Lessons Learned the Hard Way...with witnesses, ughhh

     There's nothing more emotionally painful than learning life's lessons WITH WITNESSES to the account. God has been ever so patient with me while in this learning phase (that seems to be lasting the duration of my life). There are entirely too many of them to recount, besides the fact that I seem to be remembering only the most recent lessons learned. Hmm, a side effect of aging, perhaps? Regardless, this weekend proved to be a date and time in history I will never forget, and neither will Vanessa! Vanessa is my 18 yr old niece who enjoys sharing a good adventure with her Aunt Brenda. Okay, Okay she's lonely and is desperate enough to follow me around on my adventures and SHARE  a good laugh or two...at my cost. I don't mind, though, because with Vanessa at my side, I'm forced to be the adult role model...right?

     We set out Saturday to have lunch at our fave Mexican food restaurant, which afforded us the privilege of making ourselves miserable on Sweet Tea and enchiladas. With our only preset goal of the day being taking in the latest installment of the inexplicably popular Twilight, we headed for the theater to get our tickets for the matinee. It's all about saving money, you know; plus I figured no one else that age would be awake yet and we'd be able to get good seats. We were astounded to learn this magnetic thriller had already left the theaters! WHAT!?  This was doing nothing to support my fantasy of being able to hang with the young one for the day; a quiet theater was my only hope for a nap after that meal!  After some quick thinking on my part, ( difficult on a full tummy ) we decided to replace the thriller with a comedy: One for the Money with Katherine Heigl proved itself satisfactory but did nothing for my yearning for a nap. 

     A little shoe shopping to top off the day, followed by a Starbucks run ( a must have for successful Saturday adventures ) and as we tootled down the highway headed for home, I noticed the annoying yellow light on my dashboard alerting me to a Low Fuel situation.  Hmmmmm....wonder how long that light has been on? No worries; I've been fueling vehicles all by myself for more than half my life and am extremely thankful for the ability to step out of my car, insert my card into the machine, punch in my zip code, my weight and my blood type and begin fueling. On this blustery chilly afternoon, I retreated to my warm car and my grande mocha w/one pump cinnamon dolce, waiting for the machine to reach the $75  fuel limit my card company has unrealistically set for my comfy gas guzzler. When I heard the usual 'pop', I climbed out of the car, left the door wide open and reached for the nozzle. Imagine my confusion, my startled shriek, my quick jumping-jack reflex when I pulled the nozzle out and spewed gasoline all over the place! After hearing Vanessa's muffled voice from inside the car, "Oh No you didn't!!" I decided I must DO something; so I tried to put the nozzle back in the tank.  YES that was my first attempt at problem solving my current issue! When I realized all I had done was give my car a nice gasoline shower, I dug deep within my skill-set and realized I needed to TURN THE THING OFF!  Mind you, this all happened within just a few seconds, as it is my nature to think quickly on my feet, and I was able to just click that little latch thingy on the nozzle and shut'er down!

     I meekly climbed back into my car, realizing that Vanessa had just witnessed the Coolest Aunt in the world pull an 'old-lady' type stunt, I smiled and laughed nervously and defended my apparently now fading hearing. "I swear I heard that thing pop...didn't you hear that thing pop?"  This is where the Coolest Aunt in the world expects her hip young neice to 'have her back' as they say, but the quiet response was, "Oh, no...I didn't hear anything...but I wasn't paying attention, so......you know....".

     To add to my state of confusion, ( yes it got worse ) when I started my car, the fuel gauge read one notch BEYOND full....how could that be?  If gasoline was still flowing, how could that be the end result?  Of course, I used this to my full advantage, pointing the evidential  facts out to Vanessa. Bless her heart, she was equally as confused as I was, if not more!

     I pulled out of the filling station, hoping no one realized the gasoline spill WASN'T there BEFORE I pulled in, and resumed our original destination for home ( before anything else happened  ). Of course, you know that can't be the end of my adventurous day. NO!, because on the way home, my loving husband called and as I was explaining the mysterious situation I had so gracefully handled, he informed me that he has heard of the trigger getting stuck like that before. Oh, be still my beating heart! My knight in shining armor had arrived to save me! I just love that man....for all of about 3 seconds as he proceeded to remind me the caution signs at the pump clearly state DO NOT LEAVE CAR UNATTENDED WHILE FUELING........hmpf.

( note to self: the little latch thingy of the nozzle is called a 'trigger' )