A rough week just got a little better

Monday I started getting a sore throat which is always the first sign I’m getting sick. And Jeff was taking me to work since it was rainy and cold when the car started acting up. He took it in to get fixed and $900 later they said it should be good for awhile. Wednesday Jeff was taking me to work since I was still feeling pretty crummy, and while we’re driving down Woodrow, the car died. Back at the shop they said, engine seized, it’s dead.

Meanwhile, I’m at work not feeling that great and kinda wishing I had just taken a second sick day and stayed home, when Jeff calls and tells me the car’s dead. “dead, dead?” “yeah, engine seized dead.” My heart just sank. We really needed the car to run until January when we’d be in a better position to replace it. So what now? I don’t know… I told Jeff, we can survive without a car, we can bike to work, we can bike to the Crestview store, or Wheatsville, or even HEB for groceries. But, I told him, to live without a car, I have to give up Tri Zones and triathlons and I really don’t want to do that. I cried a little just saying it. Tri Zones/triathlon is a huge source of happiness in my life and the thought of giving that up is heart wrenching for me. So at this point I was in a pretty bad place physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Just before leaving work I posted something on Facebook about having a crappy week and the car being dead. Then something pretty cool happened. Friends started posting things like “Call me whenever you need a ride” and “Ah...Heather...you've got about 60 people going the same place you are at any given training/race” and “I could easily give you a ride somewhere” and “For me, I'd LOVE having your energy and smile by my side on the way to anywhere!” So by the time I checked FB last night, I had tons of offers for rides. I don’t really know why I hadn’t thought of that option, I guess because I was upset and just feeling crappy in general. So I was kind of overwhelmed when I saw that. I handed Jeff the computer and said “look how awesome my friends are!” He said “remember how upset you were to leave your Houston friends when we moved to Austin and how worried you were that you’d never have friends in Austin. Now look, you have tons of great friends offering to help you out in a tough situation” It’s true, I’ve been lucky enough to make some pretty awesome friends in Austin. All of you who posted on FB last night may not have thought it was a big deal, but it was a really big deal to me, it took me from having a miserable day to feeling happy and grateful to have so many great friends- so thanks to all of you!

I may not have tons of money or fancy cars (or even a car that runs now!) but I definitely have an abundance of the things that really matter.