Wheels

Unfortunately, my mini-van "Jade" has passed from this life and into her next...most likely a scrapyard where perhaps she will be salvaged for parts or usable metal. In the words of Peanut, "But I loved that van...". As my older kids were exploring the wonders of the new van, Princess turned to Peanut and said, "It was a good van but it died and this van is WAY better and in time, you will learn to love this one." I did have to chuckle at that.

Here is, as they say...the rest of the story. I really am in many ways naive and ever the optimist. Even when it comes to automobiles, I hold out for some sort of miracle that leaking hoses will heal themselves long enough to make it to next payday or at least until that rebate check comes. I was so naive or blindly optimistic that I continued to drive my van while it was leaking anti-freeze to the point that the sickly sweet aroma was infiltrating the van's interior and Peanut was holding his nose, and I was listening to a loud "clunk" coming from under the hood...my optimism fading as I thought to myself, "This is not good but maybe I can make it til Monday where I can drop it off on my way to work..."

I continued to be optimistic and drove my leaking, now clunking mini-van that would also stall at the corners...and drove to meet my friend Debbie for dinner. But when I was a mere mile from my exit...I started losing power and hope...and I began pulling off onto the shoulder when Jade completely died. At first, she started up again but wouldn't stay running...so I held onto a glimmer of hope. But then I heard a strange "Pop", and then a "Hiss" and then billows of smoke or steam (I couldn't tell which and I wasn't going to take much time to sort it out) began to pour out from under my hood. I grabbed my purse and my cell phone, checked for traffic and leaped out of the van and walked back away from it in case it was going to blow up.

And I began to dial Debbie's husband to let him know where I was and could he tell Debbie I couldn't make it. He was kind enough to offer to come and get me and I accepted. A stranger did pull off and walk over to me and he heard me on the phone and told me that my car was not in danger of blowing up but I had blown something with the coolant...I assured him I had help on the way and he drove off.

I felt safer, so I hopped in the passenger side to get out of the wind and called my Dad. He too offered to help but I told him Scott was coming for me and if I needed anything, I would call again.

While I sat there, staring out the window, I was frustrated, scared, angry...all sorts of jumbled emotions all hitting me at once. I also felt very stupid and naive. I started to pray and quite honestly said, "Lord, you say we are to praise you in every circumstance but I just can't. I'm not there. I don't know what I can find to be thankful for."

At that moment, it struck me that if I had not had this dinner planned, then the next time I would have been in my van, I would have been heading off to church on Sunday, on this very same stretch of road and would have, no doubt, wound up in this same spot but I would have had my 4 kids with me and they would have been really frightened by all the steam coming out and I would have really started to panic as I would have had to deal with their fear as well as my own.

Ok, Lord. I can praise you for that. And I can praise you for my good friends who are willing to come to my rescue.

Worry began to set in. What was I going to do about a vehicle? How would I get to work? How much was this going to cost? I think at this point, the tears came. But I felt the Lord speak in to my heart and He said, "Scott will lend you his car."

Ohhh that is too much. I wouldn't ask them to do that. Just a ride home is all.


A few minutes later, Scott and Debbie pulled up behind me and we headed up the road to a gas station to figure out what to do. Scott did a lot for me. He got the number of a towing company and called and made arrangements for the tow. And then he dropped Debbie and I off at the restaurant so that we could have our dinner together. As we drove over to Applebee's, Scott and Debbie began talking and Scott says, "You know, I don't think we have anything going on where we need two vehicles. I can drive this to work. We can lend you our other car for a few days while you get yours fixed."

I could have been knocked over with a feather. I don't remember if I said anything or if I just nodded. I was struck dumb, for sure. Because the Lord had told me that this was what He was going to do. How could I refuse? It was a very humbling moment and one I will not forget.

What a blessing! Sunday was an important day at church. It was the annual business meeting and there were some important things on the agenda to vote on. I really wanted to be there. And I was able to go. I also knew I would be able to go to work on Monday.

However, even that plan was out of my hands. Because on Sunday night, I started to itch. And I looked down at my arm and noticed a funny rash. Then I looked at my other arm and it too was covered in the same rash. Come to think of it, I was kind of itchy all over. So I looked at other areas and saw that I had a red lacy rash from head to toe, front to back. My nose was itching and so were my ears. That freaked me out a little. What now??

Since I couldn't figure out what it could be. And I looked all over the web to figure it out. I had already figured out it was not hives. It looked nothing like hives. I was stumped. I went to bed and figured if it didn't go away, then I would go to the doctor.

I woke up at 6 am, my skin was flaming red. I was itching like crazy and nothing was improved. I figured I better not go to work until I figured out what this was. So, I called my boss and went back to bed for a couple more hours.

It turns out that it is Fifth disease. It's more common in children. Go figure. This is not the first time I have caught something that adults typically don't get...I got Foot and Mouth disease when I was 30...That one stumped the doctor, since I don't drool or go around sticking toys in my mouth. But I had the itchy blisters on my hands and feet and all around the inside of my mouth. Lots of fun. Fifth disease in children presents in a "slapped cheek" rash on the face then spreads to the extremities but other than that it is nothing to really worry about. And I read today, that once you have the rash appearing, you are no longer contagious. So, you were probably contagious and didn't know it. I also realized that PH (aka Punkin-Hee 4) has had the "slapped cheek" look going for a few days and also bright red ears. And then Princess was complaining about swelling in her mouth and I looked her over and sure enough, she's got the "slapped cheeks" too.

And if my day was NOT crazy enough, I get home from the doctor and find a note on my garage door saying that BB had thrown up and needed to be picked up ASAP. I also called the garage where my van was to see what the damage was. That is when the mechanic told me the bad news....I had blown the head gaskets and the car will not start...the cost to repair was going to be a minimum of $2600 plus the tow plus some other tests....He offered that if I decided not to keep the van, they would take it and then consider it even as far as the tow and charges I had already accrued were concerned. I tried not to cry on the phone but it was hard and I told him I needed to think things over. He was very nice and told me to take my time.

I called My Hero, My Dad and pretty soon, I was looking at vehicles on the internet. I had BB home but he seemed to have perked up and was hungry. (I wonder if he just got a little car sick...it's happened a few times before). So I decided that I could go and look, talk to someone about financing...see if it would work for me....

I pretty much new that the van was not really going to be worth the $2600 and that it meant that I was turning a very expensive corner with this vehicle...things were going to just keep breaking down. It was time to let it go.

BB and I began looking at minivans and met with a very nice salesman named Neil. I had been doing some research a few weeks ago on car sales, so I was feeling pretty comfortable with how things work at the dealer. I also knew what I could afford and I figured that if I was upfront with what I could do, then I would be in a better position to get what I wanted and not be sucked into something that was more than I could afford.

To make a long story short, BB and I drove off the lot a few hours later in our new van...a 2005 Black Dodge Grand Caravan. BB approves of the dual sliding doors with the buttons that open the doors automatically. He also likes the stow-and-go seating and was planning how we could arrange the seating when we go camping. He wanted to show his sister and brothers how everything worked. He was so proud. He could also rattle off the sticker price and what my monthly payment is going to be as well as how much I put down. Hopefully, he won't go blabbing that around to everyone! In a way, he feels that he has bought this van as much as I have. I am glad he had the chance to go through that experience with me. He really had a good time and was good company to have.

I'm still itching like crazy and when I am out in the sun, my cheeks flare up and I look like I have been slapped. But I'm driving a beautiful new van. I said my good-byes to Jade today when I dropped off the title and cleaned out the stuff we had inside.

And in other news related to Wheels...Peanut can ride a two wheeler! He hopped on this little bike we have that has no training wheels and took off....he wiped out at the end of the driveway but I was saying over and over, "Honey...you did it! You did it!! You rode it!"

He was so proud, he announced the next door neighbor that he can now ride a two wheeler and does not need training wheels any more. He was so excited to biking with his brothers. I of course, took some pictures. BB tried to steal Peanut's thunder by showing me some of his bike tricks. But it was still a happy moment. All in all, it was a really fine day. Praise God.