Running Out of Gas and Other Non-Adventures

My friend Greg started a blog and I'm already quoting his first post in a post of my own. That's success if you ask me. He's unemployed as well and commented about how as a result he has loads of time to post, but little content to post about. I fear this predicament myself. In fact I think I'm already experiencing this conversational dilemma in my marriage. Par exemple: Daniel and I were hanging out and he asked me what was wrong because I was so quiet. I told him that I was fine and that I simply just didn't have anything to talk about. Unless he wanted to hear about the day time sleeping habits of the dogs, I had no news to report.

Not only am I expected to be a normal conversationalist in my marriage, but I've committed to doing daily blog posts (what kind of crazy person decides to do that?) . I began thinking this evening about what to write about tonight and was coming up empty. I had a lovely day with some lovely interactions with some lovely ladies, but I already mentioned my plans for today in yesterday's post. My content is a little lack luster. The only thing slightly funny or unusual event of the day was running out of gas while driving some YL girls home. I had been buzzing around town all afternoon carpooling and shuttling the girls from their homes to the movie and back to their homes again. My gas light was on the whole time, but as I was running late (as usual), I seemed to lose track of my mileage. We approached a very busy intersection right off the highway and I felt the Volvo begin to jump a little under me. I turned off the radio and heard her sputter. Panic washed over my entire body and I had a flashback of me at age 16 the last time this happened. Sitting in my silver blue 1985 Toyota Cressida on Barry Road in the middle of July on my way to my first job as a hostess at Chili's, I pressed unrelenting against the gas pedal to no avail. She wouldn't move. I was stranded. That could not happen to me again today. I held my breath for the next few minutes chanting prayers and expletives simultaneously waiting for the stoplight to turn green so I could see if I could make a rolling entrance into the gas station in time. She made it through the intersection. If we had to push at least we'd be a little less conspicuous at this place, but not by much. I lowered my foot slowly onto the pedal harder and harder urging her to make her way completely into the station. As I approached the far pump (the only one available) she turned off completely and I allowed our momentum to roll us into place beside the nozzle. A close call. Relief and embarrassment filled my nervous laughter as I filled her up thanking God for dodging the bullet of complete humiliation.

Now I've just told you a story that hopefully humored you a little but is by no means life changing or profound. I ran out of gas today just as I'm running out of gas in the content department. But obviously if you are seeing these words you read it. Why? I was catching up on the happenings of my beautiful friend Sara via her blog. She wrote a post about adding the phrase "not that you care" to part of the title of her blog. She discussed all the little everyday things that she thinks are remarkable but not necessarily blog-worthy. This is a game I play with myself a lot throughout my day. For me everything is good material. Mundane maybe, but the lives most of us live are filled more by the mundane than the extraordinary. Call me boring or a stalker, but I enjoy reading about the everyday-ness of others. It makes me feel normal. Heck some people's stories make me feel downright interesting in comparison. I think there are ways of writing, speaking, and telling stories in a manner that is entertaining, beautiful, and fascinating. I truly believe that it's not necessarily the circumstances of one's life that makes a person significant but rather the way in which one lives that brings significance. My car running out of gas today could have been a non-event. But having my YL girls present to watch my panic and embarrassment, to wonder about God's thoughts on my simultaneous prayers and expletives, to remember the last time it happened 12 years ago...I think we really lived that moment to its fullest, sucking (as they say) the marrow out of life. We laughed, I cried (inside), we filled up my tank and started all over again.

I have very talented friends who have blogs about fashion, sewing, creative house-making what-cha-call-it cool project stuff, and intellectual topics. That was one of the things that made me hesitate in starting a blog. What would it be about? Because surely no one would want to read just a bunch of random thoughts I'd written. But they do, because that's also what I like to read. So Greg and Sara, I don't think folks like us will ever run out of content. For one thing Sara, half of your posts are not random daily observations but full on house-making what-cha-call-it tutorials between your sewing projects, cooking recipes, and house decor, so your blog falls into one of the I'm-actually-offering-something-to-the-blogosphere categories. But for the same reason we like to read people's facebook statuses and twitter notifications, people will continue to read the blogs of even the most everyday of us. So here's to sharing the little moments with one another. Greg, just tell a story about Suze the greatest mother of all time and your readership will go through the roof.