Friends Visit: Volume 3

So, in my last post I gave you a hint as to what happened on Day #2 of my friends' visit. It said something about a broken muffler. Well, the muffler is more than just broken. It's shot. Dead. Ruined. Whatever you'd like to call it, it was anything but in good shape. Basically the top of the muffler rusted through, which caused the exhaust to come out through the top, rather than the pipes. My trunk happens to be located about 1 inch above the muffler, causing a hole to start melting through my trunk, causing Lena's sleeping bag to nearly catch on fire.  

If you're still confused just imagine it like this; my car is the kitchen, the muffler is the oven, my trunk is the baking sheet, and Lena's sleeping bag is the cinnamon rolls. The oven got too hot, melted the pan, and burnt the cinnamon rolls, causing the kitchen to smell awful. Get it now? If you're still confused, just look at the picture below...

That spot looks so much bigger in this picture! But really, it's really not that big, I promise! 

This is how it all started...We were driving from Cincinnati to Lexington on Saturday night to stay with the Hubers, then to go to church with them on Sunday. As we were driving, we were eating LaRosa's pizza, and singing along with Glee soundtracks. Anyway, back to the long, aggravating, story of a broken muffler, tears, and the awful smell of melted carpet....So we arrive at Lexington, open the trunk, unload our overnight bags, and then it happened.....

The Girls (Lena and Audrey and Autumn): "Something smells really bad."

Me: "Huh?" (totally not paying attention)

The Girls: they pull out Lena's burnt sleeping bag. And then we see it....the dreadful melted spot on the bottom of my trunk!!!

Me: I bursted into tears and collapsed into a ball on the driveway!!! My life was over!! My car was almost on fire!!! It stank!! How was I going to live?!

Ok, my reaction was slightly different than that, but the night still consisted of tears, an awful smell, more tears, several phone calls, and even more tears. I'm not sure why I was the only one crying all night long, I guess the girls were totally fine with being stuck in Lexington for who knows how long?!

Lester Huber is by far the sweetest 89 year old man I know, and he happens to be very handy! If you ask him what he has done, he will reply with "What haven't I done?" So, after church he took a look at the muffler for me. 

Poor Charlie doesn't like being up on a jack. For those of you who don't know...Charlie is my car. Oh, don't give me that look! Yes, I named my car! 

The dreadfully broken muffler....

You see that rusted hole in the top? Not that little black spot, thats just a mark. Anyway, Lester found a piece of tin siding in his trash pile, which beat the idea of using tin foil to patch the hole. 

While Lester and I were working on the car, the girls went with 2 ladies from church to a nearby park and did some hiking; which was the original plan...except I didn't go. Charlie desperately needed my loving attention while Lester and I patched him up. We measured, and cut the piece of siding, wrapped it around the muffler, and wired it in place! Which stopped the heat from escaping through the top. 

It's ok, I didn't like that silly muffler anyway. 

But look on the bright side...At least we made it to Lexington safe and sound, and in one piece, and the trunk wasn't on fire...yet. Plus, I was with church people which were VERY loving, understanding, and helpful!!!!! Everything could have gone so much worse...THANK YOU GOD!!! 

And even on the brighter side....I found a butterfly! I love butterflies. I told you that this post would include a butterfly!

For some odd reason, I like this picture of myself. I usually don't like having my picture taken. But in this one, half of my face is covered, which makes it tolerable I guess. 

The girls apparently had fun at the park! Like I said many times before...Lean and her great ideas! See picture below! 

 I didn't tell you that this post would include a giant plastic horse painted in very colorful strips! But seriously, how cool is this thing? I really wanted to jump on it and ride it off into the sunset like a real cowgirl, but there was a security camera watching us. So instead of doing any of mine or Lena's 'great ideas', we decided to just snap a few pics and continue on our drive home. 

Lena (left), Me (center), and Audrey (right). Audrey, I love your shoes!

Audrey (left), Autumn (center), and Me (right). 

PS- I did not take any of these pictures or edit any of them. Lena took most, and Autumn edited them! Aren't you proud of me? I am usually the one in people's faces taking tons of pictures, and I'm overly obsessive about editing all of my photos. But I guess that when your camera's battery dies, you have to let other people take, edit and email you the pictures. Anyway, back to the story of the pictures not being from my camera, I just wanted to make sure that these girls get the credit for taking the pictures. :) 

PSS- Thank you readers who let me rant and rave about a wonderful weekend, that kinda turned not so wonderful, and then turned back into wonderful. Also, thanks Autumn, Audrey, and Lena for putting up with Charlie, and especially me alllllll weekend long! I had a blast! 

Peace Out!