Pudah's Prayer

Today turned out to be wonderfully amazingly awesome.

First of all, the car was in the shop. It had been there since yesterday, but around 1130 it was fixed and I could go get it. This is where I am grateful for really awesome friends I can just call up. Yesterday I had to call Allison to come and retreive Hannah and myself from said car place because the car guys realized it was going to take them a BIT longer then they initally expected to fix the problem. Allison came and got us, no problem, and we had a really nice lunch on the way home. Plus I got to see her cutest of all preggo tummy which was fun. Then today I had to get back to the car place, and I called Penny. She managed to help me out in between needing to run errands and picking up her own child from daycare. But shes awesome like that, and I was really happy to see her and talk even if it was only for a ten minute drive.

So we go to get the car, and the poor car guys who had give me a price quote estimating that it would take approximately 1 1/2 hours to fix ended up spending more like 5 or 6 hours on my car. But yesterday they had told me they would honor the original quote anyways. I talked to Dean about it, and we both felt this was unfair. I wasn't sure about paying for a whole 6 hours since I was sure they had stopped to help other customers etc during this time frame, but I also thought they deserved more than being paid for just one hour of work. When I spoke to the manager on the phone after he said the car was ready I told him I just wanted to be fair, and I had no problem with paying for 2 or 3 hours of labor cost. He seemed stunned. He sort of chuckled at me and said "Well....Okay." When I actually picked up the car and paid for it he said they decided to charge me 2 1/2 hours. I asked if he was sure that was alright, if that was enough. He shook his head at me and smiled "I don't think anyone has ever said that before. Most people wanna fight you and just say Thats not the price you quoted me!" I told him again I just wanted to be fair, and he said "Its alright, dear, this will be just fine." I told him we would be back again soon because my van needs new brake pads or something. Its tough to find a car guy you can trust, you know? But I think after this he will remember me and he will be happy to have us for return customers.

Then, in more awesomeness, I came home and Hannah and I took a nap. It was 2 hours of complete perfection.

Then the boys got off the bus asking for friends to come over. So we went to the grocery store really fast, and then called Brad (Eden's friend) and Taylor (Jude's friend) to come over. Taylor has asked me almost every time I have seen him either in the morning at the bus stop or getting off the bus if he could please please PLEASE come to our house, so he was really excited to come over. Taylor and his 3 sisters live with their grandma. I am not privy to the entire story, but what I do know is their mom and dad are not around at all. So, his grandma brought him over and one of his big sisters had come along for the ride. Her name is Amber and she was in Eden's class when we first moved here. Amber is a rough and tough wild child, who likes to talk about playing in the woods and climbing trees back when she lived with her mom. I could see in her face that she wanted to play, so I asked "Can she stay and play too?" Her grandma seemed suprised, she didn't want me overwhelmed with kids, but I said I didn't mind. I asked Amber if she wanted to stay and she answered sort of cooly "Well, I don't really care" but I could see she was actually very happy.

Eden, Brad and Amber got right in to a big game. Something to do with swords and dragons and monsters and magic, I couldn't follow all the rules. It was complicated. Jude and Taylor soon joined in, bringing their walkie talkies, and we all ended up outside on the front lawn for over an hour. They ran and shouted and rolled around in the grass and played their little hearts out. Hannah watched them delighted, and occasionally ventured out in the grass as well to grab a sword or shout at someone. But really she was most happy just to watch. It was a really beautiful afternoon, the air was crisp and cool and it smelled like fresh cut grass. This of course was most likely due to the fact that my wonderful 13 year old neighbor had just cut our grass a couple hours prior. The whole scene made me feel so grateful for my life, so much love for my children, and inspired by a day that brought me a sense of people's true goodness. When it was time for everyone to go home I got hugs from all the visitors and my own children came inside with rosy cheeks, big smiles, and grass in their hair. It doesn't get much better than that.

Tonight as we got ready for bed Jude asked if he could say a prayer. It went like this:

"Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for our day. Thank you for all that we Have. And for all that we Love. Please bless Dean to be safe in Afghanistan. And thank you for our food. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

I think that says it all.