Blowout Kind of Day

Since it was the Friday leading into a holiday weekend, March of Dimes offices closed at 12:00.  I called Joey to see if he wanted to meet for a quick lunch before his afternoon classes, and a group of law students were going to Rudy's, so I met them there.  I enjoyed a yummy BBQ Baked Potato and then headed home.  Only I didn't make it very far...

That's me on the shoulder of I-35.  I was driving along, in the left lane of course, and I hear this loud whoosing sound over the song on the radio that I was singing along with.  (This won't be as good as me reenacting with my sound effects and body movements, but I'll try to make you feel like you were there with me.)  Ok, so loud whoosing... and I thought it was some bozo with a loud car around me.  I was looking around annoyed trying to figure out who would drive a car that is so loud.  Not being able to recognize the bozo, I start noticing my car riding a little rougher and decide to get over- thank goodness!  I then decide quite quickly it is my car making the horrendous noise and it sounds like it's going to blow up... not good.  So, I make it to the shoulder, and as I slow down it becomes hard to keep moving further over.  I then noticed my car feeling a bit lob-sided and it dawns on me...  I must have a flat tire!  Before you laugh at me and think I should have realized what it was earlier, let me just say, I have never had a flat before and it all happened so fast.  So anyways, panicked because my car is swaying every time a car zooms by my on the highway, I called Joey.  Thank you Lord that he was not in class yet!  He said that his afternoon class was not part of PC and the students he was with would tell the professor that he had to help me with a flat.  So, he left the law school to be my knight in shining armor on the side of I-35. 

With my car being on the highway, and of course the blown tire being on the side where cars where zooming by, neither one of us felt good about Joey changing it.  Momma Hance has AAA and Joey is still listed on her plan, so we called them.  A nice guy named Cody showed up about an hour later and put on my spare.  I joked with Joey saying that God planned this so that we could spend an hour together in the car.  That's more time than we've gotten together all week! :)

So, after that fiasco I went home and Joey went back up to the school for one more class.  Megan came in town this weekend, so she met me at the house and we chatted for awhile and then headed to Marshall's.  Joey met us there, we finished our shopping, and then headed back to the house to get ready for the Baylor game.  Joey got us tickets from a judge that he clerked with this summer who couldn't make it down for this game.  We had dinner with Meg and then Joey and I headed to Floyd Casey Stadium to watch the Baylor Bears whoop up on TCU.

Let me just say that after being a cheerleader at BU and getting to games hours early and parking for free, getting there with everyone else for a packed game was a mess!  I was a little frazzled by the time we made it to our seats, but it was well worth it.  We got to watch a pretty great game and despite Joey's expression in this picture, he had fun too! :)  Baylor won our first game of the season 50 to 48 against TCU, who happened to have a pretty good season last year!  Sic 'em Bears!

Ruling the Road

Let me begin by saying that I know I am not the most patient driver, but come on people!  Really?  Today I blurted out things in the car directed at other drivers that I am not proud of.  I wasn't even in a hurry or hormonal.  These drivers just really twerked my tater! 

Now, I think I am a pretty good driver.  I have never been pulled over or gotten a ticket.  My husband may say I'm a little aggressive or lack a little thing called patience, but I say I am just efficient!  I learned how to drive from my parents (who may be even more "efficient" than me), in a big momma suburban, in Houston traffic.  So, I like to get from point A to point B quickly and efficiently.  Yes, I did back into a couple of things early on in my driving career, but I have since gotten much better at lifting my little hinny out of the seat to see things behind me even when they are not apparent in my mirrors.  And, I may or may not have rear ended a few people before.  But, that's only because the person in front of me could have gone, so I assumed they did while looking into the traffic, only to find they didn't.  Who knows, maybe the little nudge they got from me will encourage them to be more efficient next time. :)

So today, these Waco drivers that made me blurt out unkind words got me thinking.  A- I should probably work on my road rage a little bit, but B- there are some rules that aren't taught in driving school that sure could make people more considerate drivers if they were followed.  So, here we go-
Courteous Driving Rules by me:

• The left lane is for people driving at or above the speed limit, hence its nickname: The Fast Lane.  If you're not driving fast, move over.
• Even when you think you are driving fast or fail to realize that you're not, when someone comes up fairly close behind you, move over.
• When approaching a red light and you are in the right hand lane, but not turning right, get over to the left.  Someone behind you may want to turn right on red and not appreciate siting behind you through the duration of a very long light.
• When pulling out into traffic do not, I repeat, DO NOT pull out right in front of someone and go slower than them. 
• On the other hand, when stopped, waiting to pull out into traffic- DO take initiative and go when the opportunity presents itself.  Give yourself a pep-talk if you have to.  But you're likely not driving an 18-wheeler and therefore don't need to allow for that large of an opening.  Be efficient!
• Do not switch lanes when it means cutting off the person you get in front of.
• Do not switch lanes to get in front of someone, go slow, and then continue to slow down to turn.
• Do not brake in the middle of the road for no reason.
• Do not brake in the middle of the road in preparation for a turn when there is a turn lane or shoulder.  That's what they are for.  Use them!
• Do not attempt to operate or talk on your phone while driving if you are not capable of multi-tasking.

Warning: Failure to abide by the guidelines above may result in being honked at, having your bumper ridden a little closely, people swerving to get around you, and likely an unpleasant look from a driver as they pass you. 

Some of you may be shaking your head, judging, or even laughing at me.  But, I know that some of you are bursting to give an "AMEN!"  You share the same pet-peeves as me.  Wouldn't the road be a better place if everyone was an efficient driver?  So, here's to hoping you think twice before pulling out in front of me if we meet on the road.  Safe driving everyone!

An eventfull weekend

On Friday, Joey and I packed up and headed to north Houston for the wedding weekend of Bobby and Anya. Joey was honored to be one of his groomsmen. Bobby was Joey's room-mate his freshman year at The Cambridge and is one of his close friends from A&M. Bobby was in our wedding almost a year and a half ago, and we were excited to be a part of his special weekend.

Friday night was the rehearsal at their venue and Joey was enamored with the fresh smell of wood that the new building had. He sniffed the air like a dog for the first ten minutes we were there despite my warning him that he looked funny doing it.

Saturday morning we got to watch Joey's brother, Matthew, play in a golf tournament in Magnolia before all of the guys in the wedding party met up for some male bonding time. I dropped Joey off at Bobby's parents house in the afternoon and set out to find the to the closest Marshall's, Home Goods, or TJ Maxx. I was thrilled to find a TJ Maxx not far away and headed there to occupy my time while Joey was shooting his first gun at the skeet shoot the guys were doing. I had time to peruse the store and paint my nails in the car before picking him back up to go get ready for the rehearsal dinner. We had a great time at the rehearsal dinner that Bobby's parents hosted at their house. I always love the intimate setting of hearing stories and toasts from friends and family that are closest to the couple at the rehearsal dinner. It was definitely evident that night that Bobby and Anya are very loved and that everyone agreed they are the perfect complement to eachother.

Sunday is when we encountered the unexpected. Joey took our car to the venue to help setup for the wedding while I stayed home with our family that we were staying with. He came home after lunch to shower and had to be back up there at 3 p.m. for pictures. We decided I would take him and drop him off so that I could have the car to load up after I got ready since our plan was to leave right after the wedding to come home. So, I got ready, loaded all of our stuff in the car, and said my goodbye's to the family. About halfway to the wedding our car started with some strange antics. First, the radio turned off. Then, the air conditioning spasmed a bit and the check engine light turned on. Not long after that, the airbag light came on and the blinker changed its rhythm. Though I was laughing because the car suddenly had a mind of its own, I was begining to get a little scared. I had to slow down to let a car in front of me turn and had a hard time accelerating back up to speed as the line of cars behind me grew. I prayed I would make it to my destination and texted Joey asking if he could call me even though the wedding was to start in 30 minutes. He called and I told him about sudden downward spiral of his beloved "silver bullet". I did make it to the wedding, but the men of the wedding party predicted a dying alternator which would not make it our whole trip back to Waco. We called Joey's dad and told him we would be returning sooner than expected.

So, after the wedding our great friends Cory & Lauren helped us unload our car into theirs and they gave us a ride back to our family's house. Early the next morning, Joey and his dad went to get the car to take it in to the shop. But, after being jumped to start, the poor silver bullet did not make it even a mile before it puttered out again. Joey had it towed to a shop that confirmed that we needed a new alternator which they did have in stock and could install that day! Hooray! Our car was back to life and we were able to leave Houston around 4:00 on Monday. Thank goodness for Rich and Megan who picked up Harley from the kennel so we didn't have to board her an extra night and even invited us for dinner when we got back since we had hardly any food to speak of after being gone for four days. Other than our car's bad timing that left us stranded in Houston for an extra day, it was a great weekend of celebration with friends that we loved getting to see and catch up with!