TheBanyanTree: A Test of My Christmas Spirit

[Margaret R. Kramer]

I have a happily boring life.  I live with a wonderful man.  My heart still
beats a little quicker when I’m with him.  We rarely fight.  We’re usually
on the same page, which makes reading our book easy on the eyes.

We live in a typical middle class home in a typical middle class
neighborhood.  We shop at typical middle class stores in a typical middle
class suburb.

We both work.  Ray drives south and I drive north.  I hate my job and Ray
loves his.

We like computers.  We like baseball.  We’re homebodies, but we do go out on
occasion and see plays, concerts, or movies.

My life is predictable.  I get up.  I work out.  I drive 32 miles to work.
I suffer in hell, then I drive 32 miles back home.  I do chores.  I make
dinner.  I answer email.  I watch TV or read.  I go to bed.

Christmas adds a little zest to this routine.  I plan Christmas like a CEO
plans his company’s strategy.  One week is for Christmas lights.  One week
is for the decorating the house.  I set aside time to get the Christmas
cards ready.  I plan when to get the tree and when to decorate it.  I do
most of my shopping online, so that eliminates trudging around in crowded
stores.  I plan time for wrapping presents.  I use a Saturday or Sunday
afternoon to do a little Christmas cookie baking.  I work on menus for
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Last week, we took the boys downtown Minneapolis and saw the Holidazzle
parade.  We waited with hundreds of other people to see “Willy and the
Chocolate Factory” in the Marshall Fields auditorium.  There was no line for
Santa, so the boys scampered to get on his lap.  The little one declared he
wouldn’t be scared of Santa this year and he wasn’t.  He got right up on his
lap and gave him a hug.  Unbelievable for such a shy boy!

I did my Reindeer Run 5K around Lake Harriet last Saturday and donated toys
for Toys for Tots.  I gave a Salvation Army bell ringer some cash and
probably will give more before the holiday season is over.

I’m playing Christmas music with a passion.  We watched an old TV show
(which I bought the video of this year) “The House Without a Christmas
 Tree.”

The dogs are wearing jingle bell collars.

And we had snow.  A whopping 10.5 inches of snow on Tuesday into Wednesday.
We haven’t had that much snow in about three years.  And after a couple of
brown Christmases, this Christmas present will be white for sure.

So if preparing for Christmas didn’t add a little extra something to our
daily lives, the storm certainly did.  My 45 minute commute home from work
took over two hours.  Ray’s took over an hour and a half.

We got up early on Wednesday morning and blew out the driveway and shoveled
the sidewalks.  Then I began the slow crawl to work.

Just as I was approaching the freeway, I saw a large black thing lying in
the road.  I had plenty of time to swerve around it, but no, I drove right
over it and it went BAM BAM BAM under my car.  It shook me up, but the car
kept going, so I steered it on the freeway, which was moving about five mph.

After I went about six miles, the oil light came on, the alarms started
going off, my check engine light was flashing like Christmas tree lights, so
I pulled off the freeway with my car killing and me restarting it until it
died at a busy intersection in the left turn lane.

I turned on my hazards and raised my hood, but people, believe it or not,
kept pulling up behind me and beeping their horns, just like I was blocking
their way on purpose!

I’m a member of an auto club, so I called a tow, and proceeded to wait over
three hours for one to come.  But I had my cell phone, a thermos of hot
coffee, and a newspaper.  I was wearing warm boots and a warm jacket.  I had
my lunch with me, so if I started losing body fat, I would have something to
eat.  I had stalled by a hospital, so I was able to go to the bathroom.

While I was waiting, I saw the Christmas spirit in action.  Many people
stopped and asked me if I needed help.  The police stopped a couple of
times.  I wasn’t alone when I really felt I was the only stupid person left
on the planet.

The tow came and we got my little beat up Volkswagen to the dealership.  The
dealership gave me a ride home.  I called my insurance company and set up a
claim.  I began printing the address labels for my Christmas cards and
printing out the holiday letter.

The dealership lost my key, so Ray and I drove out there and gave them Ray’s
key.  I was also able to pick up a rental car, which is covered by
insurance.

>From there, we dropped the rental car off at home, and then went and bought
our Merry Christmas tree.  We set it up, but it was like a leaning tower of
Pisa, since the clerk cut the stem at an angle.

Christmas plans march on, regardless on what is happening in real life.

The dealership called me the next day and told me my engine was toast.  It
would cost $6,500 to replace it.  The blue book trade-in value of the car is
$8,000.  The adjuster hasn’t seen my car yet, so I don’t know if my
insurance company will pay for the new engine or total the car.  The car is
only three years old and since the cost of repair is below the value of the
car, I’m hoping they’ll pay for a new engine.  My deductible is only $250,
so it would be a minimal cost to me.  Except my rates will go up.

If they total the car, then I will have to use the insurance pay out to pay
off the loan.  I will have no insurance money to buy another car, so I will
have to use savings to come up with a down payment, which is like starting
over.  I need a good car for my long daily commute, so it will have to be
another new car.

I love my little Volkswagen Golf.  It has so much power, such great gas
mileage, and it’s so comfortable.  I’ve taken good care of it.  It’s had its
scheduled oil changes and maintenance.  It was socked last year, when
someone rear ended me while I was making a left turn, but it came out of
that accident smelling like a rose after over 60 days in the shop.  Now
this.

I was careless and stupid.

I could barely decorate the tree after getting the news.  But soon the
Christmas spirit carried me along and with Ray’s help, the tree is standing
straight and tall, and shining its glory.

I stopped beating myself up about this.  It happened.  I can’t change it.  I
have good insurance and I have a car to drive until I find out what’s going
on with my car.  Things could be worse, much worse.

My boring life goes on as it usually does, except with the added zest of
Christmas.

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at earthlink.net

http://www.polarispublications.com
Be a star!
http://www.bpwmn.org
Business and Professional Women of Minnesota

Sit in reverie and watch the changing color of the waves that break upon the
idle seashore of the mind.

~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow