I was in Pamida doing some quick shopping before going to get Jon’s paycheck and I spotted some guys in suits. OK… formal suit in Pamida in Montana on a day other than Sunday — the choices are a.) a really snappy dresser or b.) a Mormon missionary.

I ran into them around the soap/shampoo/lotion section and we had kind of a nice conversation. I commented that this was the first time in about 3 years that I’d seen a Mormon. Their response: “Where have you been living?!?!?” (We don’t get Mormons in rural Minnesota and they kept to themselves in Ohio.) I told them that I was a Lutheran pastor’s wife (and thus not a great choice for conversion) but that I’d heard that they go and play cards with the people at the nursing home and I said that I thought that was really great. (The old people get contact and the boys get their missionary hours in. It’s a win-win situation.)

When I was checking out, one of them watched me haul a 30 pound bucket of kitty litter out of my cart. When it came time to leave, he reached over and grabbed the bucket and put it back for me. My comment: “I’ll put in a good word for you with my husband’s boss (i.e. God).” He laughed.

I’ve gotta say… they’re the most chill missionaries that I’ve dealt with. When I told them where I lived, I told them that I’d make sure that the coffee was out of the house and they thought that was pretty sweet.

Good Thing: It’s a beautiful winter wonderland out there.

Bad Thing: The roads are going to be icky tomorrow morning.

Lift up some prayers that we can get to church safely, m’kay?

We were driving home from Church #1 today on a really icky gravel road (I know… that describes soooo many roads around here) when we started fishtailing. I managed to get car not to end up in a ditch and once I got it straight, we started just bumping up and down. This was not normal and unnerved me so I stopped and had Jon see if all was OK. When he looked around the car he saw…

THE REAR LEFT TIRE HAD BLOWN OUT AND WAS COMPLETELY SHREDDED.

Upon finding out that we didn’t have a spare tire, my first thought was “let’sÂ? get the car back home and see if we can switch it out with someone”. Then my common sense kicked in (as well as memories of those high speed chases on cop shows where the rims are kicking up sparks along the road) and I started the car and got it to the side of the road. I thankfully (!!!!!!) had my Montana cell phone with me (the Minnesota ones are getting mailed back) and I called our organist at Church #2 and told her the sitch. I had my crocheting and Jon had a book so we just chilled until our organist’s husband (who is possibly the most wonderful person on the planet) showed up and gave us a ride to Church #2. By this point, my body is ding dong merrily on high with adrenaline and I decided to walk back to the parsonage from church (a grueling 50-100 foot walk) and drop my crocheting off and replace the checks in the checkbook. (I had run out of checks at Church #1 and since we do tithe, I wanted to get some more.) When I got back to the house, I was hit with the stunning realization that…

THE CHECKS WERE IN THE VOLVO.

As I was not a happy Jen and about to start screaming bloody murder, I decided to just sit in the back for the rest of the service and get calmed down. I also decided to skip Church #3’s service in favor of taking a nap and warding off a panic attack or whatever was going to hit me if I didn’t get home and get calmed down.

About 5 minutes after I’d gotten home and changed out of church clothes (i.e. switched out my khakis for my sweats), I got a call from our organist’s son-in-law saying that the guy at the co-op down the hill had taken the old tire off and the s-i-l would take me to put the new one on and get the car. Duuuuuuude… talk about a quick answer to prayer! We got everything switched over on the car, I drove home, ransacked the car and found the box of checks, and decided to lie down until Jon got home.

Well… I sort of noticed when Jon got home but I fell back asleep watching CourtTV (thus having dreams about solving murder cases) and slept for 5 hours. Methinks the Almighty knew I needed a nap?

We’re going to get the other rear tire replaced tomorrow (having different brands on can cause problems with the rear end of your car because the diameters are a little different) and at least the old passenger rear tire can be a spare.

So… I guess there is a lesson here: NEVER DRIVE OUT IN THE BOONDOCKS WITHOUT A SPARE TIRE AND A CELL PHONE.

Gonna go love up my baby valkyrie now… (Freya is the Queen of the Valkyries in The Nibelung Ring.)

There are two little girls at one of Jon’s churches who have become my buddies. Ka is 6 and Ke is 4. Tonight at the American Legion Pancake Supper, they both “helped” me crochet. They both held my yarn bag and I guided Ke through a couple stitches. Ka was very interested in hearing about my Edda Puss and I think when she and I bake cookies for the Christmas Open House, I will have to introduce her to the pantherish one. (I’m going to make some “catmas cookies” for Ke to decorate.) She also introduced me to the Brownies who were there (who are her classmates). Believe me, it made my heart sing to hear her say, “this is MY pastor’s wife.” They draw us pictures every week and Jon has used them in the children’s sermon.

As we were leaving, two more kids (La and Ca) yelled “BYE PASTOR! BYE JEN!!!!!!” We shook their hands on the way out and I kind of wish I’d given both of them hugs.