be thankful

Today I was thankful for many things.

My plan was to leave Hillview no later than 1130am to drive down to Escondido and spend Thanksgiving with my family. I was a little nervous about seeing my dad and Michelle, as I haven't spent a Thanksgiving with them in a long time, but I was also so happy to have been invited. I left at 1115am, which meant that I had time for Starbucks! I was secretly happy there wasn't milk in my fridge for cereal, because that means an excuse to buy Starbucks. Which leads me to being [thankful for Starbucks]. Yes, it's an expensive addiction, but how else am I supposed to live, people?! Starbucks gives me the caffeine high that gets me through long, stressful, ridiculous days at work.

As you can imagine, I was in a pretty good mood heading out of Chino. I have my coffee and left right on time. However, I was not even ten minutes into driving and was already in traffic. UGH. It was so slow, keeping me between 10-20mph and sometimes even at a dead stop. I drove a solid 15 miles in a little over an hour and calculated that to get to Escondido at this rate, and it was THREE more hours. I was [thankful for Shawn McDonald] keeping me company and encouraging me with some sweet music on my long drive.

So on and on I drove, until I started to smell something awful. I looked around and saw a ton of smoke coming from under my hood. I glanced at the temperature of the car and the gauge was all the way to the right, on HOT. Blaaaah!!!! I immediately pulled off from the freeway and put my hazards on as I sat on the shoulder and let my car cool down. At this point, I was feeling so frustrated and discouraged, assuming that I wouldn't make it down to spend Thanksgiving with my family. I called my dad to let him know what was going on and ask him what to do. He suggested calling roadside assistance and having them check out the car, with the possibility that I just need some water in the radiator to fix the problem. I got back on the freeway and got off on an exit to find a gas station that was easily visible for the roadside assistance people to find. After calling Progressive, the lady told me a tow truck will take me to an auto mechanic 1 mile down the road, who can then let me know further what is going on. Seriously?? I can just drive my car a mile down the road.

So I did. And I found out that the auto mechanic is closed...because it's Thanksgiving, DUH. I bet the tow truck would have just left me there, too. I called my dad again, feeling even more sad, and he suggested asking a guy at a gas station if maybe they could help me. My dad said to call back and let him know how things went...he was so helpful, making me so [thankful for my dad]. With all the ups and downs of my relationship with him, it makes me reallly emotional (in a good way) to say that I am thankful for him. I felt so encouraged by him and could really sense that he wanted to help me get down to Escondido. It was important to him that I make it and that gave me such an overwhelming sense of gratitude and love for him.

So, my next step was to find a random person who looked like they might know about cars. I felt awkward about approaching a stranger, but it was worth a try. I went to one gas station and the guy I asked had no idea. Fail. Dragging my feet, I got back on the road, headed in the direction of Hillview. Right before the next exit, I decided to give it one more try and found another gas station. I saw a guy putting water in his engine and figured that he probably knew how to help me. I felt like SUCH a stalker as I waited for him to finish with the water, calling a friend so I didn't look as much like a creepster as I felt. When he was done, I immediately went up to him.

"Sir, do you know much about cars? Smoke started coming out from under my hood and I don't know what to do. My dad thinks it has something to do with the radiator."

I was so happy to find out that this guy knew exactly what to do. First he said I needed water or a coolant, which (OH MY GOSH) I happened to have in my car. I had a jug of coolant that I had recently used and had never put back in my room. He put the coolant in and had me start the car so it would cycle through the engine, and then he added more. He explained to me exactly what the problem was and told me that if my temperature gets beyond 3/4, then I need to pull off on the side of the road. I was giddy with happiness and so so SO [thankful for this stranger], who knew exactly how to help me.

I had no problems during the rest of my drive down to Escondido. As I was thinking about the whole situation, I was so [thankful for God's provision and guidance]. At first, I was annoyed that I drove BACK a little ways before deciding to stop at another gas station, but I'm sure that God led me there. He led me to a man who was having the same problem and didn't mind taking some time out of his day to help a random girl who was clueless. And then to have the coolant randomly still in my car...SUCH a blessing. After feeling so sad and wanting to just go back to Hillview to have a pity party, I was incredibly encouraged by the goodness of God.

I had a good time with my dad, Michelle and my sister. I ate a late Thanksgiving lunch and watched television on my dad's new HUGE high definition tv...a retirement gift to himself. We played Racko, a fun game that we used to play all the time when Kristen and I were little. Kristen and I went on a walk with Michelle and Gracey, the doggy. In the evening, Michelle's friend came over and we watched Elf, which I loved because Will Ferrel is so freaking funny. I didn't get back to Hillview until 1130pm. I was SO tired, but content. It was a good Thanksgiving, with much to be thankful for.