***********************************
Folks, you are not going to believe this one.
That's why i debated titling it the "Believe It Or Not" thankful, but decided to go with being careful what you wish for. Either works.
Yes, i'm getting to it, i am also savoring it.
Back in May, Brother-in-Law's 20+ year old Nissan truck finally went to car heaven. Our Jalopy had become unusable due to needing brakes and tires, she could only go around the block twice a week to keep her running, but we had to finish paying for the repairs on Lunceford the Land Yacht before we could get Jalopy fully functional again.
This meant that there were 3 of us using one vehicle that kept going back in the shop for various thing. (That's a gratitude there, that our mechanics take payments!).
We'd been praying for miracles, trying to save and being stymied every time Lunceford needed something, and Brother-in-Law was saving as much as he could, but it would take him a long time to save up enough for a car. While his truck had been running, he'd been in the same boat as us, unable to save as he was always repairing the vehicle he had.
Last Friday, December 20, one of the Friendly Fill-Ins was: All I want for Christmas is a better car that won't need to be repaired so often. (Of course, peace on earth would be fantastic, but i'm trying to be slightly more realistic.) You notice i didn't wish for a new car, just a better one.
Also we were wishing Brother-in-Law could get something, too.
Right after i wrote that, someone gifted Brother-in-Law with a nice sum of money to put toward getting a car. He was going to ask a friend from our church who facilitates buying and selling used cars to be on the lookout for something in his price range.
Instead, that same Friday afternoon, one of the deacons at Brother-in-Law's church called him and said that his neighbor was selling a car.
The details were a dream, within his price range, an older model Toyota Corolla, owned by an elderly lady, only about 3,000 miles per year put on it, maintained beautifully, clean inside and out, running perfectly. Daughter, who was the neighbor of the church deacon, had convinced mom it was time to stop driving.
Brother-in-Law leapt on it like a fly on a cow patty. He went over on Saturday for a test drive, and the daughter told him to call on Thursday, the day after Christmas, they would meet then at the title place to do the deal.
All of us were elated, and then, on Sunday, the daughter's husband called Brother-in-Law and told him that mom had died in the night. He told Brother-in-Law to call on Thursday anyway and they would let him know the status.
It was deflating, as we were figuring they'd have to get a death certificate, then get permission to liquidate the car, and probably a family member would want it. We decided to be thankful he still had the money and we could look elsewhere.
Thursday, as he promised but without much hope, Brother-in-Law called the daughter. She said she'd meet him at the title company that afternoon.
What!
Yep, turned out that when she'd convinced mom to sell a couple of weeks earlier, the daughter had mom turn over the title to her so she could handle it all. It was her way of making sure mom didn't have access to the car any more and couldn't change her mind!
Daughter was still sure she wanted to go through with the sale, too, since she'd promised.
This past Thursday, Brother-in-Law bought a vehicle that probably has at least another 10 years in it, if he takes great care of it (which he will).
There's more to the story. There always seems to be.
Sweetie and i went to work Friday morning as usual, but it's our "easy" Friday so only one house, then a break, then the cat shelter. While at the one house, i got a call from Grandma.
"Grandpa and I have decided we both need new cars, the kind with all the safety features for elderly drivers who need assistance, so we are going to give his old car to Uncle P and give my old car to you. We're at the dealership now getting our new ones. Can you come down here today and get my old one?"
Our insurance agent was in the office for a few hours, we finished that house lickety split, got an insurance card, and were in NOLA by just after 1pm.
Grandpa drove us to the title place down there and there was no waiting. We got the title transferred and the car registered and went back to their house where Sweetie was waiting (they'd left him to babysit the dogs), then he and i headed back up.
Usually we are at the shelter by about 4pm on Fridays. Yesterday, at 4:15, we pulled up after driving straight back from NOLA, Sweetie in Lunceford and me in the new-to-us car.
It's a six-year-old Ford Focus with, get this, 15,000 miles on it. Yes, Grandma only goes to church every day, to the hairdresser, to "go make groceries" (as they say in NOLA), and once in a while to visit a friend. Every place else, Grandpa drives her. She barely goes 2,500 miles a year.
In less than 24 hours, we've gone from one 21-year-old car for the three of us to share to each having our own vehicle again, and all of it dropped in our laps.
Dreams do come true.
Let's top it with some icing on the cake. #1 Son has been without a car for a while. He lives walking distance from work, so most of the time it's not a problem, but eventually he will need wheels, at least for groceries and errands.
Now we can offer him Jalopy, and he can get on a payment plan with our mechanic to get it running right. For just the cost of brakes and tires, we can get him back on the road as well.
Today, i have a day off work. Mr. BA is not ready for us to get back to it, he wants to wait until January to start our every-other-Saturday schedule again. That means another thing for which to be thankful, i will have a day to sort through my cleaning supplies and move everything to the Ford, which i've decided to name GusGus, after my favorite mouse in the Disney Cinderella movie. (The car is gray, so it fits.)
Sometimes the stars line up and you have thankful after thankful, and this past week was one of those times.
Be careful what you wish for, the Almighty might see to it that you get it.
***********************************
Today is:
Bairns Day -- Scotland (Begins the runic half-month of Eoh, the yew tree, which signifies the dead, and is now associated with the Slaughter of the Innocents of Christian tradition, so today is considered by some the unluckiest day of the year, and no work should be undertaken today.)
Call a Friend Day -- just to catch up a bit
Card Playing Day -- internet generated, enjoy a fun game with friends and family; "Go fish!"
Childermas a/k/a Holy Innocents Day -- (Patrons of babies, children's choirs, foundlings)
various Christian traditions celebrate under many names and in various ways
Els Enfarinats -- Ibn, Valencia, Spain (flour fight, and if it's anything like the tomato throwing in other towns of Spain, it's probably lots of fun)
French Childermas tradition interpreted what the Norse saw as evidence of the Wild Hunt of Odin as the spirits of the Holy Innocents running from King Herod
Inocentes -- Mexico, and sometimes celebrated as Mexican December Fool's Day (Herod fooled himself into thinking he had gotten rid of his rival king born in Bethlehem.)
Dysemas Day -- Northhamptonshire, UK (an unlucky day to begin any new undertaking, "what is begun on Dysemas Day will never be finished")
origin unknown, but often translated as Tithe Day, being very close to the Portugese word for tithe
Eat A Vegetarian Day -- an internet generated joke; yes, the vegetarian in question can be a cow
Endangered Species Act Day -- US (act passed 1973; a day to mourn species already extinct)
Fairy Academy of Window-Frosting Winter Exhibition -- Fairy Calendar
Fourth Day of Christmas
Incwala Day -- Swaziland (the biggest day of the 8 week Ncwala Festival, which loosely translates as "first fruits", although today's tasting of the first of the harvest by the King is only a portion of the many days of ceremonies)
King Taksin Memorial Day -- Thailand
Kwanzaa, Day 3, Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility)
National Chocolate Candy Day
Proclamation Day -- South Australia (trad.)
Return a Gift for the Cold Hard Cash Day -- and good luck, these days
Runic Half-month Eoh (yew) commences
Take a Drive and Enjoy the Christmas Lights Day -- before they are gone for another year
Unluckiest Day of the Year -- various traditions state no work should be started today, for whatever is started today will never be finished! In Olde England, nothing of importance was ever undertaken on Childermas, because it would prove unlucky
Anniversaries Today:
Billy Ray Cyrus weds Leticia Finley, 1994
The US Pledge of Allegiance is formally adopted, 1945
Iowa becomes the 29th US State, 1846
Birthdays Today:
David Archuleta, 1990
Sienna Miller, 1981
John Legend, 1978
Joe Mangianello, 1976
Todd Richards, 1969
Malcolm Gets, 1964
Denzel Washington, 1954
Edgar Winter, 1946
Don Francisco, 1940
Maggie Smith, 1934
Nichelle Nichols, 1933
Martin Milner, 1931
Johnny Otis, 1921
Sam Levenson, 1911
Lew Ayres, 1908
Cliff Arquette, 1905
Earl "Fatha" Hines, 1905
Hendrik Meijer, 1883
Woodrow Wilson, 1856
John Molson, 1763
Debuting/Premiering Today:
The Gulag Archipelago(Publication date), 1973
"Last of the Red Hot Lovers"(Play), 1969
"Night of the Iguana"(Play), 1961
"On the Town"(Musical), 1944
"Tip-Toes"(Musical), 1925
"St. Joan"(Play), 1923
"Cyrano de Bergerac"(Play), 1897
Today in History:
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, a/k/a Westminster Abbey, is consecrated, 1065
The reign of Emperor Hanazono of Japan begins, 1308
Galileo Galilei becomes the first astronomer to observe the planet Neptune, although he mistakenly catalogued it as a fixed star, 1612
King Taksin is crowned as king of Thailand and establishes Thonburi as a capital, 1768
Construction of Yonge Street, formerly recognized as the longest street in the world, begins in York, Upper Canada (present-day Toronto, Ontario), 1795
A magnitude 6.8 earthquake strikes Echigo, Japan, killing 30,000+, 1828
John Calhoun becomes the first US Vice President to resign (over differences with President Andrew Jackson), 1832
Spain recognizes independence of Mexico, 1836
South Australia and Adelaide are founded, 1836
Rangoon Burma, destroyed by fire, 1841
The United States claims Midway Island, the first territory annexed outside Continental limits, 1867
The Lumière brothers perform for their first paying audience at the Grand Cafe in Boulevard des Capucines, marking the debut of the cinema, 1895
The first municipally owned streetcars take to the streets in San Francisco, California, 1912
The Peak District becomes the United Kingdom's first National Park, 1950
Alexander Solzhenitsyn publishes "Gulag Archipelago", 1973
Winnie Mandela is banished from South Africa, 1976
The first American "test-tube baby", Elizabeth Jordan Carr, is born in Norfolk, Virginia, 1981
U.S. retail giant Montgomery Ward announces it is going out of business after 128 years, 2000
At 115 years old and 266 days, Jiroemon Kimura of Japan becomes the world's oldest living person, 2012
Iranian woman Vida Mohaved is arrested for protesting against the policy of the compulsory hijab, sparking other protests, 2017
Posts
