I woke up early this morning with tears streaming down my face, and an empty feeling in my heart. I quickly jumped out of bed and checked on all my boys and kissed them softly on their forehead and watched them each for a good 10 minutes each as I prayed and thanked God for my blessings, the three that I have. You see I had a horrible nightmare, a horrific nightmare that one of my boys was no longer with me. My heart still hurts thinking of this nightmare, I was so relieved it was just that a nightmare.
Since I was up an hour earlier I got the boys up too and I sat with them as we had breakfast, I didn’t have an appetite so I just sat with them as they ate. Time was standing still, until 7:40am rolled around and then we needed to bust a move to get to school on time.
This is where the fun begins; What my plan was: I was in sweats as I left the house with my hair in a bun, and I assumed I would have enough time to get home after I dropped the kids off take a shower and get ready for the day, get my facial ( gift from my mother), study for four hours and head to school then pick up the kids at 7:40pm when I got home.
What happened: As I was driving my kids to school the check engine light that went on Saturday was still there come Monday morning. During the drop offs my toddler kept saying, “Mommy we are getting a new car today, I want a rent a car.” I kept telling him we would not be getting a rent a car or a new car today. “Yes you is mommy!” 20 minutes later he says, “Mommy your car is on fire mommy, we are getting a new car.” I didn’t see any smoke or fire near my car, I assumed because it was chilly out he was seeing the cool air and got confused. As I dropped my toddler off at school, I see steam coming from my hood. I quickly get him out of the car. It keeps going, I asked another parent if they are seeing the same thing? The mother says yes. I quickly took him to his class and when I came out again it was still smoking. This other mother came over and was looking at my car. She said honey something is wrong with your car and it looks like you need new tires as well. I was overwhelmed, I didn’t know how I was going to do this, I prayed for God to just calm my nerves.
The one person I called decided to belittle and point fingers and I was just sobbing at this point. I couldn’t change the past I was in the now and the more I sobbed I was yelled at for sobbing and ridiculed more as this was somehow my fault. I didn’t have anyone who could help me get my kids to school, take me to school, bank, pick up kids or go to school myself. I calmly drove to the bank with smoke coming from my car, I needed to transfer money to make sure I had the means to pay for this huge expense. When I called enterprise car rental I was advised that I needed to have a $300 deposit. When I walked into my bank, they asked me how my day was and when I looked up without a word the lady said, “Oh my goodness are you ok?” I told her I was. I also had to cash a check and the funds wouldn’t be available until Tuesday morning and I didn’t have enough with what I was transferring to cover the down payment and other bills. She got her manager and they fixed it so it was available. That was a huge blessing.
I dropped my car off at Saddleback Automotive ( I have been taking my cars there for over 15 years, they are honest and fair with their prices) and I was told the check engine light gave a code for driving lean? Have no idea what that means, they did explain it however I was too upset to comprehend everything, I did manage to retain this : its going to cost me $500 not including new tires. That includes an oil change and fixing a hole somewhere in the pipe or something and flushing something out. I was told that explained the steam coming from my engine, again they explained in detail however I still can’t comprehend what they said as I was in another zone.
If it doesn’t end I had to call my apartment complex to let them know that they couldn’t cash my check for another three days due to whats going on. The assistant manger asked what was going on so I told her. She asked where I was and I told her I was at my mechanics waiting. She told me she would be right there to pick me up before I could tell her I had enterprise coming. When I told I was covered she asked if there was anything she could do to help me. I couldn’t think of anything and thanked her for her kindness. I was blown away.
When I went to enterprise I could barley talk I knew this was going to be another blow to my checking account. As I was finishing filling out my paperwork at Enterprise they told me my car was ready. When I went to get it, it was a sports car. The manager and associate both smiled outside next to the car and said, we know you are having a bad day and we wanted to brighten it up for you. I laughed hysterically, they thought I was crazy. I was flattered because I never drove a sports car before however I knew this was going to be a challenge since I had a car seat and kids to get in the car. They told me not to worry because they have child locks in the back.
As much as I loved the kind gesture I declined, and I got this car instead. Lets just say they accommodated me on every level and their customer service touched my heart.
The wonderful associate smiling and giving me the thumbs up and telling me he really hopes my day gets better. They wanted to ensure Enterprise could at least brighten it on their end. They certainly did!
After I got my awesome rent a car I felt a little better….
I was 40 minutes late for my facial, yes I still went to get a facial. You see it took three months of canceling and rescheduling, I couldn’t do this again to this person. I’m glad I didn’t because I needed something relaxing and my face needed some pampering. Vita Nova Facials and Waxing is offering complimentary eyebrow shaping with the purchase of a facial for the month of February. Since I had a gift certificate this was an added bonus. I can’t wait to tell you more about Vita Nova Facials and Waxing in posts to come!
During my facial Olga, the owner was telling me about this fabulous place to have lunch. Since I haven’t eaten anything all day I was salivating as she was mentioning the wonderful menu items. So I said I would love to go to lunch and hang out. We enjoyed coffee and this salmon salad and talked for nearly two hours. It was nice to have someone to talk to and learn about facials and how to take care of your face and what products are the best to use. When it was time to go, she bought my lunch which was so unexpected and generous.
I made a new friend today, I was shown kindness from strangers throughout my day. What started out upsetting and uncertain for me, God knew what was going to happen. I am glad it turned out the way it did. I have a new perspective on things. To not take things for granted, despite how major they might seem I truly have been blessed and will continue to be even with trials in my life. I still have no idea how all of this is going to pan out, however I know it will and I thank God for everything. I will give joy and praise to him even in my trials.
