Livin' and Lovin' in A-town

Paula Shadoll

I went home this past weekend to catch up with my parents, help decorate the restaurant for fall, and shop at First Monday. My cousin Jody and her two kids were planning on heading to Van for First Monday so I decided to hitch a ride w/them! Since I get so car sick on road trips, I drove their van...we headed out of town Friday afternoon and arrived in Van late that night. I enjoyed seeing my parents, catching up, shopping, eating, decorating...I really had a great weekend.

So, Sunday afternoon, Jody, the kids and I left Van and headed back to Abilene. Around 6:30pm we decided to stop in Weatherford for a potty break and a quick bite to eat. After a quick dinner and a run to the potty, we buckled the kids in, got our seat belts on, and proceeded to start the car. Actually, I should say attempted to start the car. It wouldn't turn over...no lights, no DVD player, no power...no battery.

"Don't panic...remain calm...if you worry, the kids will worry." These are the words I'm saying over and over in my mind. I looked a Jody and we can't help but laugh! Here we are, stranded in her minivan in Weatherford, TX in the Schlotzsky's parking lot across from the Wal-Mart and local car wash...yes, it was that bad!

We calmed the kids, told them this was an easy problem to fix, we'd be on the road in no time. Jody called Casey (her husband) just to touch base and see what he recommended, while I went into Schlotzsky's to see if anyone had any jumper cables we could use. No luck. So, Jody went across the street to the E-Z mart/car wash to ask those fine, upstanding citizens if they had any jumper cables. A few minutes later, Jody returned to the car with a gas station attendant, a car wash attendant, jumper cables, and a random car. We attached the jumper cables, started their car and again attempted to start our car. No luck. Nothing. The lights were a little brighter, but the engine wouldn't turn over. So, the gas station attendant who was a woman, yelled for her friend "T-bone" to come over and help us out.

As you can imagine, "T-bone" was a colorful character. He, I'm sure, was Weatherford's finest! Covered in tattoos, wearing cut off jean shorts, shirt and a pair of flip flops, I quickly figured he must work on old cars in his front yard...in front of his trailer house. He played with the battery a little, had me try to start the car and, the genius that he was, immediately decided it had to be the starter. So, pulling out a tire iron, he proceeds to bang and hit the inside of my cousins van...because every great mechanic knows that sometimes if you hit the car hard enough, it will start! He decided to crawl under the van, and while under there, I noticed "T-bone" was wearing blue nail polish on his toe nails. Ok "T-bone"...thank you for your help, but I believe you've taken us as far as you can. In one last attempt to start the car, he asked me to vacate the drivers seat so that he could try to turn the key. Two thoughts raced through my mind:
#1 What makes you think you're going to turn the key any different than what I'm turning it?! If he gets the car started I'm gonna....etc.

#2 If he steals the car, Camden and Jadyn are in the back. I need to get to a place where I could pull them out fast if I needed to or I could jump in the car to protect them if I had to.

So, I let "T-bone" into the drivers seat and before he could get both of his blue polished feet into the car, I was on the other side, ready to pull the kids out if I had to! Cat-like reflexes! I'm so sure!

So, "T-bone" and his crew had no luck w/the car, so we tried for an hour to reach Casey's parents who live 45 minutes from Weatherford. We finally got in touch with them, and Casey and his parents headed our way. Help was coming!

How do you entertain a 4 year old and 2 year old in a van with no power in a parking lot you might ask? Well, Cousin Jenni and mom had plenty of tricks up their sleeves. We played paper, rock, scissor...we played eye/spy...Jody found random glow sticks in her purse...we basically did everything we could to keep the kids happy! At one point in the night, we began the philosophical discussion of why "T-bone" had paint on his toes. I told Camden that boys shouldn't wear nail polish...nail polish is for girls. Boys shouldn't wear nail polish at all. My exact words were..."Boys shouldn't wear nail polish...not any color. Just no polish at all." Well, Jody heard me say all of that, except my last sentence...she heard "Just no Paula Shadoll." You can imagine the delirious laughter that broke out between Jody and I after she figured out I wasn't talking about a lady named Paula...I was saying "polish at all."

By 10pm, the cavalry had arrived. Casey's dad took care of the battery, we ran through Starbucks, and headed back to Abilene. Let me tell you, I was very ready for my bed! Here are a few pics of our experience. They're not great cause my phone was the only camera I had!