had maybe three meltdowns at work, venting with other female co workers. Us women folk stick together.
Night before last I wrote a blog about waiting on a guy with stage three colon cancer and how his wife would most probably change places with us in a heartbeat.
The next morning I received a private message on Facebook from a woman I have maybe met three times. She was a manager for the restaurant where I work before I started. She's good friends with Barb, my boss.
It said "I might be able to help you out with a temporary fix for a ride- give me a call. To remind you of who I am I used to be a manager @ the restaurant. Barb knows me pretty well."
I was floored.
We phone tagged a few times and when she called the restaurant was busy with the thirty top. I asked Barb to speak with her and tell her how busy I was.
Barb later told me her friend had an older car she wasn't using and wanted to offer for us to use it.
I wondered how she knew about our latest debacle because usually don't write about how desperate we are on Facebook.
Turns out she reads my blog.
Today when I got off at four, once again asked for yet another favor from a co worker. She was working a double and wouldn't be leaving the restaurant til almost midnight. I told her about the offer of a loaner car and asked if I could take her car in case I could go pick it up?
An hour before all this happened, had pangs of guilt and sent Tim a text apologizing for going off on him. I ranted and raved the entire ride to work about what "I" was ticked about when should have been telling him HUGE congratulations on finally securing a job.
I did my server friend the tiny favor of going by and making a bank deposit for her, then going by my own bank.
I got home and not twenty minutes later my cell rang. It was the woman who read my blog and told me to come on by and pick up the loaner car. She lives about five minutes away.
Here's the usual COTTON story...
I borrow a car from a co worker to go to the bank, go home then take HER car to go pick up ANOTHER car so I can have a ride to and from work.
Massey rode with me since I needed someone to take my co worker's car back. We got to my guardian angel's house and she was waiting in her driveway.
Heck, I thought by "Older" she meant something like one of the cars we have (or currently don't).
Massey and I talked with her for about thirty minutes. She fell a while back in her garage and has undergone two back surgeries SO far with one more in her future.
This woman who I have spoken to maybe three times handed me the keys to a Mercury Sable with leather seats, all the amenities you could want and told me she simply wanted to help.
Heck, I thought we were going to pick up a Pinto.
She told me she reads my blog which has sometimes made her laugh hysterically but after reading about our current situation simply wanted to help.
Massey drove my co worker's car back to the restaurant and I followed driving the car this amazingly gracious woman had just given me the keys to.
So now my husband has a job!
Zach and my next door husband's son put the new alternator in Tim's car and believe it or not, the car runs!
My nephew is going out of town for the weekend and brought his car over for the boys to get back and forth from work. They get off well after one AM and sometimes later.
It feels like Christmas around here!
No, ACTUALLY... it feels like Karma has finally rolled around, the tide has turned and The Big Guy said "Here ya go and thanks for waiting."
A woman who I barely know, suffering from physical difficulties and problems of her own has solved so many of OUR problems it's almost unbelievable.
Lesson learned..."You Gotta Have Faith."
Til next time...The most grateful COTTON on earth
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