I haven’t written/ranted/blogged/bitched in a quite a while. Why? Busy. Don’t have much to say. Don’t want to contribute to the raging lunatics of America. Focused on living in joy despite life’s hits. I don’t know if I’ll write regularly. I don’t know if I care enough. But I AM! paying WordPress a few bucks a year for this site so I figure I better get my money’s worth.

This picture is a beautiful illustration that we have no idea what can lurk around the corner. It is taken on the porch of our Texas home (ok, we don’t really have a Texas home. We have an airBnB that we stay at when we head down to spend time with Oz and family in Waco. It is the home of a former professor and librarian from Baylor college and we have enough family memories there that we call it our Texas home.) I made Matt sit for a few moments out in the August heat so we could grab this before heading home.

The trip had been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. We had an amazing visit with Oz, Ashley, and my youngest baby, Daniel. We also had some car issues. It all worked out, we thought, but it blew our vacation budget a bit and when we had to say our last teary (me) goodbyes and give my last squeeze to our tank of a grandson, we were ready to just get home.

So Matt and I took our selfie and set out early on Sunday morning. We had an 11 hour drive ahead of us which was fine, I’ve done that on my own, but we were tired. And hot. Anyways.

We made it about 30 miles down the road when the car started acting up again. Shit. Not good. We stopped for Kolaches and some transmission fluid and hoped that we were good to go. It was stressful. Very. I was determined to stay positive, but Matt was stressed. Very. Matt was determined to figure out what was going on with the car. Staying positive really wasn’t on his radar. You know, men really don’t multi-task as good as us girls. Heh.

At our 4th stop, outside Dallas, I’d had it. Not with the car, but with my husband. I walked across the street from a mechanics shop and hit a Super H-E-B for some retail therapy. It worked. I was even so nice that I bought my crabby husband some lunch. Aren’t I sweet??!

We made it 15 minutes down the road and the car started in again. We’re about to hit Dallas traffic, mild since it’s now early Sunday afternoon, but still busy with some spots where pulling off isn’t an option. Okay, we need a new plan. Matt has an Auntie and Uncle in Dallas. They became our new plan. Matt was able to get their number from Mom, he called and left a message for Auntie sharing that we were in the area and limping along the interstate. The calls themselves were fine, necessary. However, the sweet tone of voice Mom and Auntie received versus the snapping and barking at me the previous five hours was it. The final straw. Ever been there? The final straw?

It ain’t pretty. It was un-pretty enough that when he was leaving a message for Auntie, asking if we can park at their house and try to figure out what was going on, I forgot about my goal of not being a raging lunatic and completely lost it. By the time we rolled into their driveway, I wasn’t even talking to Matt. Done. I’d had it. Done. Ever been there? Done?

Ya, we aren’t done. We’re fine. It was a bad deal that was stressful, and we still need to improve how we talk to each other in high stress moments. We’re getting better. But chances are high that one of us will hit that ‘done’ moment again. We’ll still be fine.

It took another three days before we got out of Texas. It was horrible. And by horrible, I mean fantastic. Matt’s Auntie and Uncle took crabby married couple in stride; handed me all the wine and Matt all the bourbon we wanted; ate well; had a pool afternoon; saw an incredible full moon; laughed (after I started talking to Matt again;) and finished our vacation fairly spectacularly. We did NOT need a transmission so spending a bit more money we hadn’t planned was still better than not spending the thousands of dollars we originally thought we’d have to spend.

We made it back home in one piece and decided that drives to Texas were done. At the very least, we’d rent a car and not put the miles on ours. But probably we’ll let Delta get us there and hopefully land upright while doing it.

We went from selfie smiles to a fight in a few short hours. We went from fight back to smiles, but that took a little longer. Hee Hee. I guess if your day is going to turn to shit, I hope it’s a manageable version of shit where smiles are just around the corner. Along with an Auntie & Uncle who spoil you rotten.

It’s not the stress that kills us, it’s our reaction to it. Hans Seyle