Yesterday was a typical busy Saturday. The "Wood Man" delivered a couple of cords of wood that we were never able to stack. Because of our guests coming on Monday morning from His Mansion Ministries in NH, we decided to clean out the basement and get the guest area ready. It was a chore that took about 2.5 hours. Much longer than expected and I didn't even vacuum or make the bed. We have a large nice finished area down there with a private bath so it's perfect for company. The problem is it gets used as a play area which we're quite lax with cleaning up since no one sees it. We had to organize toys, wash the sofa cover, arrange the game area and restack boxes and boxes AND boxes of the kid's clothes which were recently gone through. Yes it's that time a year here in RI. We start to need a sweater and maybe even a pair of pants in the morning or evening. I'm not complaining actually-- it's my favorite time of year. However it means the 5 kids need new clothes. So as is customary with Spring as well, I go through the appropriate sizes and our large tote of shoes before shopping for remaining necessities.
We ate lunch a bit later than usual. Geoff ran some errands with Drew and Elle such as going to the dump, the Johnny Cake Center and our all important Saturday Starbucks run =). Anne and I stayed home and picked up the main floor of the house before jumping in the pool for a half hour. When the twins got up from their nap it was time to get ready for Saturday basketball. Getting ready in this house means lots of trips to the bathroom and the inevitable searching the world over for someone's lost shoe. When you have 5 children, you tend to stick with 1-2 pair each so if you can't find one, you're in trouble. Once that (painful) process was over we piled into the van. Geoff just fixed the back seats and spent the last few minutes we had reinstalling their car seats that I had taken out in an attempt at getting my grandmother's electric wheelchair in (a big fail for a post all its own!).
We get buckled, turn the key and get a clicking sound. Uh oh. After looking for obvious reasons why the car won't start, we try again. Click, click, click, click, click.... Ok, time to try a jump. Geoff hooks us up-- by this time we're running about 10 minutes late-- and I turn the key. It STARTS =) then just as quickly it dies... I turn the key a couple more times but am only rewarded with the clicking sound again. Our collective hearts sink until we realize we can fit 3 kids in Geoff's truck and the twin's seats in the back of the Corolla. We get the seats strapped in and everyone buckled. If we leave now we'll make it by 5pm which would be great if it didn't start at 4:30. I start the car and try to use the wipers to wash the windshield of a months worth of pollen and gunk. It's our 3rd vehicle and doesn't get used often but does get regularly started. Anyway, I have no choice but to run and grab paper towel and my vinegar spray because I cannot see out of it. This pushes us even later of course. Finally, I sit, I'm buckled, I have a clear view of the garage in front of me and I put the car in gear and try to back up. The car doesn't want to move. Geoff is now sitting in the middle of our road waiting and watching. I try again. The car still doesn't want to move. I get out and looking at him I throw my hands in the air. His response is normal for any man; "Did you take the brakes off?"
"What do you mean "brakes? Isn't there only one?" I respond as I get back in, certain that I did take off the brake the first time but nevertheless I humor him. And guess what? The car still doesn't want to budge. He comes over and notes that one back tire is spinning and the other is frozen. His response, again normal for any man, is to ask me to move and climb in to try it himself. Sure enough, the right back tire on the Corolla is completely frozen. Ok then. It's now obvious that my going to basketball with him is just not meant to be. I send him off and for the next half hour have to contend with Ruth's meltdown from the disappointment of not "going to the bouncehouse" which we promised was waiting for her at the Mill's house and Claire begging over and over to take/ get another car. I took them for a walk and talked up going home and taking a bubble bath and watching a Veggie Tales video. They weren't thrilled with the alternative but at least the tears were gone.
