Yesterday was one of those days…where everything that can go wrong does. It started normally enough. My husband had showings in the morning so I hung out with the little kids. It was a very typical morning, except for the fact that I had a Benadryl hangover and “hanging out” consisted of me dozing on the couch while they played (OK, watched TV) in the living room. Yeah, not the best situation but we all survived it.
I had a meeting that afternoon for some SocialSanford business, so once I’d managed to emerge from my stupor I had lunch and went over to Kelly‘s house. Because I am nice, I took my husband’s car so he’d have the van (and the carseats) if he wanted to go somewhere. He warned me that it was “missing” a lot while I was on my way out the door and I assumed it wasn’t a big deal. Wrong! The whole way there I’m terrified that this car is going to just lay down and die on me in the middle of Horner Boulevard and I’m going to die an ugly death when a semi runs me over. (Anxious much? I really need to be medicated.) I was shaking and a nervous wreck by the time the drive was over and decided that I was NOT driving home in that thing. I ended up having him come get me and I followed him to Autozone so they could hook the car up to the thingy and figure out why the “CHECK ENGINE” light has been on for months. The news was not good (and I totally don’t understand exactly what the thingy said was wrong) and it looks like we will soon be a 1-car family. In times past, this wouldn’t have been a big deal. But between my classes, his work as a realtor, and me getting a job, 2 cars are pretty much a necessity. UGH.
After we got home, I walked in the house to find it filled with smoke. ”What’s on fire?!?!?!” I screamed. I remember little else…I do know that my dear husband had put a whole chicken on to boil before he came to get me. And apparently all the water boiled off while he was gone. And then the stuff on the bottom of the pan started burning. We probably arrived home just in time to avert disaster. As it was, all that was ruined was our dinner (and dinner for the next several nights as well…you know how I like to stretch those chickens) and maybe the pot, but we’re trying to salvage that. This, of course, led to us having to eat out because the only thing we could make quick was sandwiches and we’ve served far too many of those lately. Eating out was not in the budget, but I’ll deal with that. A house fire wasn’t in the budget either, and would have cost a whole lot more than a restaurant dinner. And lest you think we decided to eat out without checking the chicken for edibility first, I want to reassure you that I did taste the chicken. I am still trying to get the ashtray taste out of my mouth.
Then while we were eating, I got a very sudden, very intense pain in my right side. Those who know my history probably see where this is going…kidney stone. We ate quickly and came home so I could get some relief. I knew that I had only one pain pill left and I wanted to avoid using it if possible. I tried the bathtub, I tried the heating pad, I tried curling up in the fetal position and crying. None of these helped, so I caved and took the good stuff. An hour later it still hadn’t kicked in and I was ready to tell my husband to take me to the ER so I could get a nice morphine drip and some IV fluids to help push the stone out naturally. I was sitting in the bathroom floor, nauseated by the pain, sweating, and shaking, when I decided to just pray. I didn’t know what else to do at that point. Clearly the drugs weren’t going to work. The prescription was 5 years old and I figured it was just no longer effective. The tub and heating pad weren’t working. And we can’t afford the ER unless it’s a matter of life and death. At that point, praying seemed like the only option. So I prayed. And suddenly the pain went from being a 9+ to being <1. In a matter of seconds, I was no longer in pain. I’ve had a lot of kidney stones, and it has never ever stopped hurting like that. Usually there’s a gradual decrease in the pain, or it passes into the bladder and the pain changes…even with drugs, it doesn’t suddenly stop. I know there are people who think it’s a coincidence, but I absolutely believe God answered my prayer in that moment.
So yesterday was undeniably bad. It ended on a more positive note, but the car is still in bad shape and my house still smells like an ashtray. I’ll take that considering what could have been. And today…well, today has been pretty good. I have lots of good stuff going on and I’m really excited about some things that are coming up. I can’t say any more than that right now, but I’m feeling very positive about a lot of stuff that’s happening. Sometimes we need those bad days to remind us how good the not-bad days really are!
