This is How We Roll

The last week was a lesson in flexibility, perseverance and thankfulness.

We moved McDaniel back to college last week.

We made the smart decision of paying to have someone deliver and put together her bed but then made the dumb decision to buy a dresser that came in a box and assemble it ourselves while in McDaniel's room.

It took four hours 

and the bottom drawer 

still doesn't work smoothly.

Halfway through, when Monte realized he'd put on Panel G upside down, I offered to throw the whole thing out the window.

But Monte persevered.

Furniture should not be assembled 

by those that did not make it.

But McDaniel now has a (mostly) functional dresser.

For that we are thankful.

On the way home, we stopped for gas and a restroom break.

A woman with a mop and a bucket informed me 

that the only women's restroom was closed for cleaning.

Monte said he'd stand guard while I used the men's restroom.

I'm not sure I can adequately explain the big, terrible, awful smell that awaited me in there.

It engulfed me, 

permeated my clothes, 

throat-punched practically the last breath from me.

I had no words when I walked out 

and Monte blew by me to use the restroom himself.

"Wait! No!"

I said only in my head and too late.

I went outside to catch my breath 

and collect my thoughts.

As we walked to the car Monte said,

"At least it didn't smell bad in there."

And then went on to state that 

the stink was not of humans.

He had a detailed and compelling argument 

and I'm pretty sure that if I'm ever in a situation 

where I need to rid myself of something in my system, 

I will only need to remember that conversation
and the big, terrible, awful smell.

But we survived.

And are super thankful we weren't that lady 

with a bucket and a mop who's next task HAD 

to be cleaning the men's restroom.

A few days later, Ellie called me after school to say her car wouldn't start.

My parents bought her an older SUV from a neighbor that they named Matilda.

It's in great shape but I worried that maybe our short time with her 

was all Matilda had left.

It turns out, Ellie thought the fog lights would automatically turn off and had been draining the battery slowly for a few days.

Matilda was parked on a very busy street since our high school doesn't have enough parking.

Getting Monte's car turned around properly to attach jumper cables to Matilda made a lot of people heading home for the day, angry.

It was tense, cars flying by giving us meanish looks 
as we struggled to get it jumped.

A kind boy in Ellie's class came over with a battery charger but it still wouldn't work.

We had to call Triple A.

Monte sent Ellie and I home so he could wait for help to arrive.

That was quite the blast, 

going in reverse fast, 

ramping a curb, 

driving a teensy into someones front yard, 

before I could slam it into drive 

and speed away in traffic.

I felt the closest to James Bond that I ever will.

Ellie was horrified.

A fresh, new battery later, we are all very happy and thankful that Matilda lives on.

Monte and I decided Saturday afternoon that we wanted to give those rentable electric Lime scooters a try that are all over town.

You download the app, it shows you where to find one 

and then it bills you based on how long you ride it.

We drove downtown but it suddenly started pouring so we hung out in a cool coffee shop while it rained.

And we ran into a friend.

I think I had a dream about that blueberry scone last night.
So. Good.

The skies cleared and we ended up finding scooters super close to home and had such a blast riding them!

They go FAST (20 mph) and I'm glad we were in a mostly empty parking lot rather than a busy street.

I wish I'd had a helmet too.

The entire ride was $2.50.

Super fun and cheap!

As all things should be, 

thank you very much.

Once we got home we impulsively decided to go out to dinner and checked around to see where we could get a table.

Shockingly, a nice restaurant we could walk to had something available in the next 15 minutes.

While Monte went to go change, I flipped on the light above the sink, to do the dishes before we left.

As I did, the light bulb shattered, fell into the sink and the light socket started spewing smoke.

I screamed FIRE!

Monte ran down the stairs and rushed over and unplugged the coffee maker.

Which wasn't on fire.

I pointed to the light socket still coughing up smoke.

Neither of us are super great in emergencies.

Nigel slept through the whole thing.

One of us really needs to get better in that area.

We cancelled the reservations, turned off the power in the kitchen and went about the task of removing what was left of the light bulb from the light socket and cleaning up all the glass that went everywhere.

We ended up ordering in, watching a movie on Netflix and being SUPER THANKFUL the day went as it did and we were home and not away when that light bulb decided to explode.

So in conclusion,

when life hands you manufactured junk to assemble,

big, terrible, awful smells,

ill-timed dead batteries,

sudden rain storms

or exploding light bulbs,

ALL IN THE SAME WEEK,

deal with it.

Roll with it.

It leads to

content college kids, 

thankful parents, 

fun, cheap dates 

and laughing,

SO MUCH laughing, 

at crazy stories we could never make up.

Be thankful for them.

They're yours.