"We're goin' now..." NOT!

Long, long ago in a land far away... my family was watching a reel-to-reel movie (see? I told you it was long, long ago!) of Laurel and Hardy. I don't recall the title of the episode, but in it, they decide to take a trip. They load the car, say their goodbyes, get in the car, "We're goin' now..." and it won't start. They get out, tinker with it (while making classic L&H moments, of course) until it starts running, say their goodbyes, get in the car, "We're goin' now..." and the tire goes flat. They fix the flat, say their goodbyes, get in the car, "We're goin' now..." and something else goes wrong. The entire movie is essentially "We're goin' now," and various things going wrong with the car. It ends as they finally drive away. Ever since we watched this movie, my family has used this line, "We're goin' now," when we load the car, say our goodbyes, and then stand and talk another 30 minutes (sometimes more than once!). I thought of this line again the Friday before Mothers' Day...

Several weeks before Mothers' Day, we planned to travel to SC to spend that weekend with Ken's mom (et. al.). I wrote a list of things we have that we need to take over with us: several books, CD's, a Christmas gift I needed to exchange for a different style, etc. I can't remember now if we had told her or not that we were coming. Then we heard from my sister Becky that she was going to be in PA and the dates that worked out for us to travel/be there were May 9-17. We called Mom to tell her that we had been planning to come, but that we were going to go to PA instead. She's great and understood why we changed plans. "We're goin' now..." NOT!

So Ken requested time off at his job, I arranged for lodging, put aside the things we were going to take to Mom's and started gathering things together to take with us for Becky and PA. Another change in plans (namely Emily Anne :)), however, meant that Becky would still be in FL May 9-17 instead of PA. So we cancelled all our arrangements. "We're goin' now..." NOT!

Then Ken came up with this brainstorm that since the dates in PA weren't cooperating, perhaps we could fly to CA and visit Becky a day or so while she is visiting with Paul & Belinda. (Ken has been west of the Mississippi River only once, so he is very eager to see "the West," and we would also enjoy visiting Paul & Belinda and their girls again!) Ken searched and searched the internet for the lowest fares, and we started dreaming about this and that we'd like to see and do while we are there. After several days of "flying high," we finally admitted we really were "dreaming" (mainly due to holiday pricing) and needed to accept that seeing Becky this time she is home isn't working out. "We're goin' now..." NOT!

Suddenly we realized that we could be with Ken's mom for Mothers' Day! So we called, made arrangements, and got things together again. On Friday after work, we loaded the car, set out, drove about 10 miles and into a huge storm: lightning, thunder, hail, torrential rain. We pulled off the road (since we couldn't see to drive anyway!) and called Mom. She tried to check weather reports but couldn't get anything at the moment. When the rain let up, we decided to drive on and call her again in 10 minutes.

In about 5 minutes, my cell phone rang. Mom. This storm was headed toward them, which meant we would be traveling I-40 over the mountains in the dark in the storm the whole way. Reluctantly, we decided together that we should be safe first. "We're goin' now..." NOT!

Since we hadn't eaten supper yet, we found a Chinese buffet not far away and ate there before heading back home. Thankfully we did, because we heard on the radio station they were playing in the restaurant that a very strong storm was passing over Maryville-Alcoa area! If we had come home immediately, we would have been in that storm too. As we drove home, we were amazed at the accumulation of hail on the banks and the edge of the road!

Our "movie" didn't end with us driving away--it ended with us driving INTO our driveway! After all the planning and dreaming and gathering and loading... we were HOME!