Thank you Elder Wirthlin!!

Thank you Elder Wirthlin for you words of wisdom and insight! Without them, this morning would have been dreadful! :)

Today was my day to do the carpool for preschool. After I drop the girls off at preschool, I usually get to play volleyball for 2.5 hours. Yay!! Today, I decided to "listen" to the blinking light on my dashboard "Check Tire Pressure." Which means, due to the cold weather, my tires are low on air. Usually, Luke takes care of those things (thanks Sweetie), but today, I decided to be proactive and do it myself.

I get to the gas station and air up my backleft tire. Then, switch to the front left. As I started to air it up, the air did not sound like it was going in the tire. So, I took the hose "thingy" off my tire and tried again (not roughly, I might add). This time the tip of the valve broke COMPLETELY OFF! Augh! I stood there dumbfounded in my flipflops, t-shirt and shorts with my mouth hanging open, in the 30 degree weather, as my tire went Phhsssssssssstttttttttttttt - completely flat. Uhhh, I didn't need air in my tire that badly! Next time I will wait for Luke to do it!

So, okay, I have changed a tire before, here goes. Of course I had the back of the Tahoe completely full of stuff to be taken to DI. So, on the side of the road I take that out and get out the jack, etc. Then, I look at the back of the truck. I know there is usually a hole in the back bumper that you can stick the crank into and lower the tire out from under the vehicle. So, I find it, but there is a keyhole in it instead! SSSWWWWEEEEEEEEETTTT! This one is electronic! Yes!! So, I stick the key in the lock - perfect fit. Great same key even! I turn the key and .....nothing happens. Oh crap! The electrical is broken! Oh, I pray "Please Heavenly Father, make this work! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!" Nope still won't work.

I have a friend that works at the gas station there. So, I went inside. Hi Michelle! Can I use the phone? I try to call Luke at work (not sure what he's going to do from work 25 minutes away, but what the heck!) He didn't answer though.

I know I can change a tire! I just can't get the dumb thing out from under my car! So, i go back out and try the key again. Nope, no luck. Michelle comes out and I said, well it was just the tip of the valve, maybe I can buy a new one and screw it in there and no big deal. So, Michelle loans me her car. I transfer Quincey's babyseat into her car and drive down the road to NAPA. I ask the man there if my little plan is possible. "No, there are welds that have to be broken, etc to do that. You have to take it to a tireshop." Nevermind that it is on my car I can't drive and I can't get my spare down! Darn.

So, as I am walking out, I turn back around and ask, "So, do you have any idea why the electrical for letting my spare tire down from under my car wouldn't be working?" He looked at me a little strangely and says, "what kind of car do you have?" A Tahoe, I reply. He then proceeds to tell me that most vehicles do not have electrical cranks for their spare tire that it is done manually, except for some Cadillacs, etc. I said, okay well mine has a keyhole in it. He kind of chuckled and then said, it is probably a lock to keep people from stealing your spare! You have to turn the key and pull and this will take the lock out of the the shaft and then you crank the tire down manually! Oh now that makes sense! Why didn't I think that people would want to steal my spare and so I have a lock on it? Oh yeah, because I would never steal anyones spare!

So, I go back to my car and start to get tire down (using the wrong extension of the crank, but whatever). Finally, I realize my mistake and get the tire down, just as the calvary arrives (Michelle called her husband)! So, he finishes changing the tire while I talked inside with Michelle (Rick kept telling me to go sit and relax). So, Quincey ate an entire packet of Starbursts and didn't even share 1 with me! Boo. When he finished, I tried to put the jack back where I got it from and then gave up. Rick told me to turn the car around so he could fill the spare with more air.

Then, as I drove away, I noticed my blinking light "CHECK TIRE PRESSURE!" AUGH!! I am where I started, but with a gimpy tire on my truck! However, if I had stopped Rick would have been the one to air up the other two tires I never got the chance to break and he had already done sooo much!

I got home with about 10 minutes left to take a shower and then back to pick up the kids from preschool! Needless to say, I never did get my hair done today. However, due to Elder Wirthlin's talk at Conference on finding humor in trials, I was able to pass my day with a smile! Besides, I got to know Michelle and Rick better! And this could have happened in two weeks on our trip to Disneyland! No, today was a good day for it to happen! :)

However, I do think next time I will leave the car maintenance to Luke! Oh, and when Quincey gets over her sugar rush, I'll put her down for a nap.