We headed down I-75 and I noticed that my car was dragging a little. This started to worry me because on Sunday, Doug had to plug one of my tires and before I headed out of town where I was all alone, I decided to pull over at a gas station to check it out.
I exited the freeway and pulled up next to the air machine (correct term?). Sure enough, it was deflating. I retreived my handy dandy air gauge and found out it only had about 20 lbs. of pressure. I started calling Doug to figure out what I was going to do but sadly Doug was at work and his phone was dying because someone forgot to charge it that night. I finally got a hold of him and I told him of my predicament. He told me that I would need to plug it again (are you SERIOUS?) and put some air in it. After arguing back and forth about how I had no CLUE how to do that, I finally decided what the heck....If the tire blew up in my face because I punctured it incorrectly, then at least I would die knowing................that it was my husband's fault.
I decided to drive to my sister's house which was a few miles down the road so no one could see me yelling and sweating profusely while I was trying to shove a piece of metal into my tire. After taking a few deep breaths I finally got the piece of "beef jerky" into the "needle" and shoved with all my strength into the hole. I smiled and patted myself on the back and left to go back to the gas station to fill it up with air.
After sitting at the air machine for 3 minutes I noticed that instead of it filling up with air, it was actually deflating! This sparked a little bit of aggravation. I said a prayer to calm my nerves and help me to have a positive attitude and I phoned my husband.
I knew when I placed the call that there was honestly nothing he could do because he was at work but I at least wanted him to be informed of the situation and know my location in case I went missing. Seriously, I think about these things.
He told me to put air in it and drive slowly but quickly to the tire store down the road. I informed him of my lack of quarters and he recommended that I should walk up to a complete stranger and beg. Well, this girl ain't begging. I will sit in the car for HOURS before I try to inform a stranger that I am a stranded woman by myself.
My sister arrived to my rescue with quarters and I filled the tire up with air and hurried on my way.
Upon arriving at the tire store they started working on my car. After waiting 45 minutes, I was informed that my tire was irrepairable and that I would have to get a new one. Apparently whoever plugged it (clearing my throat) pushed the steel through the tire and even if they did put a patch on it, it would still rub against the steel. While they were putting on the spare, I made the phone call to the Speech School to let them know the reason for my absence. By this time it was already 9:30 and after I found a tire for a reasonable price and had it put on it wouldn't be worth it to drive down to Atlanta.
I parted ways with my wonderful sister and headed to one of my best friend's Melissa's house, aka Ella's babysitter, to see if she would watch her while Naty and I went on the hunt for a gently used tire.
The first place I stopped at offered a great price but I would have to order it and it wouldn't arrive till the next day. Not going to work. I then placed several more phone calls from the road and found out that my tire was an unusual size and most everyone was going to have to order it. I went back to Melissa's feeling defeated and tried to figure out what I was going to do. The easy thing would have been to order it and just wait till the next day when it came in but Naty and Ella couldn't miss another day of school.
Melissa's husband and brother-in-law decided to get in on the hunt with me and ended up finding a little bit different size down the rd for a great price. I had to go pick up Cayli from school so I figured I would sit at home for just a minute and rest before heading to the tire shop.
Bad idea...........
As I was putting the girls in the car I received a phone call from Infinity which is Natalie and Ella's therapist in Calhoun. I was too busy putting the girls in the car to answer but at the same time I was trying to figure out why they were calling. What's today? Wednesday? OH NO! I had totally forgotton that the girls had therapy at 3:30. The clock read 3:43. I called them back and explained the situation and that I would be there in 15 minutes. So much for going to get my tire.
As I headed to the therapist office, I called the tire store and to my disbelief they were closed :( So much for getting my tire.
On a positive note, God's love and grace is what kept me from pulling my hair out. Everytime I would start to feel overwhelmed, he would remind me of my blessings and tell me every thing was going to be ok.
We went to church that night, 30 minutes late, but healthy and the most important part.........able to. We decided that Misty would lend me her car, even though it didn't have any air, and she would take my car until I could get home and get the new tire put on.
Even though I had to drive a car with no air 67 miles there and back, I was reminded of how fortunate I truly am.
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