Tuesday, December 16, 2008

tuesday morning adventures! OR "why curtis is a better human being than me"

the necessary preface to this little story is two-fold. a) i am not a morning person - understatement of the year! and b) i got 4 non-consecutive hours of sleep last night.

curtis left to take kyra to school around 7:15. at 7:17 my phone rings and he has a flat. luckily he's still in the neighborhood, so will i come get kyra so he can put on his spare? my head pounding, i throw on a hat and some jeans, and race to the truck with meg... and while pulling out of the garage hit the bushes and scrape the entire side of the truck. clearly i should not drive whilst still asleep. i find kyra, race her to school (jury's out on whether she made it to class before the tardy bell, but there was hope!), and get another call from curtis saying that his tire iron broke, and i need to pick him up and bring him home to get his tools. so meg and i go get him, he gets his tools (including a hammer?!) and take him back to his car, where we wait to make sure nothing else goes awry. all is well, and meg and i return home to finish getting her ready for school.

why is it that, at the end of all this, i am left feeling like mine was the lousy morning? i wasn't the one who got up early - curtis was, and does everyday with kyra! i wasn't the one whose car got a flat. so i had to get up 10 min before my alarm went off - big deal! curtis, when i picked him up to get his tools, still had a smile on his face! i was faced this morning with how selfish i am - like screwtape's letter to wormwood, i think i "own" my time, am entitled to it, when i neither create it, nor can i add to it! (c.s. lewis - 'the screwtape letters')

so a shout out to curtis! a great husband & father, and a man who didn't lose his victory on a crazy morning! you go, big boy! i love you... and even tho you are lucky to have me, i am lucky to have you, too! ;)

6 comments:

Curtis Mulder said...

For those who are curious, the hammer was brought in case I needed extra leverage while using my socket set to remove the lug nuts.

And the adventure continued. I then drove to a gas station to check tire pressure. There was a quarter jammed in the slot rendering the "Air Station" useless.

I drove to the second gas station. EXACTLY the same. A quarter lodged inside. But there was still hope as this one had a CC swipe.

It didn't work.

I drove to a third gas station. Before even turning the car off, I checked for quarters. So far so good. I remove the 4 valve stem caps, and put them (along with my extra quarters) on top of the "Air Station" machine. I insert three quarters. It works. I fill the tires within the allotted 3 minute window. I go to put the valve caps back on - - two are missing. They've shaken off the Air Station somewhere into the 14,000 oak leaves carpeting the area.

2 minutes of searching led me to two valve stem caps ... possibly not mine.

Phew.

(smile)

111 said...

you are a good man, curtis mulder. many cosmic gold stars to you! xoox

Cynthia said...

You have to PAY for air? Are you kidding me? I knew I loved Canada for some reason. I'm thrilled to finally figure out what that reason is! YAY, FREE AIR!

Krissi said...

Health care AND air? Why do I live in America?!

Marilyn said...

pretty bad, Curtis, when you have to explain yourself on your wife's blog - but I agree with Rachel - you are a fabulous guy - and I wasn't thinking a hammer was odd at all... it is one of two tools my husband has and both come in handy for any job at all... including such things as filling bird feeders, washing the car, mowing the lawn - you get my drift!

Shawna said...

This was a very funny read! Yes I didn't realise I lived in a country with health care and free air! WHO KNEW!! BTW, my hammer is a butter knife.
-Shawna-