Good People

This is a random post, but I want to remember the good in the world. :)

I LOVE my mechanic.
My car needed a routine oil change but the check engine light came on at the beginning of the week so yesterday morning I dropped off my car and explained what was up. Mr. Mechanic said he'd change the oil and figure out why the engine light was on and would keep me posted. Now, had I gone to the place I went to before I found Mr. Mechanic, they would've found everything under the sun that I'd need to fix. That's why I am no longer a customer of theirs. Anyway, I spent a good 10 minutes on the phone with Mr. Mechanic yesterday enforcing that I trusted him/his opinion and valued his honesty and approach and that for as long as I live where I live, he'll continue to be my mechanic. That's how much I love this place. So when we collectively decided that a new or new-to-me car is in my very near future, I knew it was the real deal and not him just saying I should pour a ridiculous amount of money into a car that most likely won't make it to March 2012. Mr. Mechanic also said he'd check any car I think about purchasing to make sure it'll be a great experience. How awesome is that! It was just such a great feeling.

Today at work, a sweet older gentleman, after a few minutes of general conversation, asked me if I would come speak to his Rotary Club at their next lunch meeting. ME. The "guest speaker". I'm thinking the members would be rather disappointed because I'm not certain that I fit any of the requirements to be a guest speaker but Mr. Rotary Club member was just adorable and so sincere. He was in a beach music band while in college, had 2 jobs and is now happily retired so he, as he put it, "just runs around all day doing his honey do list and giving back to the community since he wasn't able to when he was working". Mr. Rotary Club member and his wife are some of the sweetest people and he just made my day.

I think it's important to remember the good people in life because sometimes the day to day craziness can get one down. Too often someone has a bad encounter early in the morning and it just passes on to each person they come in contact with and pretty soon everyone is miserable. (much like the HIMYM episode with Marshall screaming at everyone because he had a horrible day at work)

Let's all just be happy! :)

Waxhaw

A few weeks ago, Adrienne and I decided to visit Historic Waxhaw for the afternoon.

It was a rather amusing trip to say the least and we saw the longest train ever!

It was a bit chilly so we went to the Dairy Barn for some Hot Chocolate. It was kind of like Cracker Barrel on the inside...they even had a cd player on the floor that filled the place with the sounds of crickets.

Sadly, we didn't ride Quick Silver ha ha

We found the coolest bookstore!!!!

And the man working told us everything we needed to know about books and Waxhaw. I think he may be the mayor...and if he's not, he should be! He even offered to take some pictures. I think our visit was the highlight of his day!

We walked across this bridge and as we walked you could her the birds chirping/tweeting.

They must live under the bridge.

The moon!

Thought this was cool

Yea, all the black specks by the water tower are the birds that live under the bridge...

And the massive train...

Overall it was a fun, random, trip!

I think everyone should visit "historic" places every now and then.

Monks

Adrienne's Dad spent the week at the Gethsemani Trappist Monastery in Kentucky.

He brought back this fudge that the monks make (and wow can you taste the Bourbon) and the prayer below the picture has become my new favorite.

In fact, I'm going to type it in a fancy font and frame it and hang it somewhere.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going.

I do not see the road ahead of me.

I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.

And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.

I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

-Thomas Merton

-Thoughts in Solitude

Komen Race for the Cure

The Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure is quite the experience.

for me, it was

moving. fun. awesome. somber. amazing.

but most importantly, it was definitely something I can't wait to do again!

I'll post all the details from Saturday soon, but realized I haven't posted anything in quite some time and wanted to. Anyway, I want to give the race the time and energy it deserves and it's too late for that at the moment. Sorry!

George*

Today, this became my favorite hardware store for various reasons.



I went here, thinking that it was just your typical Ace Hardware and that I would be able to buy a few nails. I walked it and felt like a kid in a candy store! As soon as I walked in I was greeted by the aroma of fresh popping popcorn...complimentary I might add! I walked around and oh my...this place as EVERYTHING! Dishes, napkins, bags, ornaments, cups, cards, soap and of course hardware. It was awesome!

I walked around and finally made it to the big ol nail bin (it probably has an official name, but whatever). As I looked at all of the options (and WOW, there were A TON of options), I found nails that had a head big enough to not fall out of the frames that I want to hang in my room. I found an envelope to put my 6 nails in and asked George*, my new best friend, if I needed any information to bring to the register. Well, George* asked me what was in the envelope and I proudly told him "6 nails with a head big enough for the picture frames that I am going to hang" George* laughed, wrote "N/C" and "George*" on the envelope and told me "there's no cost for this today. thanks for coming and we'll see you again soon"

George*(his name is not George, I'm just protecting his sweet identity)reminded me a lot of my Poppy. Which is pretty cool since my grandparents are celebrating their 56th wedding anniversary today! Funny how things work!

Anyway, I can't wait to go back to my new favorite hardware place. Especially since they employ so many people. Literally, every time I turned around there was someone right there asking me if I needed help.

And yes, after waiting in line next to the popcorn maker, I ended up consuming half a bag...and boy oh boy was it tasty.

God Bless Strangers!

Today was a prime example of why I have a blog. To make a VERY LONG DAY short, I won't bore ya with the details but instead profess my sincere thanks to the stranger that came to my rescue today.

Today I had a car that was filled with boxes to be delivered to offices, courtesy of a very nice customer. I was GPS'd to another zip code, which was about 20 minutes from where I work. Even with a GPS it was confusing to navigate and a bit adventurous and frustrating at times. I finally arrived at an office, elated that I was halfway through with my deliveries, made the drop and continued on my merry way to the next office. I was going to be home before I knew it! I could spend the afternoon Christmas shopping. Yes!

Or so I thought.

I hear this flapping noise and I really thought a big ol bug had flown in and was maybe trapped? Who knows! However, as I'm listening to Chester (my British speaking, female voice command yelling GPS) this gentleman that is getting out of his car keeps looking at me, pointing and yelling. Granted, my windows are up and I'm lost and I'm not certain what's going on, nor am I even certain that I'm in the right parking lot. Anyway, he's trying to tell me that my tire is......FLAT. Yippee! I thank him for the notice and realize that I'm an idiot and the flapping wasn't a trapped bug, it was the rubber of the wheel hitting the pavement as I drive 45 MPH to the next office. Yay me!

So, putting the job at hand before my personal issues, I make the drop and ask the really nice receptionist if it's ok that my car stays where it is at the moment (which was not at all a parking spot since the lot was full and well, I was scared to drive further) and explain to her that my car has a flat tire and I needed to call AAA. With that, the man standing next to her, John, offered to fix my tire. I thanked him profusely but told him that although I appreciated his generosity to help me, he was dressed nicely and I didn't want him to get dirty and that I could just call AAA. He assured me that it was ok and that AAA would take at least an hour and that it was no big deal.

So after taking everything out of my car (which was an ordeal) to find the jack and all that fun stuff, John was able to change the tire, direct me to the nearest gas station to add more air to the spare (heck, the spare hadn't been touched in at least 6 years) and send me on my way.

I offered to compensate John for his time and generosity and he declined. I know John doesn't read my blog, but I'm professing my thankfulness to John through the blog world! Hope everyone had a GREAT, flat tire free day!

Now I'm off to go write him a thank you note...