Let’s have a little catch up.
Last time we chatted, I was packing to drive home to MN.
My dog was freaking out about us leaving him behind. 
He grabbed his leash and followed us around the house. What a silly.
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But sweet.
No one likes to be left behind, right? But sometimes life derails us, halts time and makes us feel like others are passing us by… or leaving us behind.
This is a little how my heroine Tia, and my hero Doyle feel as they start my latest novel—stuck, hoping to find new footing on a beautiful Caribbean island…
Except, things don’t go quite as planned…(ha! Do they ever?)
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What Poor MittMitt didn’t know was that he narrowly escaped a harrowing death.
Okay, it wasn’t that bad. But it could have been…
We left around 3pm on Friday afternoon. Remember that new car that we purchased in FL hoping to pull it to Minnesota? Well…
Hubs put the car on the tow dolly and that thing decided…no way am I going to Minnesota! I heard it’s cold there! And salty! And I’m a Florida car! It put on it’s emergency brakes and refused to budge.
We took it off the trailer and hubs said to me…want to drive it separately to MN?
Um. No.
So we drove it to the UHaul dealer and three very nice but just as confused techs tried to figure out how to coax Stella (yes, we name our cars) into getting her groove.
Nope.
BUT, HUBS, who has magical mechanic abilities, figured out how to turn off the Em Brake long enough to disconnect the battery.
Whalla…Stella was helpless to resist. And we were on the road.
BUT THE FUN WASN’T OVER YET.
Twenty minutes later, we drove right into the thunderstorm we’d been hoping to avoid. The skies opened and Noah’s flood descended, and the windshield turned a hazy gray. It poured with such a wrath that we couldn’t see five feet from the front of our car. The truck next to us slowed down. We slowed down. (I helped determine our rate of deceleration with a nice helpful grip on hubby’s arm). We were in the far left lane, with oodles of room between us and the car ahead…
Until someone moved into our lane…and slammed on his brakes.
Red lights. Screaming. (It might have been me. Probably the dogs.) Hubs did some quick NASCAR maneuver to avoid a collision. We skidding into the shoulder. The F-150 behind us screeched into the place we’d been. Cars behind us piled up, alternating shoulder and lane…
Mitty, confused, woke from his sound slumber.
But…we were alive. And after some heavy breathing and prayer of gratitude, we eased forward…
Only to see the 7 car pileup on the right hand lane—probably the crash the car in front of us was trying to avoid.
I went in search of my emergency chocolate. No, just kidding. I didn’t have to search for it.
Thankfully, the next day was beautiful…
And I had to remind myself that life isn’t a race. It’s a day to day journey, meant to be experienced and savored and yes, sometimes challenged, but overall to help us draw nearer to God.
(I was a little closer after that fun start to the trip.)
But, I’ve discovered it’s helpful to find friends on your journey.
Like this beautiful girl, drinking a Monster Lemonade (she loved the glass!) on Mother’s Day.
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And her silly sweet sister, Jojo.
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We had a great time on our overnight pit stop to see my daughter and her girls (and awesome hubby!)
We got home in time to eat dinner with our son and his wife and our newest grandson.
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An exhausting three day trip…but worth it. We listed to an audiobook trilogy (which one you ask? See the P.S!! I’m always so sucked into a story narrated by Adam Gold. Even if it’s one I wrote. I literally say…wow, that’s pretty good! LOL).
Minnesota greeted us with 80 degree weather, a to-do list to whip the house in shape for summer… (more pictures to come!)…and a new book simmering in my head.
Stay tuned.
There. Now we’re caught up. And we all survived.
Have a great week!!
XOXO!
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P.S. The 3 book audiobook sale ends Thursday at midnight, so if you’re looking for a great story while you’re travelling next weekend…don’t let this deal get away!
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