Stranded on the highway......branded a fool!

I had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad afternoon yesterday. I'll give you some background before jumping in to "the incident". Yesterday was dragging on and on. Do any of you have days like that? We couldn't go outside because it was raining. It seemed like every time I looked at the clock, it never moved. A lot of this had to do with the fact that Jason was going to Sacramento for the night and I knew I wouldn't be seeing him. Anyways, back to the story. Around 3 we were soooooo bored, so I decided we'd go to the library. We live out on the naval base, which is about 10 miles outside of the small town of Lemoore. Highway 99 is the route we take to go into town. We made it to our piddly library with no problems(they NEVER have the books I'm looking for.....not an important detail to the story, but I want that to be noted).

On the way home, the kids and I were listening to the Hairspray soundtrack and I was thinking to myself, "Sheesh, it's only 3:45....now what?" Well, the answer to that question came about a minute later. We had just gotten on the highway and I heard a loud thumpety thump noise. I turned down the radio ("Good morning Baltimore" was playing......funny stuff), and sure enough, the sound was coming from the van (yes, I drive a minivan and I'm proud of it). I pulled over onto the 3 measly feet give on the side of the highway for such conditions. I discovered that we indeed had a flat tire. Panic set in as I made my way back into the van. Here's the kicker......I DON'T HAVE A CELL PHONE!! I had one over a year ago, but the service on base is so bad that we decided not to sign another contract. Jason has his work phone that he uses and I've just gone without (a fact that amazes many people, but it really can be done). Keep in mind it is raining and very windy outside. I think to myself, "Okay, Jason has shown you how to change a tire......just change it." The key word in that phrase is "shown". I've never done it, just watched it be done. As I got the jack out to attempt to change it, I had visions of the van falling on my head as my children screamed in the car (not at all reasonable, I know, but yet the visions kept coming). I also remembered that the spare is under the van and I could not figure out how to get it out from under there.

I walked back and forth from my tire to the back of the car, looking like an idiot. Lucy was out of her carseat, roaming around the van and Graham was screaming because he wanted out. I got back in the car and Lucy and I said a prayer. I sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what to do. I found some crackers to keep the kids busy and I ventured out again. No one was stopping. It was a strange feeling.....I wanted someone to stop, but at the same time, I was terrified that someone would stop. You never know these days what can happen. It was horrible feeling so helpless and at the will of someone else.

Finally, I had all but decided to start walking. Lucy had on a skimpy sweatshirt, skirt, and her favorite light up cowboy boots. Way to go Mom. Not the best attire for a rainy highway hike, but oh well. As I was preparing ourselves for the trek, I decided to go to the back of the car one more time and I made a little phone sign to a few cars that drove by (the thumb and pinky finger to the ear sign.....I know, pathetic). A truck stopped and then backed up to us. I ran over to the truck. The tears hadn't started to flow yet, but as the man rolled down his window, they came. I asked if I could borrow their phone. Then, as I opened the phone to make a call, I had a total and complete brain freeze. I couldn't remember any of my friends numbers! I sat there like an idiot for a good 30 seconds (doesn't sound like a long time, but it dragged on). Finally, I remembered Kelli's number and dialed it. She answered and I told her my dilemma. She lives in Lemoore, not on the base, so I asked her to call some friends from the base to come get us. Of course, as I was talking to her, all of the possible people I could have called came into mind. I feel bad that I put Kelli in such a tight spot. I have friends from base that would have come to my rescue, but the aforementioned brain freeze zapped them my mind. As I said this, the men in the truck (sounds so scary, but they were really nice) said they could take us to the gate. Kelli said she'd call and have someone meet us at the gate. I loaded up the kids, locked the van doors and we all climbed into the kind man's truck.

This story is going on and on.......sorry! Anyways, we got to the gate and waited a couple minutes in their truck. No one was coming, so I called Kelli who told me that no one was home. All she got was machines. I called a few more of my friends and nobody was answering. I called Jason's cell phone (he was en route to Sacramento) and he called his coworker, who is also our neighbor and friend, to come get me. I decided that we would start walking from the gate so we could let the guys go on their way. So, the kids and I piled out of the truck and started walking.

We walked for about 10 or 15 minutes (picture me carrying a wiggly Graham and my purse with Lucy by my side in her skirt and bright pink cowboy boots--quite the site). A policeman then flashes his car lights and pulls up beside us. As if I'm not humiliated enough, he gets out of his car and says that he was called to come and take us wherever we are headed. I told him that someone was on their way to get us. He said, "Well, I was told to come get you". So, rather than argue, we piled into the police car and he took us home.....awesome. Luckily, Dave saw us in the police car and just came to our house. His wife watched Lucy and Graham while we went to go fetch my van.

Lessons learned:

1. GET A CELL PHONE!!! What if it would have been night time or out in the middle of nowhere. I know our parents lived without one, but we live in a different world now. You never know what kind of weirdo will stop to "help" you in your time of need! It's HORRIBLE feeling so helpless! Have a list of phone numbers in your phone or at least in your car to avoid being affected by the panic induced brain freeze.

2. Dress your children appropriately for the weather. Sounds obvious, but with Lucy I have to choose my battles. What she was going to wear was not the battle I chose yesterday.

3. Heavenly Father answers prayers. After Lucy and I said a prayer, I was much more calm and was able to make better decisions. Two men stopped to very kindly assisted us. They were so sweet!

4. We are surrounded by people in our lives who want to help us. (You just need a phone so you can call them!!!)

Lucy's lessons learned:

1. "Heavenly Father told them to come help us?" So sweet.

2. "Those men were nice so we could get in their car." Awesome.......now Lucy thinks it's okay to get into cars with strange men. Hopefully I was able to reteach this lesson effectively.

Tough day! Definitely blog-worthy.