March

Oops. Time for another post.

So we landed at Ottawa airport at 12:30 in the morning last Friday, and after an 18-hour day with no nap, Lily finally fell asleep as we taxied to the terminal... stubborn child just had to stay awake all day.

Oh, wait; let me back up a bit. We went to Nevada and area for a bit.

Now back to my enthralling story. We're at the airport, and with some forethought we've conned some friends (let's call them friends #1) into dropping off our car that day (it was adorning their driveway while we were away). I leave the girls with the luggage ("meet me outside and I'll pick you up"). I get to the car, and behold, a flat tire! I rummage through my belongings and pull out a bicycle pump. Look at it, look at the tire. Yeah, that's not happening right now. Head back to where the girls should be to tell them I'll be a little delayed. Of course I don't find them, so I give up after ten minutes of searching. Her phone is in the bit of luggage I took to the car, so calling it doesn't get me very far either. Head back to the car and get the tiny spare out of the trunk. Change the tire (good thing temps are only around freezing in the parking garage). Sad little donut is now on the car, so I take another walk to find the girls. Success this time, so we load up and trundle home for a 2am arrival. At least the little one slept through all of that.

Next day (well, later that same day actually) I bundle Lily up and head out the door to get the flat repaired. Wait, Carrie has the car key with her at work, and friends #1 still have the other key. Unbundle.

The following day I don't get around to dropping off the tire. That evening I head over to pick up the dog from other friends (#2) whom we conned into dogsitting. That's 25 minutes away on a lousy spare over a million potholes. Get there in one piece, but as I leave their place the dreaded thunk-thunk-thunk sound reaches my ears. Yay, a flat spare! The rim is seriously deformed; one of the potholes did a serious number on it. That leaves me with 3 good tires and 2 flats. Hmm.

Ask friends #2 for a hammer. We find an axe. Look at it, look at the rim. Yeah, that's not going to do the trick. Call up other friends (#3) who live nearby. They're on the road four hours away, so presumably not going to be helpful. Hang up. But they call back; they're with other people (friends #4) who also live nearby(ish) and have a car I can borrow. Sweet! I limp the car to the driveway of friends #3 where I'll leave it for the weekend. Get a hold of friend #5 who lives with friends #4 and is borrowing #3's car, because I'm feeling too lazy to walk over. But she's not home so I take a 15-minute jog to #4's house. Break in, steal a car, head back to #3's house to grab the original flat (and the dog whom I've left in my car), and head home.

Next day I successfully drop off the first tire; it a write-off and won't be replaced until after the weekend. I grab an all-season from my pile to use temporarily. That goes in the trunk.

Sunday I'm hanging out with friend #1 while our wives are at church (we have to babysit since the nursery is closed due to an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD)). We head over to my car at #3's house and put the all-season tire on. I'm back on the road! Return the stolen car to #4's house and all is well again (okay, I still have two flat tires, but four round ones, which is what matters).

The next day friends #1 inform us that one of their kids seems to have HFMD. We'll see what happens in the next few days, but I'm not too concerned about Lily. Diseases that don't kill you make you stronger, n'est-pas? But not to worry, friends #1; after all, one of the children of friends #0 contracted HFMD while they house-sat for us during our vacation, so if Lily gets it, we'll never know where it originated :).

Yippee for friends!