Bombs Bursting in... Where?

It’s July. And it’s hot. It’s a month of celebration! At least I celebrate. I love that I live in America. I won’t get into politics right now, because my thoughts on the state of our country right now are many, long and very strong. But we are still a nation full of patriotism. I like to think that we still band together during times of crisis like we always have. No division. Just a bunch of Americans standing strong, together.

And many of my neighbors continue to celebrate our freedoms by setting off fireworks each night. It’s only the 10th, but I imagine they’ll continue well past mid month. I’m okay with that.

This July is something entirely new for me. On July 4th I kicked off the official start of my food truck! I mean we’ve had a few scattered events since March of this year. But July is when we not only kicked off with a huge event, but only a few days later we began working at our new regular spot. This is it. This is go time. We are officially a business now and actively working on expanding our customer base.

With that being said, I am very tired. I have not been getting very many hours of sleep. My house is a total disaster and my kids already hate their jobs. They complain that it is too hot and we don’t have enough customers. Thankfully I think I have found a few things to occupy their time while we work. And I have been reassuring them constantly that it takes time to build a business. When I quoted Field of Dreams to them, they looked at me like I was crazy. Obviously they have never seen the movie. So I actually think it’s time that we watch it together.

I talk to them about humility and why it is important to be humble and kind. I think that sometimes I fail to take my own advice though. But I had a pretty humbling experience today.

*

I can’t really say what thoughts flashed through my mind the moment the explosion happened. It happened so fast that I didn’t really have time to react. I just stood there, accepting my fate.

I know that at this point you are probably thinking that I was struck by a rogue firework or a faulty one. Or that my food truck exploded in the heat or something. And you are wrong. Let me tell you about it.

Like I said, it’s been a very long month so far. After catering a small gathering, then doing a huge event, and then doing two days of setting up and tearing down in the intense heat with very little sales, I was very relieved to chill out at my niece’s 4th birthday yesterday. I hung out all day and set all of the work that needs to be done aside and enjoyed the day with my family. Sunday was a very good day. Here she is enjoying her birthday cupcake.

Monday morning I woke up way too early. I got about 5 hours of sleep but I had to take my other niece and my daughter to the church for camp. They had to be there at 7:30am! Way too early for kids… in the summer. But I got them there, only a few minutes late. Of course I had put off all of my work on Sunday. Including packing Aniston’s things. So of course we are packing at 6:30 in the morning. After that I had to wash the car and detail it because over the weekend I had spilled gas in it from my gas can multiple times. I think I need a new one because I don’t think that they are supposed to spill. Then I had to load all of my old oil and dirty water from the trailer and a cooler to fill with ice and that gas can again. Oh my word. You wouldn’t believe how much gas you go through in the generator running a food truck.

I got to the commissary and it was packed with food trucks, cars and people. I guess that’s my fault for thinking that there would not be many people working on a Monday morning since a lot of food trucks seem to take Sundays and Mondays off. I guess that’s right when they go to prepare for the following week.

Anyway, I maneuvered my huge vehicle around into a tiny spot behind a dumpster. I got my wagon out and loaded it with dirty buckets and dishes and made the trek in the heat through the gates. I would normally pull in, but like I said, it was packed.

So I got all of my stuff there accomplished and then headed to my next stop which was the restaurant supply store. I loaded up on all of the things I needed and got gas and went home. I’ll be honest with you, I was feeling a little like wonder woman. I was thinking, “okay, maybe I really can do this thing. I’ve got this!”

It really didn’t help to keep my ego in check when I found a sweet little note in one of my work notebooks that said that I rock. My friend had written it a few days earlier and I just saw it today. Yeah. I was definitely feeling that.

Bear with me… I am getting to the explosion. But let me backtrack for just a moment and give you a little side note.

*

On the 4th of July, while getting ready for the event, the fire marshall came to check my trailer. As they do at every event. And he informed me that my tag on my suppression system was out of date and that I needed to add another fire extinguisher. I already have the suppression system and a red extinguisher and now I have to add another one? Okay.

The next morning I called a fire company to come check it all out and he gave me the quote for the extinguisher as well. Holy cow it was pricey. I found one a little cheaper on amazon so I decided I’ll just buy it there. I hadn’t ordered it yet. And when I showed up to my spot on Friday, just during a casual conversation, I was told by another trucker that they actually had a few brand new ones they had gotten a hold of recently and he’d sell it to me for half of what amazon cost. That’s almost a third of the cost of the other one. So you know, I was pretty much feeling very blessed and grateful.

Fast forward to today. Like I said, my neighbors have been celebrating. They have been popping off fireworks all month long. So when I kept hearing pops going off, I didn’t really think much of it. I was in the kitchen preparing a bag of garlic. Chopping and roasting. Just in the kitchen alone, listening to music and praying to my amazing Lord and thanking him for the amazing blessings in my life. It’s been a rough week for sure. And certainly exhausting. I didn’t even get into the car trouble that I had on Saturday. But all in all, it’s been pretty good. And I am still amazed at how good God is to me sometimes.

But my ego, much like a balloon that gets too big, needs to be popped once in a while. I think God has a sense of humor, honestly. I think that he likes to mess with me sometimes. I imagine that if Jesus were hanging out with me we’d prank each other a lot. Because that’s my personality. I can take a joke pretty well.

As I was chopping away at the garlic, I heard yet another pop outside. That’s when it hit me. Those pops I’ve been hearing are not fireworks. Nope. I emptied my trailer last night and a few soda cans had gotten damaged en route and so my buddy took them out and set them on the sidewalk and hosed the good cans down for me. I knew that I should have taken them in last night but I was so exhausted that I decided that I would bring them in, first thing in the morning. And of course, I got distracted doing a million other things and I forgot. I saw them as I was leaving to run all of my errands. And of course, I decided that I’ll just get them when I get back. And guess what? Yeah you guessed it. I forgot.

So now, in the heat of the day, those cans heated up and they started popping off one by one. When I realized that that was the sound I kept hearing I went out right away and retrieved them. Many of them had already popped and a few looked like they were about to. But I figured the best course of action at this point was to bring them inside and put them into some ice water and cool them down quickly. And I was right. They cooled. And I think I can safely open them up later and dispose of them.

But this one doesn't look bad at all. I think I’ll point it down into the sink and open it up now.

And that’s when the explosion happened.

I didn’t even see which end it came out of. It happened faster than the blink of an eye. I was in shock for about three seconds before I looked down and realized that I was covered from head to toe in Sprite. I mean drenched. Is there even that much soda in a can? I thought certainly I got most of it on me. Until I turned around to view the wreckage. It was EVERYWHERE. It hit the ceiling, the cabinets and the blinds. It shot all the way across my kitchen. And I have a pretty big kitchen. Not only was I covered from head to toe. But my kitchen, from floor to ceiling.

And now all I can do is laugh. Because I got a big head, God humbled me. And all I can do is be okay with that. So that has been my first week of really being a legit food truck business at a regular spot. I anticipate the future shenanigans Jesus and I will find ourselves in together.

I hope that you too, can find a way to laugh at your circumstances. It really does make for a fun and interesting life when you can just stop and laugh. And when you remember that everything is going to be okay. But maybe don’t leave unopened cans of soda outside in the heat.