Five Minutes: Unexpected

Each week Gypsy Mama chooses a word to write about for five minutes. No editing, stream of consciousness. Today's word is: Unexpected.

Ready. Set. Write.

Last Saturday I headed off to a baby shower on a beautifully crisp Autumn afternoon. As I was stopped at a traffic light, a kind man in the truck next to me said, "Ma'am, your rear left tire is going flat." Unexpected. The Type A planner in me began to reel with thoughts of what I should do. The fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants side of me just kept rolling along to my destination where I could clearly investigate the damage. As alerted, the tire was almost flat.

Unexpected. This wasn't a part of my planned day. And, the unexpected circumstances like this are annoying. But I love the unexpected moments when a friend calls I'm longing to talk to and we can catch up on life. Or I get a random text from a friend that is just the encouragement (or laugh) I need at that very moment. Or I have an unexpected invitation to grab dinner with great conversation or even a trip to the theater that pops up out of nowhere. These unexpected blessings are sometimes even hard to enjoy with the planner DNA that flows through my veins, but the older I get the more I enjoy those moments.

The baby shower was a precious time and I enjoyed it while forgetting about the slowly leaking tire on my car. Thankfully, my AAA membership came to the rescue and I called for assistance that allowed me to roll along until Tuesday when I could get to the shop and have it fixed. A pesky screw had invaded the tread and caused the slow leak. When it was fixed, they handed me my keys and I was on my way. "Is there a cost?" I said. And, they told me no. That's the best kind of unexpected.