{"id":2108,"date":"2011-07-24T20:13:46","date_gmt":"2011-07-25T00:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=2108"},"modified":"2011-07-24T20:13:46","modified_gmt":"2011-07-25T00:13:46","slug":"the-curveball","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=2108","title":{"rendered":"The Curveball&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Have you ever had an experience, that upon surviving it, left you wondering if you where somehow in another world?<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/DSC_0159.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-2109\" title=\"DSC_0159\" src=\"http:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/DSC_0159-1024x685.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" srcset=\"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/DSC_0159-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/DSC_0159-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How do you find the words to express that kind of experience? \u00a0I am not sure I can do this story justice&#8230; but here is my best shot&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This trip to PEI has been one I have dreamed of for a long time. \u00a0The boys are all older, independent and potty trained. \u00a0There is not a diaper bag but rather each can pack a back pack of their treasures to bring along.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I had a few apprehensions&#8230; such as &#8230; Did our beach house really exists? \u00a0Hope it wasn&#8217;t a horrible scam.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The day finally arrived&#8230; after spending $1000+ to fix the A\/C on the van, have all the belts and fluids checked&#8230; we left home in some crazy heat&#8230; (105 degree F).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We drove and drove and drove. \u00a0Sanj&#8217;s Type A+ Personality wouldn&#8217;t allow for us to stop before we reached his calculatored stop. \u00a0This meant we didn&#8217;t stop till 2 am.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We continued in the morning&#8230; stopping almost near the border of Maine and New Brunswick&#8230; for gas and snacks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sanj started the van and then exclaimed, &#8220;<em>What&#8217;s wrong with the van?&#8221;<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>The brakes and power steering were gone.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em><\/em><\/strong>Dear God in Heaven&#8230;. NOOOOOOOOO!!!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And then the endless nightmare began&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We were literally in the middle of NOWHERE.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">CAA, well really AAA since we were in the US&#8230; was called. \u00a0The tow truck came within minutes. \u00a0Then the shuttle from the GM dealership came&#8230; why there was a dealership in the middle of literally nowhere was a miracle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Everyone was still relatively calm&#8230;. a least on the outside.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Inside, I was just devastated&#8230; \u00a0I had my share of crapmobiles growing up. \u00a0I thought those days of breaking down in random places, before the days of cell phones, was over. \u00a0Apparently not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We went to the dealership. \u00a0They said they would fit us in. \u00a0It was 1 pm&#8230; we sat in the waiting room. \u00a0We watched as car upon car was taken in&#8230; we watched as the mechanics took their smoke breaks. \u00a0We waited till 4 pm before they took us in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Can I just say&#8230; \u00a0the boys were just fabulous. \u00a0They sat there and behaviored. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Thank you, Jesus.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The verdict: \u00a0The power-steering pump was broken. \u00a0This is a part that apparently NEVER breaks. \u00a0This booneyville town didn&#8217;t have the part. \u00a0They wouldn&#8217;t have one till MONDAY. \u00a0It was minutes to closing everywhere&#8230; Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Then began the brainstorming. \u00a0There wasn&#8217;t even a hotel in this town &#8230; at least not for 45 minutes away. \u00a0The closest car rental place had no vehicles for rent till Wednesday. \u00a0Soon the other customers were in on trying to help us with our predicament. \u00a0Across the border was \u00a0rental place &#8230; the guy had no vehicles to accommodate our family&#8230; not even a regular mini van that we could crowd into. \u00a0He had two cars for us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Then the dilemma of how to get there began. \u00a0There was apparently only ONE TAXI available. \u00a0Where were we? \u00a0How can you call a place with ONE TAXI a town? \u00a0It ended up that they called in another taxi to take us across the border.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The kind man at the rental place waited for us to get there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Awaiting us in the lot was the Mama-mobile and Papa-mobile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Here&#8217;s the story of what happens when a family of 8 breaks down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We loaded the two vehicles up and continued on our journey.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the midst of all of this&#8230; there is always a silver lining&#8230; gratitude that God protected us from the brakes going out while we were driving on those mountainous roads&#8230; \u00a0Gratitude that we broke down by help. \u00a0Gratitude that we were able to continue our journey&#8230; in a bit of a different way &#8230; yet never the less&#8230; not missing a day of vacationing. \u00a0We will pick up the van on the way back.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>God is Good&#8230; All The Time.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you ever had an experience, that upon surviving it, left you wondering if you where somehow in another world? How do you find the words to express that kind of experience? \u00a0I am not sure I can do this &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/?p=2108\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2108"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2111,"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2108\/revisions\/2111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglovingbreathingboys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}