It Started With A Blown Tire

5:57 AM

I’m watching the sun come up over Lake Pontchartrain. My tire blew around an hour ago and I’m pulled over on the very narrow shoulder of I10 West. I’ve been awake for almost 24 hours now. 10 or so of those were spent on a painfully hot movie set. (Another story for another day.) A DOTD truck just stopped by and gave me some water since the tow truck is on its way. They were nice.

I’m trying not to fall asleep as I wait for my tow truck. Every vehicle that passes me flies by and shakes my car. The bridge shakes. The van shakes. I tremble with fear and exhaustion. I can’t stop thinking about another vehicle slamming into mine and killing me or sending the van and I hurtling over the side of the bridge. I had an anxiety attack earlier and cried and threw up. Gotta love a nervous stomach, right? To my right the sky is starting to turn purple and pink. You can still see the moon behind the purple clouds on my left.

6:31am

The tow truck driver startled me awake. We laughed and he got my van loaded up on the truck in about 3 minutes. When he called earlier to tell me he was on his way he told me he’d be there to get me in “twenty minutes if no State Troopers are out.” If that isn’t a Louisiana driver I don’t know what is. We head to a tire shop because I learned this morning as I frantically dug around my trunk and prayed I wouldn’t die that I have no spare tire. Beyond that, when your driver’s side tire has blown out and the road barely has a shoulder and two speeding lanes of vehicles to your left, you don’t change your tire anyway.

6:50ish am

My Bonus Dad is here waiting for me at the tire shop. My Uncle helped us find it. My little disaster woke up almost everyone in the family. It’s not a Diana adventure if it doesn’t cause a ruckus. My husband calls me. He’s angry and upset. We argue. Best not to cross a woman who’s barely slept in over 24 hours. My rational brain is no longer working and I’m running strictly on emotion at this point. We get off the phone and I take a nap in my Bonus Dad’s car while they put new tires on the Mom Van. Exhaustion doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel.

8:30am

The tires are on and we head home. The Hubs and I talk more. We start on our way towards making up from the morning’s fight. I can’t help but notice how much better the van feels with new tires. I should have replaced them sooner but it’s easy to put off tires when there are so many other bills to pay.

9:30am

When I open the front door the Twins greet me with shrieks of “HIII!” and big smiles. The Hubs and I talk and hug. He plays me a song on the guitar and helps me to get the girls situated so I’m not having to chase them all over the house when he leaves.

Evening.

I took a brief nap while the girls slept so I’m not completely dead. Crazy Eyes helps me bathe The Twins. The Hubs picked up Chinese food so I don’t have to cook. Once The Twins are in bed the four of us sit around the table and eat.

As everyone shares the best part of their day I can’t help but be thankful for all of the things that went right. My Bonus Dad woke up right before I called. I remembered that we had roadside assistance through our insurance. The tire company had exactly two of the tires in my necessary price range and I’d just gotten paid. My friend and Uncle both tried to help despite the early morning hour. I got to come home safely to the people I love. I tell them that the best part of my day was watching movies with The Hun and The Conqueror and eating dinner with everyone else. There’s nothing like a crazy day to make you appreciate your family.