Em and the Possibilities There are no guarantees in life…only the possibilities

Conversation from approximately 4 months ago:
Dad, the brake light lit up today and stayed lit.
Alright, go pop the hood and I’ll look at it right now.
Thanks, Dad.

Later that day:
Sis, I couldn’t find anything wrong with your brake system. There must be a short in the dash causing the light to stay lit.
Ok, Dad. Thanks for checking it for me.

Today:After Alannah’s workout this morning, we decide to stop by Maggie’s Crochet since we’re on that side of town. I want to see if she has any wooden hooks in stock – I need a hook that is completely round and I want to hold it in my hot little hands before I decide to buy.

As we pull out of the lot, I notice the brake pedal is a little mushy. Making a mental note to broach the subject with Dad again when we get home, I start looking for the turn off we need to take. Alannah and I start talking, and I don’t notice the 4-way stop sign until we’re right.on.top.of.it. My eyes widen, and I see a truck pulling up to another side of the intersection.

I stomp on the brakes.

We slow down slightly, then I hear an odd “thunk” from the rear of the van. Alannah yells at me to STOP!!! as we roll drunkenly through the intersection.

Stamping on the brake pedal as hard as I can (yes, it IS possible to push that thing so hard you leave dents in the carpet), we finally came to a stop 200 yards from the stop sign – and 20 feet from The Busiest Intersection In Town.

By now, Alannah is thoroughly freaking out, so I had to calm her down before I picked up the cell to call Mom/Dad/SOMEBODY and let them know that I have no brakes. Get her calm, dial the phone and…

listen to it ring.

It’s 7 miles home, but fortunately it’s a straight shot with few lights. The speed limit through downtown is a gracious 20 mph, and the road quickly goes from city to country. Stopping by the shop isn’t an option right now – I don’t know if that shop is even OPEN on the weekend, and since I can’t get anyone on the phone, I’m not willing to go and just SIT waiting on my van to be repaired.

We only had one more “panic” moment after that – turning off the main road. Traffic was coming from the opposite direction, and I very nearly overshot the turn.

Thus concludes the horror of my morning.

And I STILL didn’t get to Maggie’s to view the goodies. **insert poorly acted heavy boo-hooing here**

This is a GOOD one! It’s called

Where Emily Got Her Vile Temper
subtitled: How to wake up the neighborhood in 30 seconds

The slam of the door woke me up, as it always does. Dad always closes the door FIRMLY (or so he says) and this morning was no different. Fortunately, he didn’t wake the boys this time, so I allowed myself the time to stretch and ponder the days schedule when I heard him.

“What the HELL??!!?? Sonofa….. Gawdalmighty GAWDALMIGHTY!!!

Wide eyed, I lay in bed, running through what I could have possibly messed up to make my Dad use THAT kind of language. I drew blank after blank, running through my mental list and curled up under the covers. Maybe he’d think I was still sleeping.

*stomp stomp stomp SLAM* Back inside. Oh shit what did I do, whatdidIdo?

WOMAN! Did you HIT something last night when you were parking?

The vise in my chest released a little. He’s still pissed, using his “Barking Orders” voice, but he’s not coming after me, or he’d've yelled my name. I can breathe again, and listen for Mom’s answers, but I can’t make out the words.

Well why don’t you COME OUT HERE and SEE what you did to Emily’s VAN??!!??

She hit my van. Oh, I’m on the angel/devil seesaw on that one. The van’s paid for, but it’s getting to the point where the value of the vehicle almost equals the cost of repairs. I immediately feel guilty. I park at an angle in the driveway. If I’d park directly in front of Mom, she would’ve hit my bumper, and no damage would have happened. Crap!

I hear the jingle of the keychain. Dad’s stomp outside again, Mom shuffling into her shoes. The van engine fires up – it’s Mom’s. A cacaphony fills my ears: the dogs barking, the clunk of the transmission changing gears, muffled “Barking Orders”, and then…

the unmistakable sound of metal squealing against metal.

She’d backed into my van and PARKED there. As I lay there, I visualize the potential damage done to my van. She most likely would’ve hit the right rear quarter of the van, possibly bending the frame and damaging the rear axle.

Realizing that if I lay there much longer, I’d probably wake the boys from their beds, I got up and went to fix my coffee. I don’t really need the caffeine thanks to the incredible adrenaline rush (that I most certainly will pay for later), but I want to keep to my routine, so I sip it slowly.

Walking around the table, I poke my head into Mom’s room to let her know I’m up. I get The Look from her. “WHY did you park where you did yesterday???” I blink, and decide that humor is probably the best thing to diffuse the situation. “Just to piss you off!” It worked, she chuckled a bit and then asked if I’d heard Dad. “Mom, I think the whole neighborhood heard him. What happened?” “Well, it was dark and raining after church, so I decided to turn the van around when I pulled in.” We joked around a bit more, then I grabbed my camera, telling her “My insurance agent will probably want pictures of the damage.” She smirked, and sent me on my way.

How long will it take you to find the damage?

So it’s officially summer break for my cousin. The girls have cooked up a rather interesting menu of alternating overnight stays. I’m really not sure how long this is going to last, but for right now we’ll ride with it.

I’m reading The Surrendered Wife and I must say it is something. Some of the book had me nodding my head in agreement, some of it had me guffawing out loud (“Quit your job? Whatever you think, dear.” I don’t THINK so.), and parts had me reflecting over past relationships wondering if I would have reacted differently to situations had I known some of the techniques in this book. The many MANY “motivational” topically-relevant quotes are somewhat distracting. It seems like every time I get into rhythm, I come to a quote block – GAH! I’m glad I checked it out, but I don’t know if I’ll bother with purchasing it.

I’m driving Mom crazy these days, and LOVING it. Since she’s web-intolerant, I checked out Sink Reflections (The Flylady’s book). I’ve decided to start with my bedroom/bathroom, and put all Mom’s stuff in the former dining room with all her other stuff. I’m also working on/through the storage trailer. It BADLY needed organization, since when I moved back home we just shoved boxes willy-nilly in there. I went in yesterday and spent an hour just stacking the boxes that are properly labelled. Hopefully by the time Mom and Dad get settled on their new home, I’ll be done. I’m still trying to decide if I want to organize the entire house, or just leave their stuff to be gone through when they move.

Whilst I was organizing, I came across stashes of yarn here and there. I do believe I’ll be whipping out the crochet hook AND knitting needles and see if I can’t get it all worked up and/or out of the house. More on THAT later, though.

I’m back to designing webpages again, but I’m having a hard time concentrating on it these days. Now that Alannah and Daniel BOTH are interested in Neopets.com, I have to do a lot more work at night rather than working on it periodically during the day.