Inspiration

Last Friday could of been a nightmare of a day, but thanks to a little inspiration and guidance from above it turned out alright. It all starts with my cell phone. I hate cell phones and only have one for emergencies. The problem with that is I forget to charge it or leave it at home half of the time. Fortunately for me my husband followed the inspiration he had Friday morning to charge my phone. The previous night I thought I should charge my phone, but I didn't want to get out of bed and figured I would charge it in the car. That was silly of me, but I'm glad Rich listened and followed the prompting he received because I ended up needing my phone.

Ava and I had a nice day planned. We were going to meet some friends at a new park in Folsom and then run a few errands. Everything went well at the park. We had fun, ate lunch, and then decided it was time to head home. We gathered our stuff, said goodbye to our friends, and then got in the car. It was warm (luckily not too hot), so I decided to cool the car as I strapped Ava in. I turned the key and nothing happened. I thought it was strange, so I tried again. Again nothing happened and all I could hear was a click. I figured it was the battery, so I got Ava back out and headed back to the park to find our friends. I was so happy they were still there and could help.

Ava stayed at the park and played with my friend while her husband helped me with the car. We carry jumper cables, so I figured no big deal. We hooked up the car and let it go for a bit before I tried to start it. Unfortunately, it did not start. We waited a little longer, but nothing. Another nice gentlemen saw us struggling and came over to help. After he assessed the situation he thought there was something wrong with the starter. At this point I was pretty frustrated and realized it was time to call AAA.

I made the phone call and found out it would be about a hour wait. I also had called Rich several times by now to let him know what was going on. I had to call him again to get our mechanics information and figure out what to do with the car. He was kind enough to take care of calling the mechanic and arranging the drop-off.

Now that the car situation was figured out I had to figure out what to do with Ava. My friends car was full with their family and I didn't want to worry about taking Ava in the tow truck, so I had to make another phone call. This time I called my visiting teacher and good friend. I felt bad asking her to come all the way out to Folsom, but I didn't know what else to do. I was grateful she was available and kind enough to help.

While I this craziness was going on the ice cream truck (or golf cart) showed up. I decided it would be good to have Ava sit down in the shade and knew ice cream was a good bribe. I bought ice cream for all the kids and they enjoyed eating and getting really messy. It was a good break for me to see them all so happy and gave me a few minutes to organize myself.

After waiting just about an hour the tow truck showed up. I was so happy because it was hot, I was tired, and we just ran out of water. The man was really nice and understanding of the situation. He decided to try and jump start the car one more time just to make sure. First he tried with a little battery pack, but nothing happened. He seemed pretty determined that it was the battery, so he brought out the big guns (the heavy duty cables). I was saying a little pray in my heart that it was just the battery and then it started...WOO HOO!! I was told not to shut off the car until I was sure I was able to get a new battery put in. I gathered my stuff again, got Ava in the car, and headed to Sam's Club to get a new battery.

When I got to Sam's Club I felt a sigh of relief. I knew the end of this long, crazy day was almost over. I had to leave the car running until I knew for sure they had the battery. Since I didn't want to leave my car unattended or take Ava out unnecessarily my good friend followed me and sat with the car until I knew it was a go. Sam's had what we needed, so Ava and I went inside and enjoyed a soft pretzel while we waited.

After waiting almost a hour it was done and we were on our way home. It was a long day and we were both exhausted. Ava fell asleep within 5 minutes and I couldn't wait to get home and close my eyes for a few minutes too. It was just one of those days, but with help from friends, strangers, and through inspiration it all turned out okay. I'm am grateful to know I'm not alone and someone is watching over me.

Counting my blessings...
-Fully charged cell phone (THANKS RICH!)
-Fun day at the park
-Good Friends
-Supportive Husband
-Kind Strangers
-AAA
-Ice Cream Truck
-It was only the battery and not something more expensive
-Pretzels at Sam's Club