Aw, truck

Hello faithful blog readers!

I am, for whatever reason, on a roll lately with posting. I don't know if it will last, and I don't know if it SHOULD last. But nevertheless, I have a story worthy of telling today.

My day began with my mom entering my room at I think about 6:54 am or so. 'Becca, I hate to do this...but will you sing at church today? Tyler is sick and Ashley is staying home with him." I mumbled "Ok...but I won't be there at 7:15." "That's fine," she answered, "just get there as soon as you can."

So, I rushed around getting ready, even skipping my morning bowl of cereal to save time. I also noticed that there was a healthy dose of snow on the ground, more flakes adding to it by the minute. I grumbled a little at that, just because it was going to take me even longer to get to church, especially in my truck that I STILL have never put sandbags in. What a smart girl I am for that, by the way. Anyway, in a record setting 45 minute shower-makeup-dry the hair-layer up-take care of Gabe marathon, I was on my way. There was some slippage along the way, but I managed to make it there by no later than 8, even taking caution to park the truck on as flat of a surface as I could so as not to risk getting stuck. As Jeremy can attest to, even a slope of .00001% could call for needing some pushing of the truck.

Church came and went, and it was time to make a fatal decision: should I try to exit the parking lot via 95th Street, or Wornall? Which way would give me the best chance of a successful departure? I decided to go for the Wornall exit, even though it had a bigger hill. I figured if I could at least make it to the top of the hill, at least there would be no stoplight there to slow my progress. I did make use of the truck's 4-wheel drive, although without weight in the back it seems to be somewhat obsolete. And, it might have taken me about 3 minutes to travel about 20 feet, but the truck and I were on our way. We didn't even stop; just coasted right out into the road.

I arrived safely at home about 20 minutes later, parking in my usual spot on the street. The first thing I did was try to turn the 4-wheel off. It wouldn't turn off. Getting sick of trying, I finally gave up and went inside the house. I was just glad I had been such a successful driver, even on rushed terms like they had been. But was I out of the woods yet? Oh no.

The day progressed as normal. I helped a little with cleaning for our grand family dinner (you can ask Annie more about that) and took a short nap. I awoke to hearing piano and flute music drifting upstairs from the main level. At the Parsons' house, this is not such an anomaly - Mom was just working on an accompaniment with a girl from our church. So, I eventually wandered downstairs and killed some time while they finished up playing.

It was right before the student, her flute teacher, and mother left our house that I noticed how CLOSE the flute teacher was parked to my truck. Like, bumper to bumper. 'Don't worry,' Sarah told me, "she is close, but she's not touching your truck.' I believed her, and we watched as the woman got into her Volvo station wagon and pulled forward. As she did this, I noticed that my truck inched forward as well. 'Um, I, um!!!' was I think all I could get out of my mouth. Right before our eyes, we watched as not only the Volvo continued to go forward, but my truck as well. And no, they were not attached!! "GET YOUR KEYS!!" Mom and Sarah screamed at me. I frantically kicked off my slippers, made a mad dash for my car keys, and took off running across the snowy, slushy yard in bare feet, right on the heels of the student's mom. The Volvo driver was clearly reaching a dilemma - keep rolling forward so as not to be rear-ended by a driverless truck, or stop and take the hit so the aforementioned truck did not take itself for a joy ride.

She decided to just start honking her horn. I guess to get our attention? Oh, she had our attention. The student's mom and I reached the scene at about the same time. She very heroically stepped BETWEEN the cars, holding out her hand to stop the truck and i guess the other hand to notify the flute teacher that her job was done. I scrambled into the cab through the passenger side door, hurling myself over the seat to take control. I stepped on the brake, turned the ignition, and threw the truck into reverse. Well, tried to. I mean, it went into reverse fine, or so it seemed. But when I pressed on the gas, the truck just sat there. WHAT IN THE WORLD??? The student's mother stood her ground. I knew it had to have something to do with the 4-wheel drive being stuck, so I began to go crazy with the stupid thing, jerking it in every direction I could to get it to turn off. It made all sorts of wonderful noises, the kind of noises that make a person wince for the sake of their vehicle. The truck FINALLY reversed, but that cursed little icon for 4WD never did turn off.

Ok, Dad eventually got it to. But I swear it wouldn't for me.

I have no graceful way of wrapping this up. Only that I more than ever want a Subaru. And that I am glad the truck did not get far. And that the student's mom is a heroine.