When it rains...it pours

This week was a long one.  It seemed like there was something everyday.  And quitting isn't usually an option. 

Monday. I was lucky enough that the kids slept in a little (although Mr. Man was probably up at 4:30 b/c that's his new trick. I throw a bottle at him and he goes back to sleep). Andrew amazingly got up earlier than usual (usual being when the last kid wakes up) and was going to get to work early.  

I heard a lot of doors slamming. House doors. Car doors. Eventually I got a phone call (while I was in bed) asking where his transit card was.  I knew things were ugly so I got out of bed and went downstairs to an angry bear. His car wouldn't start.  He couldn't find his transit card. He had tried to jump his car to no success. I had taken his transit card over the weekend and couldn't find it to give it to him.

His dead car became my problem. Great. I called the dealership to see if they had someone who could come tow/jump/fix the problem. They didn't call me back until much later in the day.  As Mr. Man took a nap and Miss M and I watched Mickey Mouse I got to thinking I should go outside and try to figure everything out.  Andrew was all frustrated b/c he couldn't find the racket to get the nuts off the battery to remove it from the car. I was able to get the ratchet figured out and the nuts disassembled in just a couple minutes.  Victory #1.

As I was taking the nuts off it dawned on me that it didn't make sense that the car didn't even turn over.  I determined it was likely he hadn't let the dead car charge from the operating car so that's what I did. I hooked the jumper cables up. Let the van give the car some juice and chased Miss M around. It started to rain so I tried starting the dead car and voila the car was fixed. 

Oh victory is sweet. And I let everyone know it. 

For some reason the battery in the Volvo is in the trunk - it's actually quite convenient. 

I don't really remember Tuesday/Wednesday.  They must have been mild.

On Thursday Helen and the boys came over to hang out. Helen and I were sitting within a couple feet of Mr. Man while he played in the sand on the trampoline.  The trampoline is maybe 6 inches off the ground.  He started to lean over and we jumped. He sat back up. He leaned over again and we couldn't get to him fast enough. He barely skinned his head on the cement. He was sad. I was sad. It looked awful.  

After Mr. Man went to bed Miss M and I went outside to wait for Andrew to come home. She was running in circles around the sidewalk/walkway/driveway and before I know it she's on the ground crying. It's sully not a big deal but this time she had a knot on her head and both knees were skinned up. She recovered pretty quick and wanted to go back out and run. She went back out and down she went again.  I tried to tell her she was too tired and couldn't run anymore. Thankfully Andrew came home and she was done running.

Friday the kids both slept in again. Mr. Man was up at 4:30 so it's only sort of like sleeping in. I had wanted to go to an aqua class at the gym so I packed quick. Threw the kids into the car - almost literally - started backing out and noticed something wasn't right. My tire pressure light had been on for a few days but when I went to look at the tires to figure out which was low I couldn't tell. I didn't take the time to get it checked out. I didn't want to deal with kids and checking out cars. 

When I got out of the car to figure out what was wrong it was immediately apparent that I had a flat tire. Flat. Done. Not going anywhere. So we unloaded from the car. I contemplated for far too long whether I would call to have it towed or change the spare myself. I wanted to try to change the spare but having two kids running all over and into the street while I lay six months pregnant under a car didn't seem reasonable. 

I called the tow truck. 30 minutes and $75 later the van was towed to the tire shop. The tow truck guy was really nice and told me the van tires are very difficult to change and deal with even for him. 

The tire shop called a few hours later to tell me there was a screw in the inner wall (or something like that) and it was not fixable. Not fixable was really all I needed to hear. They were able to replace the tire for a low price of $225.  The kids and I walked to the train station and rode the train to the last stop and walked to the tire shop and picked up the van. I was so sad by the events of the day I went to Costco (my happy place) and bought anything and everything I wanted.  

 But baby legs make it all better.

So does McDonalds. Miss M got fries. I got a large fully loaded Coke. Mr. Man and I shared a sundae. Everyone won and everyone was happy.