It is hard to believe it is already the middle of August! The year is flying by and this wild ride called life is full of, well, life!
My son's mother-in-law had a health issue and I filled in watching our youngest grandson 'Luca for 4 weeks. I dearly love the little guy and, so saying, he is exhausting! Ah, these reminders of why God gives children to younger people!
Yes, I was tired and absolutely nothing got done in my house AND - Ruben and I had a blast with him. We would go most weekday mornings to Costco when they first opened to use our "Costco Gym membership" - which is what we call it; walking the outer perimeter of the inside of the store when they are not busy. 'Luca now knows more people at Costco than his parents do. In fact, his daddy took him to the store one day and several people stopped them, cooed and chatted with 'Luca and asked "Where are his grandparents?" We have decided that he sort of owns Costco now. He would wave and chatter and had some who were his particular favorites there. Oh, yes - he L-O-V-E-S "la macchina" - the sweeping machine that is kind of a Zamboni for concrete floors. He would get so excited when he heard and saw it. We would come home and get some lunch and nap and when he woke up have some watermelon and at any and all times during the day play and laugh and learn and have fun. He is a very busy little guy.
Ruben and I went up to Huntsville and Lake Guntersville, Alabama for the 4th of July, as has become our habit. We had a most interesting trip this time.
That morning (July 1st) as we were leaving, Ruben mentioned that he had been "a gallon" low on liquid in the radiator before we left. Hmm. That doesn't sound good.
Well, obviously, he had addressed the problem and we were off on our merry way. We were just north of Birmingham, several hours later, and making good time. We were singing along to the radio, chatting. laughing, enjoying the day when out of the blue my husband says "Oh, I need to pull over for a minute. The temperature gauge just went to extreme heat."
Oh. I see. So we pull over on the side of the road, the INTERSTATE, up goes the hood, and lo and behold there is some serious heat coming out from the engine. By the way, it is in the mid 90's, very humid and even though it is a Tuesday, there is a good bit of traffic on I-65 Northbound.
Sure that my husband has a container of water in the truck bed I ask about that. Wait a minute - this is hard for me to assimilate. My husband who always has a container of water with him not only does not have a container of water with him, he doesn't even have an empty container? What??? That makes no sense whatsoever!
Well, we do have 2 drink glasses from our stop at Hardee's for lunch (in case you don't know, Hardee's hamburgers are absolutely delicious. Dare I say, the best fast food burgers out there.), and I had brought a travel bottle of water which was about half full by now. Yeah, that is not enough to do any good. Also we had been meaning to get AMAC road service....
Well, this is not good. We have to wait for the engine to cool to try anything anyway, and did I mention that it was mid 90's and quite humid and we were on the side of the Interstate?
I texted my sweet baby sister with a photo of the truck on the side of the highway with its hood up and the text was "Don't freak out." Well, she was with her wonderful hubby, my b-i-l David. He is an aerospace engineer, and the master of we can handle this. He did immediately mention to us that we were only an hour or two from our destination and he would happily come get us if we needed to go that route. Okay, that is on the possibility list. In the meantime, what to do...
Out of the blue, or more accurately the grayish heat haze, an Alabama Power truck has pulled over on the side of the road and is backing up towards us. God bless these guys they get on the appropriate and required by their job safety vests and come to our assistance. I cannot now remember the guy's name but he had told us he had been broken down on this stretch of road before and had found out that the people who are supposed to provide assistance to stranded motorists (really - there is an agency that is supposed to do this in Alabama!) did NOT come along this stretch of the road. Great!
First of all he asks "Do you have a container for water or some engine coolant?" Yeah, well, that is a no. He gently chastises us and I swear this is probably the first time EVER since I have known my husband that we did NOT have either engine coolant/anti-freeze and/or a jug of or for water.
At any rate, he loads us up with what water they have available including giving us a bottle of drinking water - GREATLY appreciated by now as we had been out in the heat for probably about 30 to 45 minutes - and told us where to go.
Well, here is where you WANT someone to tell you where to go! You know - for assistance!
We take off towards the next exit and they follow us. We went to the right when we got off and they had wanted us to go left. They followed us again to get us back where they were directing us. Unfortunately, by this time (7 or 8 miles total later) the engine decides to go back into overheat again. We had pulled over in front of a little out of the way antique and collectible store which is ALL that was out there. We told them we were going to have to let the engine cool down again, got additional directions to the auto place they were attempting to direct us towards, thanked them and had to wait. So I go into the antique store and look around, Ruben joins me in a bit and we just have to wait it out. Ruben does get to talking to the owner. Surprise, we talk to people everywhere. (I seem to remember a son of mine complaining to me "Mom - do you HAVE to talk to everyone?" Mm, yes. Yes I do.) Ruben obtains an old milk carton - ah! a perfect vessel to keep in your vehicle so you always have something to put water in because you NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MIGHT NEED IT! - and fills it with water multiple times to fill the radiator.
We actually had a very pleasant chat with these people. It was in Kimberly, Alabama and the son who was working there was also going to be going to Lake Guntersville for the 4th.
The engine cools enough to drive and we head back towards the interstate to find the auto store. Mind you, I am very anxious about the state of the heat therein and I can smell that burning smell possibly only because I am expecting flames to leap out from under the hood. We get to the other side of the underpass and Ruben decides to stop at the gas station. We were going to consider our next step there and I was rather insistent that he buy some engine coolant PERIOD!
Now this was weird. Because, you know, none of what went before was out of the ordinary. Uh-huh. Ruben said to me, You know - that last time when I added liquid I could see like this glop of "cooked", if you will, anti-freeze kind of shoot out and I think it was blocking the valve which is what was causing this problem as no liquid was getting where it needed to be." Mm-hmm.
So now, AFTER we bought the engine coolant (okay, maybe I needed it more than the vehicle did), he thinks we're good. Okey-dokey. Well, I'm just along for the ride, baby. So whatever happens, happens.
For real, peeps! We hit the road and headed on up to Huntsville and have not had a problem at all with the radiator since!
I had been thinking that day of how truly thankful I am and how I do know my husband is also truly thankful that we are both positive people. Can you imagine having been with some gripe-y complain-y grumpy person in these circumstances? Okay, in any circumstances? NO!!
We had a great time in Huntsville. I visited with both of my sisters, my sweet Jim-Bob nephew came to see us, our bonus nephew Jake came by, we stopped at mom and dad's grave for a visit, we ate like kings, we laughed, we went up to the Lake House where oh, how lovely to have a cool enough morning that we had to go get blankies to enjoy the breezeway. Really - on the 4th of July!
Anyway, we had a lovely visit, we even laughed about the truck situation and we made it home again in fine form.
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Halcyon Days - part 2
Well! A year later!!
Let's finish what I started, shall I?
I am living halcyon days...
A continuing litany of those to whom I am grateful
My sisters
Nancy - with her own busy family schedule - kept me in her loop of prayer and conversation and I know she loves me, just as I love her.
Thanks for sustaining me to my baby sister Linda.
Linda - who "gets me" like no one else in the world, with a smaller family was able to be more active. She and David, my brother-in-law, and my favorite youngest nephew Malcolm came to see me shortly after my first chemo cocktail infusion. They were absolutely not going to stay here but at a nearby hotel because it would just have been too much for me so soon after the mastectomy and chemo. Okay, let's face it - there is nothing "nearby" my house. It's 3 miles down the road to the nearest business which is a gas station. That is also the nearest traffic light. They needed to know I was okay and I actually needed to have them stay here. There is room and I convinced Linda - stay for one night here and if it really is too much for me then you could go to a hotel. Hee hee, there was no way I was going to let them go to a hotel. I showed her my site. I needed to show someone who loves me and who herself had been through a surgery that made her feel helpless. Yes, hers was a hip replacement but you catch my drift. She encouraged me when she saw it and helped me start to move away from seeing it as only "the technicolor, three dimensional topographic map of a nightmare railroad crash scene from a horror movie" that I saw it to be.
Later during my recovery period she saved my life every day. Oh, not in the sense that I was physically dieing, but I did have a time where I was sinking and so very much in need of her buoying me up. We would chat every single evening. She told me one night "You know what you need? You need a bed time story." "I do???" "Yes," she said, "you do." She proceeded to start reading me Junie B, First Grader. We laughed our behinds off. Grr, blabberlips, I love you.
No one "gets me" the way Linda does. No one. She claims I am an easy audience but she makes me laugh SO HARD! We will be visiting and giggling and suddenly Linda and I realize that David has separated us. This is most likely for the best and it amuses us greatly.
One visit we had all gone up to their lake house in Lake Guntersville, AL. Linda and I were walking from our car up to the store - "the Pig" as she likes to call it. A red pickup truck drove past and Linda smiled and waved most energetically at the driver, who waved back with that "oh man, who is that again?" look on her face. Linda commented to me "She has no idea who I am. That's because I don't know her." I am sitting here typing this and laughing so hard my sides ache just remembering that. "Don't you do that?" she asks. No, can't say as I do.
Hey, we enjoyed it!
My sweet nephew Jamie. This child was 101st Airborne, 1BCT, 2nd Btln, Delta Demons (well, they can't all be Bravo Bayonets) and was stationed in Afghanistan. His unit was under great duress. They lost several brothers in arms. As a former blue star mom, I know what his mom was going through and I know the fear I felt for him and his comrades. Your heart bleeds with worry and compassion and fear for them, indeed for all our military heroes. Never having been in theater I cannot feel THAT, but oh how I feel the care of it from a mom's heart. This child IN AFGHANISTAN - IN WAR - IN HELL was worried about his aunt Melanie. How sweet a heart is that? How caring and loving a spirit is that?
He came to visit me with his then fiancee, now wife Megan because he wanted to be sure I was doing okay. He is in my heart and my prayers every day, my "Jim-Bob" - every day.
My uncle Dave and aunt Jo, and my Louisiana cousins - During my treatment, uncle & aunt wanted to be in my heart and sent me a check to get SOMETHING that would cheer me, would remind me that they love me and were praying for me. Now I love a good wind chime. Did I mention I LOVE a good wind chime? Poor hubby patiently and with a bit of a grin on his face tolerates with humor my constant quest for GOOD wind chimes. I cannot pass a display of them without testing... So I bought a wonderful wind chime that hangs on my back porch and which, of course from the wind, and from every time I chime it resonates with this wonderful, sweet sound lingering in the air like a prayer wending its way heavenward. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I have one from Linda, one from uncle Dave & aunt Jo, and one from Rebecca and they are all different tones but each of them lingers in the air like the sweet aroma of a fragrant flower.
When I had progressed to being up to making a small trip I was made welcome in Abita Springs for a visit with Dave & Jo in all my then hairless glory. My cousins also were welcoming and kind and I didn't feel like I was being stared at for being this strangely bald weirdo, you know? Well, you don't really know, but just go with it. I was surrounded by loving support and kindness.
My dear friends Isolde and Nino. How many times Isolde would cook for me and just love me. Nino was among the first outside of my immediate family with whom I felt comfortable removing my hat. He looked at me and said in his charming Italian accent, "Oh, that is so cute! You look just so cute!"
There were others who helped love me through this trial. Because it was a trial. It was a walking through fire - and I have come out the other side with scars that are not so very bad! With God's grace and loving mercy I have been strengthened and blessed and I hope I am his instrument DAILY of beauty and grace. I will stop here with this entry of gratitude. I just hope that every one who is NOT mentioned understands that I do value and cherish each kind thought, each prayer, every meal, every inquiry after my well being. If I don't stop now, I could go on and on for many many more PAGES!!
Let's finish what I started, shall I?
I am living halcyon days...
A continuing litany of those to whom I am grateful
My sisters
Nancy - with her own busy family schedule - kept me in her loop of prayer and conversation and I know she loves me, just as I love her.
Thanks for sustaining me to my baby sister Linda.
Linda - who "gets me" like no one else in the world, with a smaller family was able to be more active. She and David, my brother-in-law, and my favorite youngest nephew Malcolm came to see me shortly after my first chemo cocktail infusion. They were absolutely not going to stay here but at a nearby hotel because it would just have been too much for me so soon after the mastectomy and chemo. Okay, let's face it - there is nothing "nearby" my house. It's 3 miles down the road to the nearest business which is a gas station. That is also the nearest traffic light. They needed to know I was okay and I actually needed to have them stay here. There is room and I convinced Linda - stay for one night here and if it really is too much for me then you could go to a hotel. Hee hee, there was no way I was going to let them go to a hotel. I showed her my site. I needed to show someone who loves me and who herself had been through a surgery that made her feel helpless. Yes, hers was a hip replacement but you catch my drift. She encouraged me when she saw it and helped me start to move away from seeing it as only "the technicolor, three dimensional topographic map of a nightmare railroad crash scene from a horror movie" that I saw it to be.
Later during my recovery period she saved my life every day. Oh, not in the sense that I was physically dieing, but I did have a time where I was sinking and so very much in need of her buoying me up. We would chat every single evening. She told me one night "You know what you need? You need a bed time story." "I do???" "Yes," she said, "you do." She proceeded to start reading me Junie B, First Grader. We laughed our behinds off. Grr, blabberlips, I love you.
If you have never read any books in this series - which, by the way, I later bought the complete set - Junie B is a most horribly behaved little girl that is in sore need of some correction. However, as a character in a book you can just laugh at. My brother-in-law walked in on Linda on the phone one evening, saw her with the book and asked "You aren't reading that to Melanie, are you?" "Yes, I am." "Oh." He left the room and we both giggled.
No one "gets me" the way Linda does. No one. She claims I am an easy audience but she makes me laugh SO HARD! We will be visiting and giggling and suddenly Linda and I realize that David has separated us. This is most likely for the best and it amuses us greatly.
One visit we had all gone up to their lake house in Lake Guntersville, AL. Linda and I were walking from our car up to the store - "the Pig" as she likes to call it. A red pickup truck drove past and Linda smiled and waved most energetically at the driver, who waved back with that "oh man, who is that again?" look on her face. Linda commented to me "She has no idea who I am. That's because I don't know her." I am sitting here typing this and laughing so hard my sides ache just remembering that. "Don't you do that?" she asks. No, can't say as I do.
Hey, we enjoyed it!
My sweet nephew Jamie. This child was 101st Airborne, 1BCT, 2nd Btln, Delta Demons (well, they can't all be Bravo Bayonets) and was stationed in Afghanistan. His unit was under great duress. They lost several brothers in arms. As a former blue star mom, I know what his mom was going through and I know the fear I felt for him and his comrades. Your heart bleeds with worry and compassion and fear for them, indeed for all our military heroes. Never having been in theater I cannot feel THAT, but oh how I feel the care of it from a mom's heart. This child IN AFGHANISTAN - IN WAR - IN HELL was worried about his aunt Melanie. How sweet a heart is that? How caring and loving a spirit is that?
He came to visit me with his then fiancee, now wife Megan because he wanted to be sure I was doing okay. He is in my heart and my prayers every day, my "Jim-Bob" - every day.
My uncle Dave and aunt Jo, and my Louisiana cousins - During my treatment, uncle & aunt wanted to be in my heart and sent me a check to get SOMETHING that would cheer me, would remind me that they love me and were praying for me. Now I love a good wind chime. Did I mention I LOVE a good wind chime? Poor hubby patiently and with a bit of a grin on his face tolerates with humor my constant quest for GOOD wind chimes. I cannot pass a display of them without testing... So I bought a wonderful wind chime that hangs on my back porch and which, of course from the wind, and from every time I chime it resonates with this wonderful, sweet sound lingering in the air like a prayer wending its way heavenward. I LOVE IT!!!!!! I have one from Linda, one from uncle Dave & aunt Jo, and one from Rebecca and they are all different tones but each of them lingers in the air like the sweet aroma of a fragrant flower.
When I had progressed to being up to making a small trip I was made welcome in Abita Springs for a visit with Dave & Jo in all my then hairless glory. My cousins also were welcoming and kind and I didn't feel like I was being stared at for being this strangely bald weirdo, you know? Well, you don't really know, but just go with it. I was surrounded by loving support and kindness.
My dear friends Isolde and Nino. How many times Isolde would cook for me and just love me. Nino was among the first outside of my immediate family with whom I felt comfortable removing my hat. He looked at me and said in his charming Italian accent, "Oh, that is so cute! You look just so cute!"
There were others who helped love me through this trial. Because it was a trial. It was a walking through fire - and I have come out the other side with scars that are not so very bad! With God's grace and loving mercy I have been strengthened and blessed and I hope I am his instrument DAILY of beauty and grace. I will stop here with this entry of gratitude. I just hope that every one who is NOT mentioned understands that I do value and cherish each kind thought, each prayer, every meal, every inquiry after my well being. If I don't stop now, I could go on and on for many many more PAGES!!
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