The rest of the story

If you are just tuning in, check this out before you continue reading.

If you are thinking that I left the head lights on, you are right.  They were only on for 5 minutes, tops!  But this is an 11 year old battery, it came with the car.  I should have known better.  

I tried again.  "click click click nothing" .  Great.  Just great.  I am an hour and a half from home with no cell phone!  Wes is in the back asking why I was taking a nap on the steering wheel as I laid on head on it trying to think of what to do next.

I pulled the keys out of the ignition, as if someone would really steal my now dead car, unbuckled both kids again and headed back into the gas station, armed with $1.50 in quarters.   Thankfully it was an old school gas station and still had a pay phone.  I called Matt.  It went to voice mail.  I felt tears forming and a larger lump growing in my throat.  I was about to start crying in a gas station.   Wes was jumping up and down, yelling and touching everything imaginable with his Gumby like arms.

 Back to the car we go.  I buckled the kids back in simply to contain them.  I started contemplating getting the stroller out and walking the 2 miles back to Aunt Mary's to ask for help.  I did not know her phone number.  Wes is repeatedly telling me to "go Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy go!  Put dah keys in and go.  Come on Mommy.  Hey hey Mommy lets go.  Why we sitting here?"  I was breaking, slowly, cracking.  This was not going to be pretty.

I stepped outside the car.  I needed to get away from the noise.  He was tired, I was tired, and he was loud.  Not a good combination.  I looked around and saw a bunch of scary looking people.  No one I would feel comfortable asking for help.   Then as a rusty farm truck pulls out I spied a nice middle aged couple in a shiny new car.  I sign.  These people would help me.  I started walking towards them, their windows were rolled all the way down and they were enjoying ice cream sundaes.  

"Excuse me"

The middle aged man turns and looks at me like I had warts all over my sweaty face.

"Do you think you could jump my car for me?  The battery died and it won't start (don't cry don't cry don't cry)." 

The middle aged man turned to his middle aged wife then back to me.  His face contorted in a way you only see in sci-fi movies.  He placed his plastic spoon back in his half eaten ice cream and began shaking his head in quick deliberate little shakes.  The kind of shakes that made his loose skin under his chin wiggle back and forth like that hangy down thing on my roosters.  It would have been amusing if he was not saying no.

  "I'm sorry...um...no."

CRACK! 

I cracked something inside of my broke.  Shattered really.  I grabbed that old man  by the collar of his pressed button down and began shaking him!  His wife looked at us in shear shock, ice cream spoon hanging half way out of her mouth.  While shaking this elderly man I sprayed him with spit as I said "Now you listen to me mister.  You are going to drive your pricey car over to my dead one and push the pop hood button.  You are going to sit there as I hook my jumper cables up and jump my car.  Do you understand me?!  I have had it!  I have two screaming sweaty children over there in that car and we are 90 minutes from home.  I have no cell phone and I am TIRED!"

That's not exactly what happened but it is exactly what I felt like doing.  Instead I quickly turned away, tears now freely falling and walked the 12feet back to  car.   I climbed in and cried.  Wes did not know what to do.  Poor kid.  He asked for chocolate milk.  I poured some into his cup and at that very moment I had a wonderful idea.  No not to go assault another senior citizen, I would call my mom.  That's what all girls do when their husbands don't answer.  She would know Aunt Mary's number and she could call and ask her to come help me.

So after unbuckling both kids yet again I walked back into the gas station.  This time with a blotchy face and watery eyes.   I called my mom who of course wanted to know why I was calling from Nebraska, because that is what her phone said when she answered it.  I quickly told her what happened, what I wanted her to do and that I would call back in two minutes to make sure help was on it's way.   Three minutes later, I was buckling the kids back in for what I swore would be the last time and began to wait for Aunt Mary to come and jump start my car.  

The wait was not long and the jump was successful.  I thanked them, smiled and started on my trip home.  Both kids started crying.  Felicity was wailing and Wes was just whining along harmonizing with his red faced sister.  I pulled over and did the unthinkable.  I grabbed the baby's bottle and proceeded to fill it with chocolate milk.  Dug through my bag till I found a lollipop and handed it to Wes.  Seeing that both my children were well on their way to a sugar rush and it was getting darker by the minute, I once again started home.

 About 30 minutes later and all sugar substances gone, Felicity drifted off  into sweet sleep while Wes talked 3,000 words per minute.  I began regretting the chocolate milk and lollipop.  After much coaxing I convinced Wes to pretend I was not there.   He did not think that was a good idea but played along till I turned on some sing songy kids music a little louder than usual and he too eventually fell to sleep, right about the time I turned the corner to our road.  

So the moral of the story....keep gas in your car, a working cell phone in your pocket, don't give sugar to already exhausted children, don't do the terrible things that you think, and if all else fails call mom, she always knows what to do. 

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And just in case anyone is worried about my sanity, today I had a wonderful day, minus getting scalded while getting my eye brows waxed.  Today was a great day and everyone is all smiles over here.  :)