The joys of car ownership

Gotta LOVE it when the car is on the fritz.

Of course, there is no one to blame but myself. I've known that it was going to go kaput soon. For a while (about two weeks now) I've been negotiating with it to start. I would turn the key, the engine would rev up, I would have to hold down the gas for a while to keep it running, but eventually she would continue to idle without my help. I kept thinking, "just this one time...I PROMISE I'll get you to the mechanic tomorrow"...lol, well, I think little Miss Tribute got to the point where she didn't believe me anymore. I wonder why????

I watched a friend of mine's little guy this morning while she took her oldest to the Doctor. When she came back she asked if we wanted to go for lunch (an offer that I NEVER refuse, you will soon learn. I HAVE to get my adult interaction somwhere!)

They had already left to go to the restaurant, and THAT is when my dear little SUV decided that she was no longer going to run unless the gas pedal was down. That meant that I had to let my car coast down our driveway and turn in to the road (with NO power steering mind you). I then had to put it in park, quickly step on the brake to get it in to drive, and then faster than you can blink, step on the gas before it idled low enough to cut off. I was SOOO proud of myself when I got it going!!!! I didn't think far enough ahead though, because not a half mile down the road....is a STOP sign. Once again, I had to go through the stop, start, brake, gas routine. I managed to get us to the next.....STOP LIGHT! Oh man...it was such a pain in the ass to get to that restaurant! (See my priorities?? Food before transportation...am I wrong?) THEN, when we got there, I realized that I had to find a parking place (without stopping) that I could pull straight out of. There was NO way in Haites that I was going to be able to do my magic in reverse!!!

I figured that I, along with my munchkins, needed to at least get a good lunch before we headed to the mechanic. Who knew how long we would be stuck there. Luckily it was about 4 blocks away with few stops and starts. The worst part was trying to wait for a gap to cross FOUR lanes of traffic to get to the dealership. The whole time Colin was in the backseat screaming at me about something. Needless to say it probably wasn't one of my "proudest" mommy moments as I yelled back..., "HUSH, I HAVE TO DRIVE THE CAR!!!" Did I mention that this is in the pouring rain too?? Thanks Ernesto!

Can you just IMAGINE how frazzled I was when we finally got there?? Those poor, poor, men in the service department. I jumped out with Landon on one hip and sternly told Colin (my CAR fanatic) NOT to touch anything and stay RIGHT by my side. Somehow, I managed to coherantly tell this man what was going on with the car, and then I proceeded to BEG for a loaner to get home for afternoon nap time. Luckily, he remained very calm, and proceeded to tell me exactly what I needed to hear. "M'am, I can get you home, but I don't think I have a loaner". THANK GOD!!!

So.....some $300 later. We are home. Landon is asleep. Kelly will be picking up the car tonight with a friend's help and I am off to eat some chocolate.