Oh what a night....

We partied it up in Staunton (it's about 30 minutes from here) to celebrate two of our classmate's birthdays last night. So since they live close to Staunton we decided to go to them. Everything was going well, except poor Erica got pink eye and couldn't come :( I picked up these two gals (Erin and Margaret)....

....and we were on our way. We drove around downtown for a bit trying to find a parking spot, then we spotted the parking garage and apparently I was a little to eager to get into this parking garage. I caught the curb on the right side and instantly blew one tire and put a hole in the other.
People this was the first time that I wanted to hit my knees and just start crying because my husband wasn't here to help me. I've been quite strong all along, but this really sucked! If it was one, no big deal put the donut on and away we go. However, we could hear the air coming out of back one while I was taking this picture.

So we went to the restaurant. I'm feeling super embarrassed and ready to cry at any second. I was introduced to a few spouses/significant others that I had never met. Erin then looks at me and says "are you okay". I choke back the tears and say "I'll be right back". On my way through the crowd though I run into the Haase boys, Christian gives me a hug and I'm done. I'm saying things like "I'm so stupid", "I wish Jason was here", "What am I going to do". Yup, it was a good little cry let me tell you, now he's got some more counseling experience under his belt :) By the time I got back out to the crowd, word had spread on what happened and Stosh (one of the birthday boys) and his wife Jo-anna were on the phone with AAA. So I got a free tow!!!!Rick (seen below in the gray shirt on the left...that's the best pic I got of him) then became my next hero of the night. He got on the phone trying to find somewhere open, so that we could get it fixed tonight. At this point it's about 8:00pm. Thankfully Rick grew up in Staunton and so his cousin owns a mechanic shop about 10 minutes from where we were. His cousin went back into work to fix my tires!!!! How wonderful eh??? (in this picture starting with man on left: Rick, Ellen- in my class, Kristee behind a menu- in my class, Victoria- K's daughter, Allen, and Jean- in my class)

So we met the tow truck, got the car on it (both tires are now flat at this point), and it was on it's merry way. Rick knew the tow truck driver too who was supposed to charge me 4 dollars a mile outside of Staunton for the tow and legally we were supposed to follow him or go with, but Rick talked him out of both of those things.

That granite curb was the murderer of my tires :)

Then it was back to the restaurant to await Rick's cousin's phone call. I was so thankful and feeling like life was doable again in that moment. When I got back in the restaurant everyone clapped and cheered...kind of embarrassing but it felt good. So then the fun for me began. I rewarded myself with a nice filet mignon, it was sooooo good! Everyone had already ate, but Christian waited for me so I didn't have to eat alone. I'm telling you people, I am one lucky girl. I've got people looking out for me down here like you wouldn't believe and that was SO obvious last night. Makes me smile just typing that! I feel VERY blessed!

So I got my car back around 10:30 with two new tires, thankfully no more damage than that. Ellen and Rick drove me since they were on their way home. Poor Jason had a teary wife call him. I freaked him out :( I was crying so hard when he answered that he thought for sure I was in some major trouble. By the time I got the words out that I had popped two tires he was really relieved. He said "dear, I don't care, it's two tires". So thankful for that guy! I don't know why I always worry that he's going to be really mad in those moments, it's never the case.

Anyways, more pics from the rest of the night.

Left to right: Danny, Tara-in my class, Jennifer- in my class, Adrian- I think that's his name Jen's boyfriend, Stosh- in my class, Jo-anna, Erin- in my class, Margaret-in my class, Christian- who you should know by now is in my class, and Trevor

Nobody wanted me taking pictures because the flash was so bright (hence Christian's face in a lot of these pics). So these lovely ladies decided to give me the finger. I just had to post this pic. Kristee, on the left who is in my class, is a single mom of Victoria on the right. V's dad left when she was born because he couldn't handle that his daughter was born without hands and she also has a prosthetic foot. Nice eh? Ya not so much. Anyways, I wanted to post this to show you just how amazing V is. She is only 16 but she is so comfortable with who she his. She's always up for a challenge and doesn't let anything stop her. It's been so wonderful hearing her story and even listening to her mom talk about their life. This picture is just so them to me. V thought it was cool that she couldn't give the finger like the rest of them....great kid!

David- the other birthday boy.

This was a few minutes before Trevor went home. He was so drunk that he was needing to hang onto the table so he wouldn't fall. He was a bit mad at me here because I had just got done taking a video of him that he didn't want me to take :) Most left at this point but 6 of us stayed and went to the back where there was a band playing. You're still allowed to smoke in bars in VA so I'm feeling a little yucky today from that. The band was great....we danced some and then Erin and I drove back to Harrisonburg praying that we didn't pop the other two tires on the way back.

I think that was enough procrastinating....I need to get some work done!