Simple Trip to the Grocery Store

(Originally titled Mommy Monday but I haven't had a chance to write the entire thing till now.) 

How's this for a beginning:  I do not like being pregnant anymore.  I do not like summer in Paraguay.  Christmas in the summer while pregnant?!  I do not like being pregnant during Christmas in the summer.  Keeping. it. real.  With temps pushing high 90s most days it's all I can do to get through the afternoons.  Most days, after a nap, its either a cold shower or a dip in the semi-kiddie pool followed by sitting or standing getting dinner ready, dripping wet, under or near a fan or doing nothing while the older boys play LEGOS and the younger ones splash around until I realize that it might be a good idea to eat again sometime that night, preferably before midnight, and then I get dinner ready.  :) 

Except today. 
My "Simple" Trip to the Grocery Store Story: 

On Monday the plan was to get up, eat breakfast, go to a neighboring town (San Juan) 45 minutes away where there is a great market and an OK "grocery" store.  Be back in time to rest before heading to our teammates for a Christmas kick-off of grilled pizzas and a movie.  Dan travels a lot for ministry so he usually has a list tucked away on his phone or in his pocket of things to pick up for me; he's great like that.  However, it's been raining a lot and his schedule is constantly changing, sometimes by the hour and he didn't go to one of the places and well, we were desperate for some fresh fruit and veggies since there is not a market here in San Francisco. I had a garden last year but this year we tore down the fence and made our yard bigger...space being more of a priority with five children and two dogs!

Sounds simple enough:  get up, eat, load truck, go.  Or not.  With all the kids strapped in and ready, Dan went to start the truck.  Mind you, he's out and about a lot and is always driving the truck around.  It wouldn't start this time; the one time I wanted to go somewhere, in the air conditioned truck!  I silently went back inside and sat down under a fan.  The kids got out.  Judah was not happy and didn't understand that the truck wasn't working and wanted to "GO" so he threw an all out temper tantrum complete with screaming and kicking.  I ignored him because honestly, I was trying really hard to not throw my own temper tantrum.  An hour later Dan had somehow rolled the truck and got it started.  Ahhh....air condition.  Happy.  All was well.  Except we arrived in SJ at 11:45 am, the store was closing at 12 for lunch...til 2:30 pm.  Good thing I had a short list for that store!!  Sammie and I whipped around grabbing a little of this and one or two of that; checked out and struggled to carry our bags back to the truck.  They weren't very friendly there.  I don't think you can miss the fact that I'm very pregnant and uncomfortable right now. 

Market, hardware store, dog food for our teammates, clinic for some routine pregnancy tests...check, check, check!  It was going great.  Time for lunch.  I always forget that San Juan is still a rural city meaning that one of our favorite go-to foods for lunch when out is ham n' cheese empanadas and you usually can't find them out here.  But lo and behold, one of the restaurants right next to the market had...ham n' cheese empanadas!!  Yeah!  It was cooler to eat inside so we all piled in (it wasn't very big) and of course, there is a large TV blaring.  At first it was just the news.  That was OK.  As Dan sat watching the news he heard a report that a storm was on its way.  A minute later he looked out the glass walls and there it was.  The tin roof was being pounded and blown by strong winds (sounding like massive thunder).  Dust and rain were blowing down the street.  The door to the little restaurant had to be locked to stay shut.  A couple of the kids got really nervous and wanted to leave "now".  Dan was trying to pay and asked me for 2 500 coins.  I could barely hear him till I finally figured out what he really wanted was 2,500 Gs.  Then he took Judah out to bring the truck closer.  As we ran to the truck to get in I found that my door was still locked.  I pounded on the window to let me in, Sammie's foot was stuck so she was holding the boys up, I tried to pull myself in as quick as I could but that is not easy at eight months pregnant and I couldn't lift my leg up b/c of the skirt I had on and then there was an entire flat of eggs on my seat that I about fell on top off.  Sammie was now crying, Dan frustrated b/c he had wanted to help me and it was a disaster.  Once we were all in and buckled I couldn't help  but chuckle a bit.  What a site we must have been to everyone watching!! 

Well, we were safely in the truck and dry but b/c of the earlier problems with the truck Dan thought we should get the battery checked.  Another 45 minutes later we were finally leaving San Juan with a new battery, an unexpected and expensive purchase.  So off we go.  Oh, but it wasn't that easy.  Our normally 45 minute ride home took us almost two hours as the brief down pour totally slopped up the roads and we slipped and slided home coming within 10 minutes of San Francisco to find a truck stuck right in front of us.  That's why we carry cables!! 

Dan got out in his barefeet, hooked the guy up and vroomm!  He wouldn't move.  So we manuevered our truck to the back to pull him out by his rear.  His bumper came right off and praise God because he had huge metal poles sticking out the back that could have gone right through our back window where Judah and Silas were buckled in!! 

We had to go back to the front which sounded easier than done.  We got stuck for a bit trying to pull back around in front of the guy.  Once we were again in front I was trying to take a picture with Dan's phone of us pulling the guy when our truck jerked from the tension and I banged my side on the safetly handle and Dan looked over to find me stuck on the floor between my seat and the console!  Well, it makes me laugh now too (you are laughing, I know it!).  Finally we got the guy out and off to home we went. 

We arrived and there was no electricity (becoming common these days) and to see that someone had wired our gate shut b/c apparently it had blown wide open!  A gutter was hanging side ways and our yard was trashed with branches and leaves and a missing volleyball that must have blown off our roof covering the yard.  It wasn't raining anymore though and we were scheduled to leave again within the half hour for a Christmas kick-off at our teammates.  No nap for me that day!!  But after cleaning our porch off a bit and getting some veggies ready for toppings we loaded up again and enjoyed a nice albeit late get together with our nearest teammates. 

So that my friends was our simple trip to the grocery store. :)