I'm over here with the poorly treated crack addicts.

I'm still here - just CRAZY busy!

(WARNING: excuses to follow. If you don't want to read them, feel free to skip the paragraph in it's entirety.)

My little brother flew in from a three year stint in Italy and so I have been hanging out with him every possible second, Miss Z had her 7th birthday and we celebrated it with 3 different factions of our family 3 different times, I've been absorbing myself in the dialog that's going on over at The Shack, Husband has been picking up extra hours to save for Liberia this = less time for me to fiddle around, and that's all that I can think of for now.

Miss Z and goofy Husband at one of the parties

Last night Miss Z and I were with mi madre so that mi madre could purchase Miss Z books that she got to pick out herself (Ended up being some princess junk and some pretty pony junk. Mi madre and Miss Z hid them from me until we reached the car. They are a dangerous duo.) We exited the Banes and Noble at 7pm sharp. I remember this because nothing happens on the sharp for me. Nothing... except this. ANYHOW! When Miss Z and I reached the car that I was driving, we both climbed in and performed the usual duties of entering the car. Problem was that the car didn't perform it's usual duties. I turned the key.
Nothing.
Tried again, this time making sure that the clutch was all of the way in.
Nothing.
So I sat there, in the dark and freezing cold car, for a minute in order to figure out our plan of action. Run to get mi madre's attention! I yelled at Miss Z to stay in the car as I made a mad dash for her volvo which was quickly exiting the parking lot. Waiving my arms and screaming like a lunatic didn't work.
She drove off.
Back to the car for another think.
Miss Z and I decided that our next best bet was to call Husband and see if he could give me some verbal advise on how to get the freakin' thing started. So we went to the front counter and asked the cute clerk if I could use the phone.
"Sorry."
"Sorry?" I asked
"There's a pay phone by the restrooms."
"A pay phone?" I stared at the phone that was an inch from her hand.
"A pay phone... by the bathroom." She said apologetic words and yet her tone was unbending. So we walked to the restrooms and upon reaching the phone, I realized that I only had .35 cents on me and half of it was in pennies. Trying not to be irritated, we walked back up to the front counter.

what I was hoping our exchange would look like...

"I don't suppose that you give cash back?"
"No. No cash back." the same chick stared at me blankly
"It's just that I don't have enough change to make the call..."
"Sorry." Again, the words that exited her mouth carried no sorrow.
"It's cool." I said while I grabbed Miss Z's hand and we headed for Office Max, directly next door. I bought some gum, got 4 quarters, and briskly headed back to the pay phone. Now, let me be honest here. I was so near tears at this point that I am embarrassed to admit it. I was frustrated to no end at the situation before me. But we kept walking and I didn't cry like a wuss. As we neared the stanky bathrooms, I could hear a woman talking.
'No! Please no!' I thought to myself. But oh yes... someone was on the phone and they were talking about church and living situations and I didn't want to interrupt her so Miss Z and I stood near and tried to not listen (obviously this didn't work). After about 10 minutes of waiting, I figured that we needed a new tactic. Miss Z and I headed out to the parking lot where I planned to ask nice looking people for a jump.
Seriously... not being factious at all, I asked about 15 different people and they all acted like I was going to jump them to support my crack habit. FOR REAL! They locked their doors or walked quicker away from Miss Z and I! They pretended like they didn't hear me, some just looked at me crazy and kept walking! It was 7:30 at night on a Monday in a bookstore parking lot, I was with my daughter, we looked like we always do AND THEY RAN FROM US. I was trying really hard to remain calm. Miss Z was getting a little freaked out by the whole thing (Asking why no one would even listen to us ask for help and "aren't any of them Christians, Mom?" You try answering that one!) So we went back inside to see if chica was off the phone yet.
Nope. 20 minutes later, she was still on.
So we waited some more but this time Miss Z kept peeking in so that she would notice that we were waiting for a turn. A few minutes later she got off and Miss Z and I made the sad call to Husband (he gets up at 3am to go to work and he's got 4 kids in pj's with him... not to mention that we're about 20 minutes from home). Husband, always the helper, says that he'll be there as soon as possible. I hang up the phone and it gave me my money back. That was probably the highlight of my evening... a free phone call. So Miss Z and I headed back out to the car (7:45 now) and it's clear so it's extra cold. We sit in the car to wait until I notice two Ethiopian buddies that had been in the Starbucks there in the bookstore studying. I plea to one of them for help.
30 seconds later, he and his buddy are trying to work some magic on the broken car. We make small talk and I thank them profusely. They tease Miss Z and so she teases back. However...
The car wouldn't start.
"The battery is toe-tally dead. Toe-tally." one of the boys says to me regretfully
"Are you sure? I mean can't the connection be bad or something?" I'm pleading as if their opinion could change fact.
"No. Toe-tally dead."
I thank them more and set them free from our problem. They drive off into the night in their working vehicles as I watch on in jealousy. Miss Z take our positions in the frigid car and wait for Husband's arrival by reading one of her new books.
Husband arrives, fiddles with the connection a bit, attempts to jump the car and the car starts. Can you believe it? That little took that much drama... c'est la vie!