Don't be a stick in the mud!

Where do I start? Well, it all started yesterday afternoon. We were supposed to be in Durant around 6:15 for a surprise birthday party for my cousin Heather. Johnny is out of town for a trial, so it was just the kids and me. The day started off great. We got up early and got around, then headed to the library for story time. As we drove into the parking lot, I remembered it was President's Day, so the library was closed. Eli was bummed, but got over it pretty quick. Instead, we ran to the grocery store and then headed home for lunch and a nap. We all three had a long nap and didn't wake up until 3:30. Now, the plan was to leave by 4:10 or 4:30. As soon as I saw the alarm clock, I knew that wasn't going to happen. I still had to feed Zoe and get all of our stuff together to head out for the rest of the day. When we were finally ready to go, Eli couldn't find his shoes. He is usually really good about putting them up in his closet where they belong. I don't know why, but the fact that this one time he didn't, really made me upset. Looking back, it was because we were running so behind, which is my fault, I should have set the alarm clock. Anyway, we finally found them in his bathroom behind the door. Then, I couldn't find the directions I had printed out, so I had to look them up again. It was just one thing after another. We finally headed out and I decided not to rush too much because we were going to miss the "surprise" part anyway. We made pretty good time, I took the exit off the highway in Durant, then it was all downhill from there. It was dark, the house we were going to was outside of town and there were no street lights so I couldn't see the street signs. I went back and forth several times and just could not find the street. I finally pulled over to reset the GPS and try to calm down from being so frustrated. When I thought I had it, I went to pull back onto the highway and discovered I was stuck in the mud. Again, we were on a pitch dark highway outside of town!! It looked like a grassy shoulder of the road. I couldn't tell in the dark how muddy and saturated the ground was. Several cars and pickups passed, but nobody stopped to offer help. I had my hazard lights on and after a few minutes began waving down cars. A highway patrolman slowed down, looked and just kept going. At this point all three of us were crying. I called Johnny and of course there was absolutely nothing he could do from Brownsville, but I was freaking out. I tried called Heather several times, but her phone kept going to voicemail, and I didn't have Garry's cell phone number. I left her a message and then called back a couple of minutes later. Finally I got her on the phone. They headed towards us to help. In the meantime a woman pulled over and said that she drives big trucks for the Army and gets them stuck and unstuck all the time and she could get me out. I ran down to her car and stayed with her little boy while she got my car out. I am so thankful to her for stopping. I really feel God placed her there right at that moment to help me. She grew up in Durant, but doesn't live there now. Anyway, by this time the party was over, it was 8:00, an hour after we actually arrived in Durant. My car was covered in mud and my babies were scared and hungry. We went back to Garry and Heather's and had a great time visiting and hanging out. We headed home a little after 11:00 and got home at 1:00 am.


































Then this morning I woke up to the alarming sound of EVERY SINGLE one of our smoke detectors going off at the same time. Eli kept his ears covered and it didn't really seem to bother Zoe. I disconnected three of them and that made it stop. There was no fire and I have no clue what made them go off.

I went to a Pampered Chef party with some girlfriends, then had to go to the airport. Johnny left a binder in his car at the airport that he needed for the trial. I had to get it to his office so they could overnight it to Brownsville. I came home to our awesome housekeeper making my house clean and shiny :)

The doorbell rang while Maria was finishing up and it was a man selling magazines. I usually quickly say "No thank you" and go about my day. However, something about him and his story was intriguing. He said that three months ago he was homeless and using drugs. His father was a drug addict and his mother was an alcoholic. He is 43 years old and the oldest man in the program. He is from Detroit and working for this company that has taught him communication skills and basic life skills. They go to homeless shelters and out on the street recruiting young men and try to give them a second chance. They sell magazine subscriptions and earn points. Once he earns 20,000 points, he won't go door to door anymore, he will be a youth mentor to other young men that have not made the best choices, whether it be drugs, alcohol, gangs, etc. We talked about how choices you make can greatly have an impact, whether positive or negative, on the rest of your life. He was recently saved and has developed a very strong relationship with God, you can see the excitement beaming from him. He asked me to pray for him and the future impact he can have on others. I was really impressed with his positive outlook. Hopefully his story was true and I didn't get duped into buying a magazine for nothing.

Last, I took my car to the self car wash and tried to get all of the mud off. Most of it came off pretty easy, but underneath by the tires was nearly impossible. It was so caked on and thick that it kept splashing back on me. When we got home, it was all over my pants and shirt. It was on my face and in my hair. I cannot imagine going mudding intentionally if the cleanup is such a pain. I just don't think the fun of driving in the mud and spinning out would be worth the trouble of cleaning up afterwords. I say this because in high school that was something the boys loved to do, go down to the river and go mudding. I've now had my share thank you very much. Hopefully that will never happen again.