the day I should have stayed in bed, or how God can change your perspective

No TWD this week, though Erin's pick of the Sweet potato biscuits looked quite yummy--I even bought an extra sweet potato this week, but oh well...it was not in the cards for me...

Do you ever have one of those days when, from the second you hit the alarm clock, you know that it is not going to be a good day? Well, that is definitely the way that today started off! First off, I'm sick. Apparently trying to push through my yuck-ness and clean on Sunday was a bad choice, and it left me in bed on Monday. I woke up this morning in pain, but didn't want to let work keep piling up so I dragged myself groggily into the shower. After slogging through my morning routine (and taking a quick break to snuggle Butch), I got into the car to finally head to work. As I was backing out of the garage and driveway I heard a huge crash and my car jolted to a stop: I had run into the cement barrier that allows the drainage pipe to run under the driveway.

And then my car was tilted.

I got out to see that I had completely blown my back passenger-side tire. I called the office, debating over coming in late or just calling in altogether, and was told by one of our receptionists that two of the other front staff had already called in that day.

I went in the house, told hubs what happened, and sat on the bed and cried while he went out to look at the car and call my dad for help (my dad is definitely a mister-fix-it; hubs, not so much, but they trade handyman services for computer help). Well, dad is in North Carolina at a conference, so we left the poor little car in the driveway and hubs drove me to work.

I struggle w/depression, and this has definitely been one of those times (I got into a funk a few days ago, but of course this morning brought everything to a head). I have been feeling all "woe is me" lately...sad b/c of the lack of time that hubs and I have been able to spend together due to his work schedule, tired of feeling sick, frustrated about re-gaining some weight I had lost, and just all around mopey. Then I've been having nightmares about all the crazyness that has been happening at the office where I work. I have been grumpy w/hubs when we are together--you know those times when you are just determined to be miserable, even if nothing is really wrong? It's been one of those times.

So hubs was driving me to work, and instead of being thankful for the extra time that we had together, I was just sitting there pouting like Eeyore w/a grey cloud hanging over my head (even when he made a joke that Butch had purposefully pushed my car into the concrete w/her magical bulldog mind powers b/c she wanted me to stay home to cuddle). I got to the office, and though everything went smoothly for being short staffed, I was cranky. When hubs said that he didn't think he could bring me lunch b/c he had to go out of town to a client, I was crabby while I ate the leftover sandwich in the work refridgerator. When my throat started hurting more and the sinus pressure got bad, I just fussed about how I would rather be in bed. I even mentally prepared to write this post and show pictures of how I had hurt my poor little car and how my day was so awful.
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And then, when it was finally 5:00 and time to go, hubs called and told me that he was here so I went out the door....and there was my car!! He had taken time out of his day to go buy a tire iron & jack, he had replaced my tire, driven it (still low on air) to Walmart to get it aired up and fixed (they couldn't really fix it b/c apparently I "broke the wheel," not bent the hubcap), and even walked to the mall so he could have something to eat and take care of my car at the same time--and then got a ride from his mom so that he could drop my car at work and then go back home so he could surprise me!

And just like that, my attitude changed. I realized that while I had been moping and complaining and feeling like my husband doesn't love me, I was just completely self-centered. When I grumbled about the sandwich I had for lunch, I should have been thankful that there was still something left over from the catered lunch the day before so that I could have something (free!) to eat! When I was upset about this bad luck w/my car, I should have been grateful that in nearly 10 years of driving that car (which is a 1989!!) this is the most damage that I have ever done to it, and it was all done in the safety of my own driveway! I should be grateful that we even have stable jobs, and that hubs' freelance business is also going so well, and thankful for the free time I have to do things like blog and bake for no reason except that I love doing it.

Now, I'm not trying to be all jolly-Pollyanna--I always want to be real and honest and sometimes life isn't happy, but I just feel grateful. God has blessed us in so many ways that I take forgranted.

My car is still not totally fixed. Hubs still loves sports more than I would like. My job is still crazy. I am still "pleasantly plump"-er than I would like. And my throat still hurts like crap, but perspective can change a lot!

funny story--so apparently when hubs asked them to fix the hubcap which was actually the wheel (which Walmart does not carry replacements for, by the way) they told him to go to a junkyard to try to find one. Hubs called his dad for advice, and his dad apparently had the same thing happent to him once. So....what did he do??? When asked what he did to replace the broken wheel, my father-in-law replied "I got a new car."