I'm stuck at home

Last Friday I went out to Eagle River . . . considered a day trip to the locals, but only about a half hour drive north from Anchorage . . . anyway, I'd tried all 4 of the Fred Meyer's in town to find the right size of boots for Emery. There were these darling snow boots that I couldn't pass up - so after failing to find the size at the 4 stores in town, I called the one out in Eagle River . . . and the lovely Russian lady (who enjoyed my name, since it's Russian and I told her my parents liked Dr. Zivago) told me they did in fact have her size in the purple/gray {plaid - a word I used, not her} boots. So I pack up the two boys and drive out there - enjoying "getting out of the city" for the day. 

We end up at the Fred Meyer only to find the boots she'd put on hold for us were in fact purple and gray, but not plaid at all. I was  mortified so I began searching the piles of boot boxes with no luck on finding the right boots in the right size. Discouraged, I decided to just look through the aisles of shoes to see if there was a good deal for any of my other 3 kids. Lo and behold, I find a small stash of winter boots in an odd spot and {heavens open to the sound of the holy choir} there are the right boots in the right size. What a relief!!! So I pick them up, find a couple other things, including a package of rolls we'd use at the duck pond and go pick up Jack from the Playplace. I get to the car and unload the two bags and box of boots - realizing that the rolls, intended for our next stop are no where in any of the bags. Weird. Jack tells me he's poopy - you know, what would my stories be without poop!?!?!?! And we head back in - I ask the cashier if she's seen our rolls and she tells me to just go get another package. So - I'm not about to run and get the rolls then hurry to the bathroom like some shoplifter. So instead I go change Jack and go back out to the car to check again. Still no rolls and by this time, the $3.19 for rolls to feed the ducks and geese is not as important to me as moving on. So we go to the next grocery store, buy a couple of our favorite donuts and a $1.39 bag of generic hot dog buns. (For those who always wondered how our grocery prices differ - eat that!!!)

We make it to the duck pond and although Jack has been commenting that he does not just want to see ducks and geese, but also elephants and giraffes - when we get to the pond, he's mesmerized by the hordes of foul and the one lone bunny. He has a blast and I'm so glad I took the boys. Sometimes things like that overwhelm me - what with the layer of green and white feces covering the tops of the deck and fence - and the stench and the gutsy little creatures that would probably nip your fingers off if you didn't just drop the piece of bread out of fear. But they had a really good time. We even shared our $1.39 bag of generic hot dog buns with another group of kids that came with their two mothers from Palmer, another 30 minutes north of Eagle River . . . they were coming INTO the big city of Eagle River. 

Anyway - enough of the ducks . . . we then head home and when we're almost to Anchorage, a strange light on my console brightens up and I notice my car catches once - like it was trying really hard to make it into gear. I just keep praying that if there's something wrong, we make it home. As we get closer and closer . . . the car is responding less and less to the gas pedal. It's just not going as fast as I'd expect it to. By the time I pull off on our exit, I'm sure it's going to coast to a stop and not make it home . . . but I gently continue to pump the gas and with a lot of prayer and hazard lights I make it into our garage with the stench of something burning pretty bad. I'm sure I made things worse by driving with it, but I just wanted to get my two boys home. So - today I'm without a car . . . which is probably just as well. I'm not 100% feeling better and would probably go out and overdo things, so I'm still going to take it easy today. The dealership couldn't take it 'til tomorrow - and then we'll see how bad the damage is. 

Just the other day I was saying how nice it is to have both our cars paid for and we're blessed to not have any car trouble. Fabulous!!! Does the new economy-boosting bill have anything in the fine print on extra funds for paid off cars???