DOSE OF DEBBIE: My finicky car made routine trip to the grocery store not so routine

Did any of you happen to go by The Pig in Childersburg the day before Valentine's and hear that annoying woman's car alarm going off?

Anyway, I had decided to bake my mother's Valentine's tea cakes for my grandkids.

We always have the simple ingredients on hand, so I proceeded to get out everything, including the mixer and a bowl. Then I go to the pantry and look for the self-rising flour. What, there isn't any? I look for shortening. No, none of that either.

Milk, eggs, powdered sugar … uh, no … not one of them. What? All I could find was vanilla. Now, that is sad.

So, I head to my favorite grocery store, The Pig. I usually send my granddaughter, Caleigh, in to get my things, but she is at school, so I get there and go in, and, of course, the scooter is in use and I am struggling to walk and breathe at the same time.

I go out with my things and put them in the back seat. And when I go to crank my car, yes, my alarm goes off and it doesn't want to crank, so I was the annoying woman that was not only driving me crazy but everyone else.

First off, I had parked in a no-parking zone. The store had moved its dividers out a while back to discourage people from parking right in front, but I noticed folks were still doing it, so I was like, why not. I won't be long, and maybe, just maybe, no one will notice.

Well, it was impossible not to notice with my car alarm blaring so loud.

The air and radio came on, but the motor never did a thing. So, I call Jerry, my babies' daddy, still my friend and helper when I get into messes.

Well, he is in Vincent, and it was gonna take a while for him to come help me. I told him I would ask the manager to help me and hung up, and the alarm quit. Thank you, Lord!

I go ask the manager, and he said no, he didn't have any jumper cables.

Man, I wished my friend, Pam Hammonds, was working that day. She is an assistant manager, a country girl, and I know she probably would have had jumper cables.

So, I get back in the car and try to crank it again and, of course, BEEP, BEEP, BEEP -- it started up again.

Then I noticed a nice-looking young man walking in front of my car and kinda smiling. Hey, that is my cousin Darrell Williams, so I hang up on Jerry on my second phone call to him, and I get out and holler at my cousin.

He comes back, but I bet he wished he could have disappeared before I caught him, bless his heart.

The alarm quits, and he tells me his friend, Stephanie, had the same thing happen to her car but she was at church. Lordy, I am glad I was at the grocery instead.

He pulls up his truck and tries to jump it off and, of course, when he touched the battery post … yep … .BEEP, BEEP, BEEP, the alarms starts again.

He calls my own personal car man, Nick Ellison. He and his dad own Bi-Rite in downtown Childersburg. Nick told Darrell the car thought someone was trying to break in or steal it, so it shuts down.

He told him to let it sit for at least 10 minutes, lock and unlock the doors, and try to crank it again.

So Darrell, being the good son he is, went across the way to order his mom, my cousin, Sue, flowers for Valentine's.

Darrell comes back, and we lock and unlock the doors. He finds a red button on the dash he is pressing, and I turn it over … and, nothing.

He said, "Put your foot on the brake," and when I did, the horn, of all things, started beeping. I guess the horn had gotten jealous of the loud alarm beeping … but it worked! It finally cranked!

My farmer cousin, Darrell, was able to leave and get back to work, and I headed home.

About those cookies getting made before they got home from school, that didn't happen. I was mentally exhausted.

I started them at 10:30 that night and laid down about 4:30 in the morning. Uh, maybe I shouldn't have doubled that recipe. Well, they got them for Valentine's … at least I think they did --- ZZZzzzzz.

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