Monthly Archives: November 2009

The search is FINALLY over!!!!!

A few weeks ago Zale sold his truck (1998 Chevy Z71 with over 205,000 miles) in hopes of getting something a bit more lawyerly and that was better on gas mileage. Many days Zale drives over a hundred miles and the truck just wasn’t made to do that. Not to mention the gas was killing us.

We’ve been down to one vehicle since then, which has been a bit of a challenge, but not near as bad as the hours that have been spent in those three weeks searching for another car. Countless hours on line and no telling how many hours were spent driving all over middle Tennessee. What made it even more of a challenge was a very limited budget. We only had the cash from selling the truck, nothing more to put with it and we refuse to have a car payment, so financing something just wasn’t an option.

Monday, Zale was pretty sure he found what he wanted, a Volvo Cross Country station wagon, pretty low miles and a reasonable price, just not quite as low as what we hoped. When Zale went back yesterday the dealer decided he wasn’t going to move any on the price, which tapped out our budget not allowing for taxes and getting the vehicle registered. So we were back at square one.

While looking on line again last night (around 10:00) Zale came across an Infiniti he had seen before, but   didn’t look at too seriously. The price was so good it was like one of those too good to be true deals. He decided that even though it wasn’t exactly what he was looking for, it came close enough. Especially for what they were asking. And because we’re SO tired of looking!!! I suggested he e mail the owner since it was too late to call. Wouldn’t you know the guy e mailed him right back with his phone number and an ok to call.

Zale booked out the car to make sure the price was a good as he thought, and called him. I took the dogs out one last time for the night while Zale was on the phone and came back in to hear, “sounds good, we’ll be there bright and early so you don’t miss your tee time.” As much as I wanted this search to be over, those were not good words for me to hear. Today was supposed to be the day that I got to sleep in. Anthony didn’t have school, Zale didn’t have to be up early for court, the house should have been nice and quiet. So when I heard Zale say that I looked at him with dread. Sure enough, the car was about 45 minutes to an hour away, and Zale promised him we’d be there by 8:15. UGH!!!!!! I am not and haven’t ever been a morning person, this was asking a lot and should only be a testament to my love for Zale (and desperation of this whole car search thing being over) that I would agree to get up before dawn to go look at the car.

This morning, on the day I was supposed to be able to sleep in, I found myself up at 5:55 getting myself and the girls ready for this drive to look at a car. I was actually praying that this trip wouldn’t be in vain like all the others had been in the last few weeks. We got there early (which ended up being a good thing) and the owner was already outside with the car. I stayed in the Suburban with the girls while Zale went to look at the car. I was relieved to see the guy hand Zale the keys for a test drive. That was a good sign! A few minutes later Zale comes back, and I continue to watch from the Suburban trying to guess by expression and body language if this was really it, or if I was going to see the dreaded hand shake of “Thanks for letting us look”. Finally Zale comes back to the car to get the cash. Yay!

So even though I’m exhausted and it’s only noon, I guess it was all worth it since the search is over, and we got such a good deal that we have more left over than what we hoped for. God is good!

Baptized

Yesterday my Dad called and invited us to have dinner with him and my Uncle Allen, to celebrate Allen’s birthday. We were able to make it a surprise and enjoyed a nice meal together. Our good friends had agreed to watch the girls and Anthony was at Switch, our church’s youth program. It was unusual for us to be out having dinner on a weeknight, especially without the kids.

After we got home and were getting the girls settled in for bed, Anthony came in. I asked how Switch was and he said “good”, a typical teen response to a question from a parent. He went to his room and I went to the kitchen to get a SMALL bowl of frozen yogart. Heavenly Hash, my favorite. I got a bowl, spoon, and the yogart from the freezer. About that time I notice that Zale has logged on to FaceBook and I see a posting that 11 kids were baptized during Switch. In that instant I had a flash back of Anthony coming in and his hair wasn’t straightened like it had been when he left for Switch. So I drop everything, run to his room, knock as I’m opening his door and breathlessly say, “Did you get baptized tonight?!?!?!?” He looked up at me with this almost embarrassed grin and said, “yea”, as if it’s no big deal. I tackle him with a hug and screech, “Why didn’t you tell me???!!!! We would have been there!!!!!” Zale was behind me, congratulated him and said, “Just make sure you tell her before you get married”.

I get it, of course, if I had been there I would have been crying my eyes out and probably wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from completely embarrassing him in front of his friends. And I understand it’s a personal decision that he made between him and God. I’m grateful for all of it, and it’s certainly an answer to prayer, but still a bit teary eyed that I wasn’t there to see it happen.