Life—don't wait for it to happen

I've encountered a few messes this past week. By sharing them with you, I am hoping you will get a good laugh and learn whatever it is you need.


1. Take time to dance. I didn't dance enough this week and I got sick. I'm dancing right now to try and make up for my lack of movement and music.

2. Okay. Here's the real stuff. Now that I have a shiny black automobile that is quite costoso, I decided to go to a CAR WASH—you know, the kind where you pay for a machine to spray water on your car. Salt from the winter roads is bad for paint jobs. The only times I'd gone to a car wash was with Dee, usually after a weekend camping trip. It seemed like a synch.

I get in line at the Chevron car wash, wait for about 20 minutes, and happily find I have three one-dollar bills and $2 in quarters. No debit cards accepted. Apparently, no bills accepted either. The coin machine spit all of mine back out. I needed to get change quickly. My door is right up against the machine, so I climb out the passenger-side door, slide on the ice in my flip-flops, and get $3 in quarters from the gas station attendant. I run back and luckily the car in front of me is still sudsing up. My turn! I pull in...PULL FORWARD...PULL FORWARD. There are two bars on the left side of the ground and it looks like I'm supposed to get my tire in between them. No luck. BACKUP...BACKUP. Now I'm getting a little flustered, because I know there are about 6 cars behind watching this crazy girl who looks 16 driving her daddy's car. Finally I get out, praying the nozzles wouldn't suddenly come to life and spray me! So I go to the man in the car behind me and ask for help. He tells me to go farther to the left so that my tire lines up with this orange pole. Nonsense. I try it, see it's not helping, and finally run in to get the attendant. When I get back outside, I see that the car wash garage door has closed on my car. First thought: Oh no. I left my door open and now the dumb thing is going to turn on!! Second thought: Hey, my bumper is sticking out from under the garage. Ooooh they didn't. Yes, they did. There're some nice little scratches where the trunk handle is.:( So sad. Luckily the attendant helps me get in line of the sensor (which was farther RIGHT than the orange pole). While my car is getting sprayed, I sit stiffly in my seat praying that nothing else goes wrong. I wanted out of there as soon as possible!

Please take something more than laughter away from this story. It had to have enlightened someone else besides me. Those scratches cannot be in vain!! Dad says he knows a better car wash to go to next time. Thanks, Dad. Grandma made me feel better, too. She said the same thing happened to her there.:) I shared this story with my family as we were all kneeled down for family prayer. It was pretty funny watching everyone cringe. Brad and Chels were there, too. Mom's advice: Always have a gas station buddy. Any takers for mine?

3. TK. That means "to come" in book talk. I have a feeling this entry is long enough for your attention spans.:) Watch for more of Katie's Lessons Learned.