Turning Lemons into Lemonade

Yesterday was a great learning day for me. I learned a lot from my husband and was reminded again of the many reasons why I'm glad I married him. A few months ago we ordered about 400 lbs of wheat for our home storage. I assumed the wheat came in 10 lb. cans along with others in our stake, and although the order form wasn't specific, to my dismay I received 40 sealed plastic bags of wheat. They have been sitting under beds in boxes, but need to be canned in order to last. Yesterday we decided to go to Nashville to buy 40 cans from the church cannery. We thought we would make a fun day of it and try to do some sight seeing along the way. We called the cannery in the morning to make sure they had the cans and they told us to be there before 4:00 to pick them up. After Stephen's soccer game we all piled in the car and made the 2 hour trek to Hendersonville, Tennessee. We got there at 3:15, just in time we thought. The cannery must have had a slow day because it was locked and closed with nobody home. We called, but got no response. I have to admit it, I was VERY frustrated. I just sat on the ground for a long time. Gas is rather expensive these days and I could think of many things that needed to get done--things we had set aside to make this trip. My positive, wonderful husband set me straight. He just said, "Let it go. We can't change it." So after working throught my grumpiness, we all piled back into the car and found a nearby lake. I sat with Anna on a blanket while the boys threw rocks and logs into the water. Then we used litter on the ground to make goals and had a family soccer game. I think that was the most fun we ended up having all day. It was Luke and I vs. Steve and Stephen. Steve and I took turns carting Anna around while we played. After our legs were bitten by many a mosquito we headed back into the car. The story gets better! We drove about 30 minutes and then started looking for Steve's phone to make a phone call. We couldn't find it anywhere so we had to turn around and go back to the Lake. Luckily we found Steve's phone on the ground. We had planned on going to a friend's orchard to pick pears on the way home, but by the time we found the phone it was too late so we went to Wendy's for dinner and drove all the way back home. The amazing thing to me through all of this is that although I felt like the whole day had been ruined twice, and was fighting off personal grumpiness left and right, my kids had a great time. The were so excited to "go to Tennessee" and throw rocks and play soccer and eat at Wendy's. We honestly ended up having a lot of fun together. Steve and I were able to talk alot on the drive and the leaves were beautiful. Again, I learned yet another lesson from my husband and that is this: a positive attitude determines the success or failure of a day. My sons reminded me to take pleasure in simplicity and that grattitude is the key to happiness.