Central Weekend Conflict

Readers, forgive me for I have sinned. It has been three days since my last blog. You knew I'd be back eventually, right? Open mouth smile and all.


Yesterday was a slow day in the blog community. Statistics said that blogging was down 74 percent--school is back in session, Q3 is in full swing, and shorter daylight hours are all contributing to a general lack of update. These statistics are purely my own, but I'll stick with it.

As mentioned last week, my weekend had little planned. My only "must do" was to go to the post office to mail Stephanie's birthday present and $5 cash money prize from an interactive game we played back in July. Instead of the post office, I went to the beach instead. Shocking.

Here's mine and Julie's spot at the beach. I forwent another photo of me in my photo-ed out bathing suit to show you my legs are actually picking up some natural color this year. Who knew? It was 90 degrees on Sunday and the people watching was most excellent.


The perfect lazy day was finished with a stealthy and very illegal night swim at Walden Pond. Come visit me in the summer, I'll take you there. I got to practice my dog paddle and swam further Saturday night than I probably have in the last four years combined. Julie, Rachel, Tim and I got to drive in Seth's sweet convertible along the back country roads. The wind, the music, the foggy mist--it was a surreal moment.

No good story is classic without a climax. Enter the central conflict of the weekend. My car wouldn't start. I tried again, pumping the gas. No start. No start. No start. Six tries later, I opened my door and smelled gas gas gas. One of my biggest fears in life is being in a car that spontaneously combusts, or driving by a fuel tanker that tips on my car and ignites into a fiery ball of flames (thank you Reader's Digest for telling me a story so vividly in 1995 at the dentist office, that I still can't shake the fear of driving by a fuel tanker).

Dun nah nah nah da da (enter hero music): TIM SAVES THE DAY! Well, would have saved the day late Saturday night (read 1:30am) if he'd had the part he needed to stop the gas flow. But what a trooper! There's gasoline all over the ground, and every time the car is started, more gasoline pours out. DRAMA. I'm mentally freaking out. I've never had one problem with my car! Now it's spewing gas, highly flammable gas, all over the ground, my car, and one of my favorite people.


The gas, oil, and general street gunk ruined Tim's shirt and jeans and discolored his hair:

We (and when I say "we", I mean Tim) needed a new fuel line to stop the flow of gas and start my car. Without a 24-hour Auto Zone in existance, we had to leave my car parked somewhat illegally on the side of the road. I wrote a note (ironically on another parket ticket envelope) that read:

Dear Sir or Mam,
My car broke tonight. Fuel injection something or other. Going to buy part early AM after church. Please don't ticket me, my night was already crappy enough.
Thanks,
Natalie W.

And it worked! No ticket. Maybe my Utah plates sealed the deal on the cop believing my church claim. Add that to the "Reasons its good to have Utah plates" list. Now "they're so pretty and match my car" isn't alone on the list.

Long story short: everyone needs a Tim in their lives. I don't know the first thing about cars, and here comes this guy who can just climb under, figure it out, and save me hundreds of dollars in maintenance towing and repair. I owe you big Tim. Still ruminating over a thank you big enough to warrant such charity.

The ruined clothes, aslphalt exfoliation and time, effort, and energy didn't go unnoticed.

While I'm pontificating on Tim's finer points; did you know Tim is a wicked awesome photographer? Some of you do, most of you probably don't. The posting of the following pictures has a 2-fold effect: you not only get to see his gosh fabulous amazing talent but also view some more pictures from our Labor Day Connecticut Adventure. And I'll let the photos speak for themselves...






The man himself:






My all-time favorite shots of Tim's: The Old North Bridge (set as my work wallpaper) and The Boston Temple. XOXO.