Car Trouble

I'm going on three days without a working car. I picked up the car from the mechanics on Wednesday, only semi-grudgingly wrote the check, and cheerfully loaded the kids in the car to complete some much-needed errands. After only five minutes on the road, with Christmas carols blaring on the radio, my car died. Completely. No sign of life, except for some erratic fluttering on all the dials before blackness.

I struggled to turn the steering wheel which had lost power steering and told the kids to start praying. Miraculously, the car re-started, and we coasted back into the mechanic's parking lot. I unloaded the kids into the cold afternoon air, turned over my keys to the apologetic mechanic, and walked back home...not so cheerfully.

Yesterday, I arrived at the mechanics very hopeful. I wrote the second check with a lump in my throat, and loaded up the kids again.

When the car stopped in the middle of busy Route 7 - fifteen miles from home- I lost it. Actually, I kept it together - but only because my friend, Karen, was there to help keep me in-check. But I sure felt like losing it. I wanted to scream, fling myself on the road, and pound my fists against the asphalt.

Today will be my third day without a car. Here's what I know about myself: I like having a car. I like having at least one outing per day (or at least the option/freedom of an outing). I get a bit stir-crazy when I'm stuck in my house all day long.

But here's what I choose to do today: I will stay positive. I will do laundry (I might as well, as long as I'm house-bound). I will make cookies. I will try to salvage some of my Christmas plans this week. I will try to see these turn-of-events as an opportunity to simplify and count my blessings.

At least, I will try.