Flat Tires (Yes, PLURAL)

So Thursday night Jason came in the house and casually said, "You know you have a flat tire, right?" I told him no, that I didn't have a flat tire when I came home with the kids that afternoon. Was he talking about the month-old NEW tires on my vehicle? I peeked in the garage and sure enough, driver's side tire flat. We put the kids to bed, he spent a few hours working, then he went out to change the tire. I, of course, went along to keep him company (a.k.a. ask dumb questions and make silly jokes while he's not in the mood.... I'm really good at that). About 30 minutes into it (10:30ish at this point), he realizes the wheel lock has been stripped & there's no way for him to change the tire. We put our heads together & realize we might just need to call AAA. One problem... we aren't members of AAA. Never fear, the internet is here! I sign us up online & then make our inaugural call at 11:30 p.m. The lady on the other end of the line tells me that there's no way to verify that we're actual members (even though I'm reading our membership number off to her straight from the temporary ID cards I printed off) until morning. So, Jason went inside to do about 30 more minutes of work & I switched the carseats from my car to his. In the morning, we rode to work with the hubby... Emerson was terribly disappointed that Daddy's car didn't have Veggie Tales Silly Songs (pronounced Beggie Tay-ohs Siddy Songs) and she was forced to listen to SportsTalk. Seriously, how do you men do it? There's NOTHING worse to me than listening to a bunch of has-beens or never-beens with inflated egos blubbering on about recruiting classes or coaching strategies. I really can't take it. I think the Hubster could sense my inner angst & nicely changed it to the classical station without me even saying anything. Anyway, back to my tire story. Daddy got dropped off at work, Emerson spent the morning at preschool, and when we got home and I put the kids down for their naps, I called AAA as an official cardholder, thank you very much, and a nice gentleman with braids showed up and changed my tire. I had an awkward moment where I wasn't sure whether I should stay out in the driveway in case he had any questions or needed anything or whether I should just go back inside... but then he would have to knock on the door if he needed me & then Boomer would bark & maybe wake up a sleeping child.... so I just stayed out & watched him change the tire. I'm sure guys like him really hate females like me. Because you'd better believe I tried to make small talk & keep things 'light'.... I'm sure I asked more dumb questions. After the kids woke up, we took the car to Robertson's Tire & had them fix the flat. That ended up being an hour-and-a-half of pure H-E-double hockey sticks for this tired momma. Picture a tiny little sitting area in a tire shop. Three sharply dressed business men quietly waiting for their tires to be fixed or rotated. In walks a mom in a sweat suit with a toddler yelling 'HI!' and 'Mommy, YOOK! Ti-yahs!' as soon as she enters the front doors and a chubby little munchkin in tow. I immediately realized I haven't packed anything 'fun' for Emerson to do, and all I have in the diaper bag other than diapers, wipes, and other necessities, are Cheerios. We ate Cheerios, we picked up Cheerios off the floor and let Emerson throw them away, we counted Cheerios, Emerson offered Cheerios to everyone in the waiting room... Let me just tell you that I had to threaten Emerson with time out if she didn't quit bothering the man sitting next to her. She called him Daddy at one point, just to be funny, and the man looked at me like 'Oh, you poor single mother.' I had to explain that she's got a father and was just being ornery. About 10 minutes of this, and he magically disappeared into the large open area and decided to stand for the rest of his wait. I don't blame him, poor dear. (Now that I think about it, where was I going to have Emerson do time out? Like in the open chair across from her?) Thank the Good Lord they finally called my name, and the tire man showed me the culprit. I guess the people who put my new set of tires on installed them improperly, and there was this bent circular piece that caused the leak. Okay, Mr. Tire Man, thanks for fixing it, and off we went back home. Now flash forward to today... I'm leaving the house to run a few errands, and as I back out of the garage I notice a strange sensation. I get out of the car & look at the fixed tire, and it's fine.... as I'm still out of the vehicle, my neighbor drives by and said, 'Did you see your flat tire?' Sure enough, on the opposite side of the car, the rear tire was flat. As a pancake. So now I'm getting my wonderful 7-quart crockpot out of the back of my car to transfer it over to Jason's car, and I drop it. On the driveway. The glass lid shatters into a million pieces... into the grass even. I go inside & ask Jason if he'll help me because I'm......(I think an expletive was involved in the making of this sentence, so I'm pleading the 5th at this point).... After picking glass up out of the grass (I just kept picturing Emerson running through the grass barefoot in the spring), I went on my way & another AAA guy came out & changed the 2nd tire for us (we're getting our money's worth, by george). Luckily, Jason has offered to deal with the 2nd fixing-o-the-tire on Monday so that I don't have to terrorize another tire shop waiting room with the Cheerios-eating, who's-your-daddy toddler and her little brother.

Geesh, I'm tired now. Off to bed.

Superbowl watching tomorrow with Jason's family. I'm making my sister-in-law Liz's buffalo chicken dip & mini pigs in a blanket with lil' smokies & crescent rolls for the blankies. I'm hoping for some good commercials this year.