Today I was a crazed woman, you know you have a lot on the plate and very little time to do it,
and you just think everything is going to go as you planned it, because it has to. Wrong. We set
ourselves up for failure every time we think this way don't we? Just as it did today. My daughter's
seventh birthday was this week, and I agreed to inviting her quest over to the house for a birthday
gathering or play day that would be creative and fun. I know a lot of people look at me like I am out of
my mind, when she wanted to invite 11 kids, and their siblings, working a grand total of 22 children in our
small 2400 sq. foot home...but she is my first child, and I like her friends...so why not. The part I did
not like was scrambling for last minute presents and decorations, food and drink, and party favors. That is
where the true test of calmness represented itself.
I was walking with my cart in the Christmas tree store, getting plates, napkins and various other party favors at
a reasonable rate, when I noticed something on the other side of the aisle that grabbed my attention.
Leaving my cart packed with planting pots, seeds and potting soil , I ventured to the other side of the
isle not even 5 feet away, however I was hidden behind a large structure holding various seed packets.
After exploring the seeds and choosing the ones I was going to give in my daughters gift bags, I went
back to my cart, only to find all my materials placed in the top side of the basket and not in the bottom
where I had placed them. I thought for a moment ...hmmm that is odd, and then I continued down the
isle into another section of the store. Well , low and behold...this was not the same cart I had started
off with but quite a different cart, that bobbled every time you moved it, with a shrill squeak that
was turning heads left and right...and as I looked out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a large woman
and her two daughters about 5 paces in front of me. The daughter kept staring at me, like she felt
bad for me, and it dawned on me that they had been in the same isle I had been before the mysterious
cart napping. I kept trying to make eye contact with the mother whom in between grunts would yell
at her children to keep up and wobble off to another section of the store. I followed her, squeaky cart
and all throughout the store, just for fun, because I knew she was the cart nabber and I was just dumb-
founded that someone would actually do that , and I wanted to see if she would at least apologize for
mistaking my cart as; I don't know an extra cart.... She never did fess up, but I got my kicks out
of chasing her around the store and squeaking behind her.
Driving home with my trunk full of presents and food, I was coming up the road, when I noticed
a Raven on the side of the road..his wing was broken, and hanging low...so I being the crazy animal
lover that I am, decided to stop and try to pick him up, or bring him to work and fix him. So, with
30 minutes left to drop off my presents, wrap them before my child came home on the bus, and then
pick up my other child, I turned around and headed back to the Raven. Now let me tell you, this was
a day like no other in February. Sunny, 50 degrees and clear as can be. So when I pulled onto the
side of the road to get out of the car, what looked to have been a nice edge of road was really a pile
of soft snow, 4 feet deep. Yup, the car tipped into that ditch, and stayed there. I went to try and
pick up the Raven, and he hopped off like nothing was wrong at all. So now I have 20 minutes to get
my car out of a ditch, no cell phone coverage because it happens to be the one blind spot in Jericho,
and a car full of shit.
The first person that stopped pulled over and said "Are you okay?" with a look like I was from
another planet. Why? Because it was 50 degrees and sunny and I am in a ditch! I told him I was trying
to save a bird and fell into the ditch...which if you think of it I think drinking while driving or texting
would have made better sense. He let me use his iphone, to call one of my best friends who wasn't home at
the time, but got my message in the long run. Three other people stopped by to help me. Others
flew by without question, but those three that did stop were magnificent. I had a propane tanker
stop, he shoveled the whole car out with his handy dandy shovel. Then another man in a car stopped
to ask if I needed chains, which he then dragged out of his trunk. With the help of the propane truck
and the chain I was able to drag my car out of the ditch. With as little as a high five , and a Thank you
I was on my way. That is amazing to me. I made it home, put the presents away, the food and hopped
back into the car to do pick-ups...my heart rate finally dropped to a normal rate, and I could look
back at this day and breath. I wonder if that women at the store would have stopped and helped.
Or if her Karma was not going so good either. All I know is my faith in humanity was restored, and I too
need to have a shovel and chains in the trunk of my car!
Oh and by the way, the birthday party went great! The more kids the marrier thanks to the help of
some special Mom's and Dad's out there, and a little champagne for the host, things ran smooth.
Peace
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