It Could Be Worse
The second half of spring break was dramatically different than planned. Isn't that funny? Life decided to take a little curve to the left (without actually derailing). We took our van in for some repairs that weren't cheap (is any repair cheap?) but weren't actually seriously affecting my driving (yet) and were supposed to be finished pretty quickly. Some of the maintenance work we were having done was because we had been warned that if the timing belt broke while driving it would damage the motor in serious ways and cause much more costly repairs. In that hilarious way the universe has of providing blog entries, when the mechanics tried to test then van after (finally!) putting the engine back together, the belt came off and wrecked a bunch of the internal workings of the engine.
Yep.
At least it happened while at the mechanic's shop and not while I was driving, right? At least I didn't end up stranded out on the side of the road with all the kids. It could have been worse.
Anyway, I had spent all week without any car other than our little Chevy pickup, which is older than my marriage is. It was doable while the kids were out of school (barely-- it has bald tires, no a/c, alignment issues, a missing side mirror . . . you get the picture) but after the belt whipping debacle and the mechanic told us that they couldn't even give us an estimate of when our van would be running again, I pretty nearly had a meltdown.
At the gym. On the exercise bike. (Well, that's where I was when Terence broke the news to me.)
My life depends on having a car that can seat seven people. Or at minimum, six people, if we just leave Terence to fend for himself. Remember the last post, where I said that learning to drive is a necessity for my kids? Well, we cannot get anywhere without a vehicle that can fit us all. Certainly not to church or school.
The mechanic's shop is trying to do the best to make amends. When they learned that I absolutely HAD to have a larger car, at first they tried to find a rental for us. But apparently no one anywhere remotely near had a minivan or a large SUV for rates that the mechanic wanted to pay. (I can't blame them. The last time I looked up renting a local minivan while mine was in the shop, Enterprise wanted $130/day, and that was the best deal out there.) Anyway, they also do used auto sales, so instead they opted to loan us a Chrysler Town and Country that they have up for sale. So I am essentially participating in a very extended test drive.
(So far there is no way I would buy this van. I miss my Odyssey dreadfully.)
Anyway, this topsy turvy week meant that some of our planned spring break activities had to be cancelled. I have some very disappointed girls because they missed their trip to Riverview Park and one girl who is over the moon because she lucked out and didn't have to take the driver's permit test. But with the loaner van we were still able to hit the Renaissance Festival yesterday, so all was not lost. We had a great time, and followed it up by having a girls' night watching the church's general women's broadcast and then going out for ice cream together. Tonight we will finish up with a bang by spending the evening at my parents' house-- they just got back from a two week trip to Egypt so I expect to see a lot of pictures! Plus, I have several sets of aunts and uncles and at least one cousin from out of town who will be there. Should be fun.
However, the fun ends tonight. Tomorrow the kids go back to school *gulp* and the last quarter is always hectic. I still have over a month until May, but I'm already feeling slightly anxious. Too much to do and not enough time. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it!
Yep.
At least it happened while at the mechanic's shop and not while I was driving, right? At least I didn't end up stranded out on the side of the road with all the kids. It could have been worse.
Anyway, I had spent all week without any car other than our little Chevy pickup, which is older than my marriage is. It was doable while the kids were out of school (barely-- it has bald tires, no a/c, alignment issues, a missing side mirror . . . you get the picture) but after the belt whipping debacle and the mechanic told us that they couldn't even give us an estimate of when our van would be running again, I pretty nearly had a meltdown.
At the gym. On the exercise bike. (Well, that's where I was when Terence broke the news to me.)
My life depends on having a car that can seat seven people. Or at minimum, six people, if we just leave Terence to fend for himself. Remember the last post, where I said that learning to drive is a necessity for my kids? Well, we cannot get anywhere without a vehicle that can fit us all. Certainly not to church or school.
The mechanic's shop is trying to do the best to make amends. When they learned that I absolutely HAD to have a larger car, at first they tried to find a rental for us. But apparently no one anywhere remotely near had a minivan or a large SUV for rates that the mechanic wanted to pay. (I can't blame them. The last time I looked up renting a local minivan while mine was in the shop, Enterprise wanted $130/day, and that was the best deal out there.) Anyway, they also do used auto sales, so instead they opted to loan us a Chrysler Town and Country that they have up for sale. So I am essentially participating in a very extended test drive.
(So far there is no way I would buy this van. I miss my Odyssey dreadfully.)
Anyway, this topsy turvy week meant that some of our planned spring break activities had to be cancelled. I have some very disappointed girls because they missed their trip to Riverview Park and one girl who is over the moon because she lucked out and didn't have to take the driver's permit test. But with the loaner van we were still able to hit the Renaissance Festival yesterday, so all was not lost. We had a great time, and followed it up by having a girls' night watching the church's general women's broadcast and then going out for ice cream together. Tonight we will finish up with a bang by spending the evening at my parents' house-- they just got back from a two week trip to Egypt so I expect to see a lot of pictures! Plus, I have several sets of aunts and uncles and at least one cousin from out of town who will be there. Should be fun.
However, the fun ends tonight. Tomorrow the kids go back to school *gulp* and the last quarter is always hectic. I still have over a month until May, but I'm already feeling slightly anxious. Too much to do and not enough time. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it!
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