We had our Blue and Gold Banquet this week. I made my assigned pot of chili and had a little excitement while transporting it. The boys in the backseat needed some distraction to keep the bickering down, so I was giving them math problems. The math problems had to be good ones in order to keep their attention, so this was taking a little brain power. Drew was excited to have learned recently about square roots, especially with negative numbers. So I was giving him negative square root problems when I glanced up and saw brake lights. I had to hit the brakes hard to avoid rear ending the car ahead of me. I knew my chili was probably going to slosh, but wasn't anticipating the kids cries of "The whole pot just tipped over Mom!"
There was no immediate spot to stop, so I just imagined the mess until I could pull over. There was a pile of chili under the drivers seat which had shloshed into a vent. It had piled itself into a lovely little mound, so I salvaged what I could and scooped the clean part back into my crock pot. My crock pot was a goopy mess and was only half full to boot. I was a bit mortified to have to claim that pot as mine at a ward function! As the kids and I made our way into the church and I shared my story, a member of our bishopric took some paper towels and my keys and went out my van to start the clean up. I was so grateful for his kindness. He earned his way into my evening prayers, for sure! I felt myself hoping for the opportunity to help someone else in turn.
The next day I borrowed my neighbor's steam cleaner and spent the afternoon picking pinto beans out from under the seat and vent, and slurping chili juice out from the carpet. The end of the story is that I did find a way to do my own good turn. I found someone whose car needed a jump. I stopped even though I was short on time... and knew how much it was appreciated.
Drew and Dallin like to get their swim suits on so they don't get their clothes dirty. Dayton doesn't seem to mind getting filthy!
