Or maybe THIS was the "best day ever"?? /s

Today was a day off for James.

It was also the third and final day that D had an appointment before work. 

It was also open gym for Mal.

The kind of stuff I see every morning, but this was specifically today.

I got up, walked, and then was getting ready for my day when I heard an explosion and our power went out. 

As I was reporting that, I got a message from D that the car had crapped out, they'd gotten it pulled over, and once it was off, it wouldn't restart.

They got an Uber to take them on to their appointment, so I started getting ready to go pick them up. I asked James if he wanted to go with me to see if he could restart the car before we had it towed somewhere.

During this, I asked if Mal wanted to go with us or stay home. He decided to stay at the house until I reminded him that without the internet, he wouldn't have a way to get in touch us, so he elected to accompany us.

We went to the restaurant where D had parked the car, we couldn't start it, and I called AAA. James and Mal stayed and had breakfast while I went out to get D.

D's appointment took a while, so in the meantime, Mal and James got the car squared away, walked across the street to a grocery store, then went to the bank to order some pesos for our upcoming trip. From the bank, they could see a frozen custard store and decided they needed that.

Mal and James were walking across a parking lot to find a bathroom to wash their custard-y hands when we found them. We then came home, D went to work, James got some day off rest, and Mal and I hung out in his room for a while. 

Now it's pretty early but I'm very tired. The garage said they'd maybe get to our car Saturday but it might be Monday, so it's a good thing that D doesn't work at Ross anymore and can walk to their work now. 

Oh, and our electricity was restored while we were out and about. I had loaded the washing machine (with the second of 3 loads of wash I needed to get done today) and turned it on before we left, just in case the power came back on whilst we were away. It worked! The basket of clothes was clean and ready to dry upon our return!

SPEAKING OF SPENDING MONEY...

Hey-o! Guess what I'm doing right now?

Blogging.

Ha, yeah, smart aleck. Guess what else.

Give up?

Okay, I'm sitting in the BK inside of Walmart waiting for my tire repair or replacement... not sure which, so it's very suspenseful. Or it will be in an hour and a half; it really just depends on when they get to it. But truthfully, I'm glad they are able to get to it today. It's 4:30 and they close at 6, so we got it in just under the wire.

Not sure what happened to the tire, but I heard it deflating in our driveway when I was outside emptying the back to go wash and vacuum it. I just thought I was hearing a neighbor in his workshop using some kind of air pump. Sigh.

I got down to the stop sign leading to the highway when I realized that the steering was hard and that I heard gravel scrape when I took off, which isn't normal.

I did use my tire pump -- Did we discuss that? I bought one because my tires like to sigh a few pounds of pressure when it drops below freezing -- but as soon as I removed the air pump, the tire started deflating again.

THEN we tried to take the tire off so I could bring it in the other car, but those lug nuts were ON.

Oh, funny story: I also found, as I looked for the repair stuff to remove the tire, that my car CAME WITH A REPAIR PUMP. So I guess I'm giving mine to James, and I don't feel nearly as clever anymore, and I've wasted probably $15 on pay-air, as well as many minutes looking for a pump that would take a credit card.

Oh well. Again, the timing was pretty good because James is home and can stay with Mal, and because it didn't happen when the car was parked at the airport and we were out of town or something.

But also, it PROBABLY happened because I drove over something that is a result of all of the construction around my house. If that ends up being the case, I'm going to take a circuitous route home until they're done. They're usually really good about cleaning up, though, so that might be a coincidence.

We got out this morning to go to "brunch" at Mighty Fine. I tried their fried avocado burger. OH MY GOODNESS. Yes, get it all the way, even with the jalapeño mayo. SO delicious.

We'd taken separate cars so I could get D's Christmas present. You'd be surprised, but it fit in my wee Fiat 500L.

1) Yes, I know my car is dirty. I was on my way to wash and vacuum it when I realized the tire was flat.

2) Either it's just SUPER HOT AND HUMID or I'm having my first hot flash today. This morning, it was in the mid-60s, but felt so so gross. I'd dressed for like actual fall, and had a flannel shirt on over this tank top. I shed the flannel at the restaurant, took off my socks, and rolled up my jeans so they looked like pedal-pushers. I'm sure I look like a dork all the time, but I refuse to be uncomfortable. I don't see how kids who wear hoodies all of the time manage. I was about to freak out.

After grabbing the bike at Target, I went to Kohl's to pick up my free clothes. Yeah, you heard me. Remember the air fry oven thing we bought? I got $45 Kohl's cash back for purchasing it and ordered a few shirts online. I elected to pick them up at the store to save the $8 shipping, but NEVER AGAIN. This was easily one of the worst retail experiences I've had in a long time.

I placed the order, got the notice that my stuff was in, and went to pick it up. Apparently, they only had 2 of the items that I'd ordered for same-day pickup. Two were actually out of stock and canceled, and one was being shipped to the store. Well, duh. I wouldn't have gone to pick it up if I'd known there was more, and probably would have canceled the order altogether.

Also, when I went to pick it up, they'd moved the pick-up area away from the customer service desk and into the middle of men's sportswear, where there was nothing but a VERY mobile stand that Mal could barely look at or it would zoom across the carpet. The lady wasn't super enthusiastic about retrieving my order, and it took long enough that I easily could have just shopped myself.

Regardless, I went home and ordered two more shirts to replace the ones that had been canceled. I got one pick-up notice immediately, but had learned my lesson. It took a week, but then I got a notice for the second one... only. And a few days later, the third. So I went in today, and waited for my turn (they're extremely busy, as you might imagine... also, they've moved pick-up back to the customer service desk), and found out... THEY CAN ONLY SCAN ONE BARCODE AND PICK UP ONE THING AT A TIME.

Like, I get if I'd made a bunch of orders that I'd get multiple pick-up emails and have to deal with it. But initially, I only made ONE order, which resulted in FOUR DIFFERENT pick-up times and emails. So this woman scanned my first one, went back to get it. Her counterpart scanned my next one and went back to get IT. Then when she got back, she scanned my third. He brought the last two up, and I asked if he'd informed her. I imagine he did not and she's still back there searching for my shirt.

What is wrong with you, Kohl's? This is not a way to do business. $8 for shipping seems like a bargain now. Maybe that was the point?

I'd planned to go by World Market to get the rest of the kids' stocking-stuffers, since we'll be busy and traveling soon so this is my last time alone to prepare for Christmas. But I was so hot and irritated, I went home to put on shorts and then go wash/vacuum the car and hit Dollar General, which has the LEGO-esque gummy bricks that Mal loves. I was going to go to the drug store for James, too... but, tire squash.

Don't be jealous of my relaxing Sunday. I'm just glad I got so much sleep last night; I was ready.

Also, after having eaten that avocado sandwich, I don't feel like I'll ever be hungry again.

OH! Update on the septic: We didn't build over it. It's basically ON the property line, which should mean it wouldn't pass inspection, but it did. Maybe it got grand-fathered? Anyway, we're pouring root kill down it every three months now because where it is is ridiculous. The end.

ALSO, also... there's a lady here I often see at the McDonald's across the way. I suspect she's maybe homeless, and she's also extremely clean. But her clothes are worn in a way that it seems like she'd replace them if she could. I've tried to speak with her before, but she's quiet. It might just be that she's lonely. About half the time, she sits in the kids' area at the McD's, which I'd never do on purpose if I didn't have a children. I've dropped off gift cards to her before, but wish I could think of a better way to reach out. Any ideas?