Surprising Adventures

Recently, my husband's work wife reminded me that I hadn't posted anything in awhile.  With work being all-consuming during the season and inspiration thin, I'll admit that it hasn't been top of my list.  But, her words made me realize that I was letting go of something that started off as an escape from work, an outlet from feeling overwhelmed.  And I haven't been indulging.

So, I was thinking of it a little more when Tuesday went from ordinary to adventure.  My friend, Jamie, and I grabbed lunch at Olive Garden, and part of our conversation focused on how it's hard to "adult."  (Did you know that Pinterest has made it a verb?)



We wondered what our lives would be like if we had more money, more time off, more ability to travel.  Inadvertantly, we wondered what our lives would be like if we had more adventures.

After lunch, we went to get our nails done (can you believe that we were really complaining about adulting in this situation?).  We were just wrapping up a wonderful day together when, to my dismay, my car wouldn't start.

We did our sex proud by grabbing jumper cables, opening both hoods, and preparing to YouTube our way to a jump before a nice passerby offered to help.  We had to move Jamie's car because my cables weren't long enough.  Then, they still weren't long enough, so we used hers.  Our helpful passerby explained that hers weren't working (is that even possible?!?!) before a State Trooper lent us his (poor guy was just trying to pick up his drycleaning).

We FINALLY got the car started, but our triumph was short-lived.  It lasted only half a minute before dying again, and I resigned myself to the fact that I would have to call a tow truck.  Jamie, being a great friend, insisted on staying with me.  We sat in her car for awhile before, out of nowhere, she said, "Let's go to the wine store."

I hadn't noticed the small wine shop, but I was happy to oblige.  This particular wine store had all of its bottles for $11.99.  Jamie bought one bottle.  I bought three.

After our purchases, we had nothing to do but wait, and it took a lot of willpower not to open one of those bottles and take a few pulls as we sat on the curb.  The wait was long, and Jamie and I had already had hours to catch up, so we ended up spending most of the time in silence (the measure of a true friend is how long she will sit next to you on a curb in the sun, waiting for a tow truck.  Sober.).

Finally, the truck arrived, and the delightful Michael cracked jokes as he hooked up my car (I really love my car, and it was hard to see her laid up).  Jamie bade me farewell with the whisper "call me so I know you don't get taken," and I spent a reasonably enjoyable ride to the mechanic with Michael.

I wasted a lot of time today on the phone with the mechanic, waiting for the tow truck, and then driving Kevin around becuase we were, once again, down to one car.  There were a lot of things I planned to do: grocery shop, cook, exercise, etc. that I did not get to do.

And yet...

There was the text from Jamie making sure that I didn't die, to which I responded, "Thanks for being so great today."

Her response: "Of course.  Always an adventure."

Advenutres can, of course, be found in the most unlikely places, including a $1,600 car bill.