Death to the Wagen & helpful hookers

Ahh....a day in my dear husband's life is like no other. If there wasn't a bit of humor in this, I don't know how much either of us would be laughing. At the least, it makes a great story to tell.

This morning, a mere two days after Dave decided flipping burgers at McDonald's is not better than selling timeshare, the clutch went out on Dave's car. It's an old car & it doesn't go very fast, so he has to take the back roads to work (which usually adds about double the time on to his commute).

Amidst the angry, hurried morning commuters, Dave had to push his car backwards for about a block, all the while he has people yelling & honking at him. It's not the best part of town & this particular corner he was stranded at is known for its wealth of women of the night. Lo & behold, there are a few still working in the early morning hours, & they offer to help him push it to the nearest parking lot.

My first though upon hearing this is "Oh, that was so nice of them! Hookers with heart" also something along the lines about how that had a nice ring to it, but I digress...

Once they finally get it to the parking lot, they then ask for payment for their services.

Okay, so my initial conclusions about these women were a bit hasty, it appears. My jaw hit the floor upon hearing this & I struck me as a bit amusing. Only I hadn't heard the best parts yet.

I'm sure there was a few expletives involved, so I won't bother trying to quote what happened next. Apparently, once it was determined that Dave had no money, they proceed to tell him he'd better pay them or they'll call their pimp to come over. Dave, already irritated over the morning's events, let them know, in no uncertain terms, that they should call their pimp. He really wanted that at the moment.

As it happens, the parking lot they pushed the car in to was that of a motel. He went inside & called me so I could arrange a tow & call the shop & his work, then come get him. Once I made all the necessary arrangements, I took Jo to school & headed over to get him.

While on my way, I get a call from the tow company saying they're there but they can't find him anywhere. I know he said he'd wait in the lobby, so I'm not sure what the problem is. I describe what he was wearing (good thing I paid attention today!) & gave them his name & told the guy I'd be there in 10 minutes so he wouldn't leave.

The driver went back inside the lobby to look for Dave again. Now that he had a pretty accurate description, he was probably pretty confidant he wouldn't need to wait the 10 minutes for me to show up. After checking out the free breakfast buffet (I'm not saying he ate anything), he returned to his seat in the lobby & the driver, a very tall, very large, very intimidating (at least to me) American Indian man, came up to him wanting to know if he's the guy that owns the black VW out front.

Dave doesn't think "tow truck driver" when he see's this man, dressed in his Dickies. He thinks "pimp".

It's at this point during his rendition of the story I can't keep the laughter in.

After a few scary moments where it looks like this custom, low-to-the-ground "baby" of Dave's might break in half, or at least have its rear bumper removed while being lifted up on to the bed of the truck, it's finally at the shop, awaiting its turn to be fixed.

Dave swears he's done with the car. I can't say I'm sad. So, if any one's looking to buy a custom, dark purple in the sunlight, but otherwise black, custom upholstered, really slick but not so fast, 1964 VW Beetle, with a brand new clutch, it will be found on Craigslist shortly.

Off the beaten path

This isn't the normal family-type update, but it feels pertinent anyway. I'm finishing up Alma right now & was reading about the Stripling Warriors. It got me thinking about the mother's of these young men. What would it be like to be in their shoes? First off, I have never known the faith these exemplary women must have had, so I find myself struggling to grasp a lot of my imaginings of what they must have gone through during the time their young sons were off fighting for their family's freedom & the right to live.

How would I deal with such a thing? If my young son was headed off to war, how would I feel? My first instinct would be to panic. My second would probably be to check in to flights to Canada. It's not pretty, peeking in to my mind sometimes, but it's the truth. In the not so distant past, I've thought about being a conscientious objector & even looked in to what it would take to have my children declared conscientious objectors. I've read Alma multiple times but never really got this out of it before.

In conjunction with reading my scriptures, I'm following along with the Book of Mormon Student Manual this time. In so doing, I'm gaining a different view of things I never imagined possible. This quote, in particular, struck me in such a way that I think my opinion of whether or not I would want my sons to join the military later in life has been forever changed.

"To our young men who go into service, no matter whom they serve or where, we say live clean, keep the commandments of the Lord, pray to Him constantly to preserve you in truth and righteousness, live as you pray, and then whatever betides you the Lord will be with you and nothing will happen to you that will not be to the honor and glory of God and to your salvation and exaltation. There will come into your hearts from the living of the pure life you pray for, a joy that will pass your powers of expression or understanding. The Lord will always be near you; He will comfort you; you will feel his presence in the hour of your greatest tribulation; He will guard and protect you to the full extent that accords with His all-wise purpose. Then, when the conflict is over and you return to your homes, having lived the righteous life, how great will be your happiness -- whether you be of the victors or of the vanquished -- that you have lived as the Lord commanded. You will return so disciplined in righteousness that thereafter all Satan's wiles and stratagems will leave you untouched. Your faith and testimony will be strong beyond breaking. You will be looked up to and revered as having passed through the fiery furnace of trial and temptation and come forth unharmed. Your brethren will look to you for counsel, support, and guidance. You will be the anchors to which thereafter the youth of Zion will moor their faith in man."

--The First Presidency

How could I deny my sons (or my daughter, for that matter) these kinds of opportunities? I realize it's not all in my hands & I really have no control of what they choose to do when they're grown but, before, if I could have, I would have denied them the opportunity to serve their country. What blessings they would have missed out on, had I kept my stubborn, blind view of the military? I love it when the Spirit speaks to me through the words of a prophet!

Ty has wanted to join the military for some time now. He knows how I feel about it, but I'm excited to share this with him & let him know my change of heart.

And this takes me to hero's. The word, in general, has become of less value to me than it might have had many years ago. It's overused, if you ask me & it's become just that....a word. A true hero is one who will faithfully follow the Lord, no matter how hard it might be, & come out on the other side even stronger than before. A hero is someone who has trials & tribulations, yet remains unbroken in his faith & dedication to the work of the Lord. Growing up, hero's have always been portrayed as public figures & whenever asked who my hero was, I never had an answer. I would hear others around me throwing out names like Michael Jordan & Madonna & Tom Green (okay, not so much Tom). Seeing things from a different point of view now, I realize I have many hero's. It's no longer just a word to me & that feels really good. :)

Conflicting day

This morning started off rough, with Tyler needing ironing lessons (where did I place that patience I know I left laying around here somewhere??), Logan "hating" his clothes & refusing to put them on, Jordan not being able to find his church shoes & having seemingly grown a few inches since last Sunday when his pants actually fit him, & Hayleah's clothes having to be changed 3 times before we even made it to the car. She decided it would be a good time to dump a bottle of shampoo on the carpet & her dress just before we needed to leave.

While changing her, I managed to get some on myself but I didn't realize this until after Sacrament meeting. Fun stuff!

Sacrament meeting was a blast, too. There were a few moments where things were sketchy & kids had to be removed out into the hallway because of having a loud fit about different things at the same time. It's days like this that make me appreciate having my husband at church even more. Today was not one of those days he was able to be there, though.

I spent the majority of Sharing Time sitting with Logan a few chairs in front of me. He kept trying to talk to the Primary Pres. while she was trying to do her lesson with the kids. He must have asked her "guess what?" at least 20 times in the 15-20 min. she was up there. LOL He even got mad & huffy when he didn't manage to get his full sentence out, after she stopped ignoring him for a moment, before she answered him with something a little too patronizing for his taste. I tried not to laugh at his reaction....he's such a little person with a real need to be heard & it wasn't funny, but it was very cute to see him show his displeasure without expressing his dislike for that person. He tends to be very verbal & honest about his feelings, which is a good thing most of the time. Not so much in this circumstance, though, so I'm glad he kept it to himself.

After Sharing Time, I managed to steal out of Sunbeams about half way through without any tears, which was a very nice surprise. This is when things started looking up for me. Like I said, the start of the day was rougher than most, so I wasn't expecting much. But I'm glad I was surprised with the opportunity to go to part of Relief Society.

The lesson was on the talk Testimony as a Process. Some of the things talked about were how one sister was told she would hear the promptings of the Spirit through what she heard in talks in General Conference (this was told to her through her Patriarchal Blessing....it reminds me to get mine out & read it again!) & how we should always read with the intent to listen to the Spirit. I've heard we should pray before reading the Scriptures, but was told today it's important to pray again after we have finished reading, as well as have a pen & paper handy to write down any promptings we receive while reading.

One thing in particular that struck me is that we need to pray to know how we will best be able to hear the Spirit. That it's different for everyone & if we don't know how to listen, there will be much we will miss.

Overall, the day wound up being really good. It's nice to see a rough day turn smooth with the opportunity to discuss gospel-related topics with faithful sisters. I'm going to really miss this ward when we finally start attending our new one.