Determination

That Kristen. She is one determined young woman.

She's been having some trouble with her car battery and was trying to find a way to take care of it. The car has been parked on the road beside our house for about a week and she's been using mine since I haven't been needing it. She was in no rush to deal with it and besides, it's been cold around here. Who wants to work on a car when it's -20 outside? It was easy to just leave it alone and hope (?) that somehow the problem would go away.

Yesterday, the winter parking ban was put into place. This means that there is to be no parking on the streets of Winnipeg between the hours of 2 and 6 AM. It makes snow clearing, much of which happens during the night, a lot easier. If your car is left out on the street, you can get either a parking ticket or your car can be towed, neither one a good option.

Suddenly the dead car on the street became a priority.

It was Saturday night and there were no men around to do it for her. And I wasn't going to do it! I'm still convalescing for pete's sake! Besides, I know that it's really important not to mix the red and blue cable up. You can do some serious damage to a car. I never remember which one is positive and which is negative. I usually have Wes, my KISA (Knight in Shining Armour) do it for me.

So Kristen, in her usual fashion found a way. CJ did a search on google (whatever did people do before the internet?), found the proper way to boost a car, and made notes. They went outside together, Kristen placed the booster cables in the proper spots on both cars and...it started! I think they were as surprised as I was, and very pleased with their achievement.

The car is now in Wes' spot in the garage, and a new battery is sitting on the kitchen counter. The guy at Canadian Tire said she could replace the battery herself, it's that easy and I think with her new found confidence in her mechanical abilities, she just may try. Or, Wes might really want to park his car in the garage before it snows again and end up replacing the battery.

We'll have to see who can hold out the longest.

Thursday Thirteen

1. The rain has finally stopped and the sun is shining. Thank goodness for that.
2. Went to the funeral of a woman yesterday who should have had another 30 years to live if you believe the statistics. There were a lot of people there, including members of "The Gospel Choir," 2 of whom sang a solo. I would have loved to see the whole choir do a number.
3. CJ's grandpa's grave was near to his mom's. And there, on Grandpa's grave marker was the name of his wife, her date of birth and a space for her death. I wonder what she thinks about when she sees that.
4. Kristen tells me that the funeral home limo is pretty sweet.
5. When I die, I want live music at my funeral. And hymns. I want "Abide With Me" to be sung. No canned music for me.
6. There also has to be good food for afterwards, like wraps and fruit and hummus and black bean dip. Maybe Ira's Deli or some similar place could do the catering. Is it okay to have Jews cater a Christian wedding?
7. I have never stood at a graveside ceremony where I thought that the weather was great. It always seems to be raining, or freezing or like yesterday, windy.
8. Advice to those of you who never want your picture taken: Please, let people take your picture, even though you don't like it. That way, there'll be photos for them to look at when your time comes.
9. More advice: Take care of yourself. Exercise. Eat healthy. Enjoy life. Laugh.
10. I didn't know CJ's mom but several people commented on the fact that she would say "Mercy!" when the situation warranted it.
11. When people think they "have to be strong" when someone near to them has died, what exactly does that mean?
12. I hope CJ and his dad will continue to allow people to help them out and support them once everyone leaves.
13. For me, there is much comfort in the fact that I believe there is life after death. I don't really know what that will look like but it makes death seem less final.