Ellie graduated from preschool last night. I had prepared myself for the fact that the second preschool graduation would be less emotional than the first, but I was dead wrong. I definitely cried more this year. Ellie made me very proud during her performance. They had all of the graduates lined up across the gym doing cute little dances. To my surprise, Ellie was one of about three kids in the whole class that participated in the dance moves and hand motions. The Ellie I know is far too shy to be the center of attention in front of a full audience, but she gave it her all and put on a little show. I was so proud. Two of the songs involved sign language and I was shocked to see how well Ellie can sign. The first one was the alphabet song in sign language which had a very fast pace. During the first verse, Ellie was the only kid signing (and I mean speed signing, it was fast!) and I think everyone must have thought she was deaf since no one else was using sign language. She was so cute . 

When she walked across the gym to accept her 'diploma', she was the only kid that put her graduation cap on. She put it on her head, walked across, got her diploma, walked back, and took her hat back off. She must have decided that you wear a graduation hat when you get your diploma, but that it wasn't necessary after that. She was adorable.

Finally, when the kids were asked to go sit with their parents to watch the slideshow, Ellie climbed up the bleachers toward us and Emma met her halfway with a proud big sister hug. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. 

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After graduation, we had promised the girls ice cream. I took everyone home and then went to the grocery store to pick some up. The only money I brought with me was an American Express gift card. I picked up some ice cream, cereal, ketchup, and Crystal Light. When I got to the cashier and swiped my card, I found out that they don't take American Express. I said, "I'm sorry, this is all I have. We'll just have to put it all back because this is all I have."

I left the groceries with the cashier and started to put my cart away when a man at another register said, "You know what, ring that back up, I'll get it."

I thanked him graciously and walked back over to the register where I had left my groceries. The old lady cashier looked at me like I was the biggest jerk in the world because she had to re-ring my 4 items after she had just voided the transaction. She stared at us for a few awkward seconds when the cashier behind her (the one the man had originally been at) must have realized the old lady was being rude so she said, "Bring that stuff over here, I will ring it up." Unfortunately, the old lady had finally swiped the first item, so she gave me an even dirtier look than before and mumbled under her breath, "Why don't we figure out what we're doing here."  (Can I just mention here that me and the other man were the only two people checking out at the time. We weren't holding anybody up. Just saying.)

I ignored the old hag and walked over to the nice cashier along with the amazingly kind stranger who was buying my groceries. The cashier complimented him on being so kind. I agreed and told him that my girls were at home waiting for me to bring them ice cream and that they would have been so upset if I had come home empty handed. He said, "Everything I have, God gave me." He smiled and I thanked him again. 

I went home feeling grateful for the good people in the world and rolling my eyes about the cranky old lady. 

Moral of the story? Think about which one you are or want to be. The happy-to-help stranger or the inconvenienced old timer? Because I can tell you, I remembered them both when I woke up this morning. 

Two sundays ago, I found what I believed to be damage from an attempted break-in on the girls' bedroom window. Last Sunday, Jeston found a drunk man sleeping in the backseat of his car. Knowing this, I should have been more prepared for this Sunday's find.

Emma is always guilting me into taking her to church (how do you tell an eager 6 year-old that you don't want to take her to church--even if it is your only day to relax?). So since I didn't take her last Sunday, I had promised to take her today. I spent probably an hour getting everyone all prettied up for church and we went out to the car (all on my own, because Jeston works on Sundays).

I buckled everyone in and realized Easton didn't have any shoes on, so I went back into the house to get his shoes. I brought his shoes outside and then realized I forgot my debit card, which I would need for lunch after church. So I went back inside and got my debit card.

Finally, we were all packed up and ready to go to church. I took notice of the fact that Jeston had cleaned out and vacuumed my car. He even filled up my gas tank and added an air freshener. I remembered him telling me last night that he had my oil changed when he went to Walmart. I smiled for a second in appreciation of my thoughtful husband.

I opened the garage door, put the Jeep in reverse and let my foot off the break. I noticed that the car wasn't rolling out the way it usually does, so I gave it a little gas. I was still feeling resistance, but there was a car waiting for me to back out all the way so she could go, so I just kept backing out, knowing something was wrong.

When I got my car out into the daylight, I realized my view was slanted. Crap, the car is leaning, that can't be good. So I pulled it into a parking space next to my garage to let the car go by. I got out and, sure enough, I had a flat tire. By flat, I mean it looked like the rubber melted off and was laying in a puddle on the ground. 

"Emma, we can't go to church today." She was not pleased. 

So anyway, the Jeep had been in need of new tires, so I suppose I will just take this as the push I needed, and I will be buying 4 new tires this week. 

While it is an unexpected cost, I can remember what it would have been like a few years ago if this had happened. It would have been the end of the world. Today, it is just a slight inconvenience, but we will buy new tires and move on with our lives. I am highly aware of the changes that have occurred in our lives over the past three years that make it okay to get an unexpected flat tire and not have it ruin my day, and I feel grateful and blessed. Funny how a flat tire can make me feel happy.