A Family Affair!

Today, my brother left at 3am to head back to his home in Florida with his two dogs. I was bummed because I hadn't been able to see him before he left and didn't get to say goodbye.
However, this morning at 6:59am...we got a phone call. My brother was broken down, on the side of the road, for the past hour. It was freezing. I have never layered so much in my life.

My outfit consisted of:
1. Pair of full leg leggings.
2. Green sweat pants.
3. Ankle socks.
4. Ugg boots.
5. Undergarments.
6. Camisole.
7. Thermal.
8. Coat.


Do you kind of get how cold it was? Yeah, brrrrrrr.

But, me and my mom listened to my brother who was safe (cold, but safe) and had called a tow truck already. My mom, being a good person, offers for me and her to drive out to where he is and pick up his dogs and bring them to our house while he waits for the tow truck to bring him back to our house so he can fix his car. (Pardon the run-on sentence, but I just had to get it all out)

Selfishly, I was alright with this despite the fact that I am on break and would have loved to sleep in.

The drive was fine, until we got closer to where my brother was pulled over. We were out past Viejas Casino and for those of you who don't get what that means...we were out way east and it was still mountain rural. There was this fog. A really terrible, eerie fog. We could see, atleast when the sun wasn't glaring off  the wet road, and my mom gushed about how beautiful this area was.

Beautiful. AND DANGEROUS!
It was just like a horror movie.
Fog + hills/mountains + neighbors being very far apart = PERFECT horror movie situation.

Those conditions outweigh the beauty, which I don't deny.

Err...back to the story.

We arrive, we get the dogs, we take them home, my brother's car gets towed and he spends from 10-3:30 fixing his car. Luckily, he got it fixed and running so that he could head out at 4 after a quick shower.

Usually if I had a day like this, I probably wouldn't have been too happy about it. But the only thing I was focused on was being able to be around my brother and say goodbye to him in person instead of a text. I guess this post is about perspective, which is what I had today. I could focus on the cold, the early morning, the dog slober, the perfect horror movie situation but...I didn't. I was focused on the happiness I had because I got to say bye to my brother.

Perspective and thankfulness. It comes in funny packages, don't you think?

p.s. He's a dork that loves to pick on his baby sister, just like any big brother would. I think that makes it extra apparent that even when dealing with a silly guy like that down there...I was still thankful and glad to help.

(Left to right: My brother, Joe; My mom in the back, Liz; Me! and my dad, Steve)