Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Turn Finally Came Today

In a bad way, that is. I ran out of gas for the first time today (on my way to the gas station), ever. I was in the turning lane to turn into the station, and it just wouldn't go any further. I make such short trips around here that I tend to (stupidly) push it to the edge, and well, it had to be physically pushed today. I'm still just sooo embarrassed for being so stupid. I am normally very careful to watch the miles I've gone once the light starts trying to come on. Well, I think with my car getting older, it's just not going as far as it used too, obviously.
So, God may have taught me a lesson and/or warned me about the car getting older, but He decided to shower me with blessings too. First, it was still daylight and not raining. Second, I was on a major road, in a turning lane, right at a gas station. Third, I wasn't sitting there more than a few minutes and a lady pulled up to ask if I needed help, and then almost simultaneously, two guys pulled over on the other side of the road and came over to push me on over to the station. I couldn't stop thanking them (and God, of course). And thankfully, Ava didn't freak out too much.

So, I guess for the first time, it could have been a much worse situation, but ended up not being all that big of a thing (except in my head).


Monday, August 3, 2009

Stormy Monthly Memphis Trip

Ava and I made our monthly trip to visit with my family last week. It ended up being a little scary Thursday and again on Saturday. Some pretty big storms with tornadoes came through Thursday evening doing quite a bit of damage just north of us (we were southeast of Memphis). They even had it on cnn. Two of the tornadoes to the south of us started up our direction but turned away (big blessing, I know). My mother's backyard was flooded for a short time. It was weird to see a small current going by the back door!

I had planned on leaving early Saturday because it was supposed to start up again that evening. Well, God decided to surprise us and brought it mid-morning. It was pretty rough, but after pulling over at a gas station for a bit to let the worst pass, it wasn't too bad. There were periods of heavy rain off and on the rest of the way.

As far as the rest of the time in Memphis, with the storms, we didn't get to do a whole lot. I did finally get to meet my younger brother's girlfriend from Hawaii. She flew in the day after we got there. How in the world did he wind up with someone from Hawaii? An online game, believe it or not. She is very very sweet, but painfully shy. One sort-of-problem is, they've been talking about marriage (hopefully further down the road for their sakes), but families are very close over there, many even live in the same house, so she is going to want them to live there. She wants her children to be raised there (can't say I blame her). I just don't think my mother could handle that (she won't be able to let her baby boy be that far away). And we all know how sky-high the cost of living is there. They should just take their time, as they should have plenty since they both need to finish college. But I know it will be hard, as they've only seen each other a few times in the few years together. Hopefully they'll be smart about it. And keep sending the chocolate covered macadamia nuts!;)