Sunday, August 19, 2012

Rescued


Because the former baby carrier didn't fit me too well, Changmonim sewed a special one that I could use. It seems to work well most of the time, unless Ellie's hungry.


Last week, we headed over to Dayton to say goodbye to Heather and Bob before their move out to Alamogordos, New Mexico. Everyone handled the move in their own unique way...









After everything was packed, we headed over to City BBQ to relax.



It was such a nice trip until we got in our car to head back to Athens. Bob pointed out the fact that there was a large nail sticking out of one of our tires. Unsure of the condition of our spare, and hoping the nail would just hold its own, we headed out anyway. I stopped every half hour or so to check on the tire, and it seemed to be going okay. Then, 30 miles outside of Athens, it suddenly sounded like we were going over railroad tracks... constantly. In 18 years of driving, I've never actually gotten a flat while driving, but because Bob had tipped me off about the nail, I assumed that's what it was.

So, it was 11 pm, on a dark stretch of road, and I had a choice to make. Do I try to change it myself or call AAA and wait it out? I had changed tires before, but that was over a decade ago, in the daylight, on a flat surface, with no pressure if I somehow messed it up. Feeling very unmanly, I went ahead and made the call. Then, we waited. Around midnight, Ellie started wailing, and we weren't really in a place where we could get up and walk around (our failsafe way of soothing her). Eventually, JooYeon turned her around and then we gave her a four-hand massage, which settled her down.

About that time, AAA called back saying that they couldn't find any drivers, but that I was to call 911. I did, and 911 transferred me to the state highway patrol. A little after 1:00 am, the patrol showed up, helped me change the tire, and we were home by 2:00. The fun part of the adventure was that everyone handled it well and we joked around quite a bit (we've come a long way since the automobile disasters that happened during Changmonim's first visit to the U.S. four years ago!) JooYeon and her mother were convinced that someone had sabotaged our tire, while I argued (comicly) that it had been an accident. Each side presented rather detailed and convincing arguments, which we then presented to the state highway patrolman (he took my side).


The next day, everyone slept in, and Ellie awoke in a cheerful mood.





Ellie loves to stand, so I do some walking practice with her most evenings. I'm not sure why, as I don't have any particular desire for her to walk quickly! I've talked with enough people who have reminisced about how quickly their children grew up that I'm trying to savor every stage as much as I can.



Having never sewed before coming to the U.S. (as far as I know), Changmonim has now finished hand-sewing two quilts, three baby carriers, and a few other things, so she turned her attention to hats. Here's one of the three she's made for Ellie in the past couple days. Had our house not been quite so messy when she first arrived, she probably would have had twice that amount done by now.



I just realized that we should probably include a video now and then, so here's one from this morning:


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