You know how you have one of those days where nothing goes right? I’ve had a lot of those days in the past few years. Yesterday, however, was not one of them. I got up with Olivia & Jake early enough to get them both fed & do Olivia’s homework, make her lunch & send her off to school on time. And then instead of getting lost in the world of the internet (like I did today), I went straight to work getting Molly & Violet their breakfast and getting them dressed for school. I made their lunches and even did their hair cute before I showered and got ready myself. We headed out to the van with time to spare and it was really nice not to be hollering “hurry up” at anyone. On the way to school, my tire pressure indicator lit up on the van. I called JR and he said to check the pressure & keep an eye on it. We had noticed a cut in the tire tread up into the sidewall over the weekend while JR was washing the van (and I sat in a lawn chair & watched). It wasn’t leaking, but we knew it would have to be replaced before long. I was in & out of school in record time and over to an abortion clinic to pray for an hour as a part of the 40 Days for Life campaign. I’ll have to write more about that later, but it felt good to stand up & be counted on the side of life. Jake & I came home to do some business work (or in Jake’s case, take a nap) and eat lunch before heading back to pick up the little girls. They had a great day and were happy to see each other & Jake. We had a half hour to play before it was time to go pick up Olivia. Wow, I thought, this is really turning out to be an awesome day!

So we drove up to school (about a 10 minute drive) and got in the car line to pick up Olivia. There was an unusual gap in the line, so I rolled down my window to see if I could hear the other parents talking about what was going on. I didn’t hear anything and then all of a sudden the gap closed and we were all moving. Except that when I pulled forward, I heard flop, flop, flop and I knew that there was no air at all in the tire. As luck would have it, our spot in line was right next to the driveway to the office. It is marked off with orange cones because you are not supposed to park there (it is for emergencies only). I figured this would qualify and pulled out of the way so that the other parents could continue on in the car line. I got out of the van and saw that the tire was indeed totally & completely flat. I called JR at 3:14 and said that we had an emergency & the tire was flat. He was in his truck on his way to a doctor’s appointment so he rescheduled his appointment en route to save us. By 3:53, he had changed our tire and was calling Costco to make sure they had replacement tires in stock. Long story short, it took 39 minutes for JR to get our call & resolve the whole matter! For the longer version, keep reading!

This is the part of the day where I started to pinch myself – could we really have a flat tire and things be going SO well? When we pulled off to the driveway for the office, the assistant principal stepped up to the van to see if we needed something. I said that we had a flat tire and she said she would walk over and get Olivia and bring her back to me since she saw that Jake & Violet were asleep in the van. By the time she got back with Olivia, they were all awake and needed to the use the restroom so since the assistant principal was there with all her keys, she let us in to use the restroom. Then we set out the picnic mat under the tree and since it was only 90, we sat comfortably in the shade & waited for Daddy. When he arrived, he quickly went to work. He had stopped at home and picked up a jack & the air compressor (which turned out to be a very wise move since the spare was flat). Before long, he had the spare tire out and faster than I thought possible, he was completely done. I did snap one quick picture on my phone that I’m glad to have. I wish I’d gone around to the other side to take a picture of the flat tire and JR putting on the spare, too.

I drove the truck with the flat tire in the back on the way over to Costco and thought to myself how well JR embodies the Boy Scout motto “Be Prepared.” He wasn’t a Boy Scout, but I have never met someone who is ready for anything like JR is. And he just loves to save the day like that – he couldn’t have been more cheerful when he arrived and didn’t even break a sweat changing the tire. He really thought of everything. When we got to Costco, the tire center was ready to work on the van right away. They had a special on tires which was only good for a few more days and we got $70 off the set. JR had them rotate the tires on the truck, too, since we were there & waiting anyway. We had time to kill in Costco and found the Christmas tree I’ve been wanting for 2 years (there were issues with stock in the past). Since we had the truck, JR said he would buy it for me & put it in the garage until Christmas (fyi, filling the garage with “stuff” and storing “stuff” for months before we need it are usually not on JR’s good list). So, in a matter of hours, JR had the whole issue wrapped up and we were ready to go without a single inconvenience. I was even home by 5:30 to make spaghetti for dinner, as planned.

Mrs. Fox: You know, you really are… fantastic.
Mr. Fox: I try.*

By the way, honey, there is something trapped in the chimney. Seriously. We look forward to your quickly resolving that matter as well. I really love that I never have to worry about these little challenges – and with us, there is always something, right JR?

*Excerpt from the movie Fantastic Mr. Fox.