Thursday, November 18, 2010

How NOT to survive while your husband is away on a business trip

Why does all the crazy stuff only seem to happen when my husband goes out of town?  Fall is kind of his crazy time of year.  Business slows down, so that's when the company schedules all of its business meetings and trips.  C left for Florida on Tuesday morning.  I've gotten used to it.  I've lived with his traveling alot for many years now.  But a girl can only take so much chaos on her own.

Tuesday started out as a normal everyday Tuesday.  Sort of.  My plan was to wake up early for a run, so I could be back before C left for the airport.  Only, B has taken to coming into my room at 2 am every night crying about nightmares, so I didn't get much sleep, and therefore didn't wake up at 5 to run.  Instead, I slept in, kids missed the bus, and I raced to the gym for a quick Pilates class that I knew I wouldn't be able to finish because B had play group at 10:00.  Then, I went visiting teaching which usually takes about 2 hours longer than scheduled.  I can't figure how to make it shorter.  Seriously.
After a doctor's appointment, and rushing home for piano lessons, my day was already a little hectic.  Tuesday is my long day for piano, too.  I have 7 students in a row with now breaks.  AND the girl's singing group practices, which are normally on Wednesdays, were changed to Tuesday for a recording session.  So somehow between all of my piano lessons, I had to drive K and B, separately, to and from singing.  So, when I got back from dropping B off, I had one more student left, and then I was home free.  BUT,
I got home, and there were 2 "sister missionaries" on my door step.  I'd forgotten that I'd signed up to participate in our ward's YM/YW activities in which the kids dress up, and act like missionaries.  I was supposed to feed them dinner, and they would teach us a discussion to our family.  I let them in, and my last student at the same time.  I didn't know what to do.  So, I had them sit in my living room, and listen to me teach  my last piano lesson, then I loaded my T & K, and the two YW into my car, brought them with me to pick up B, and then drove them to the Wendy's drive thru for dinner. 

I really don't think it gets any more white trash than that!

I survived Tuesday, thinking surely, it couldn't get any worse!

But, then, I woke up on Wednesday.  Boy, did I speak to soon!

Luckily the kids actually caught the bus, because when I got out to drive to the gym, the car wouldn't start.  I tried for 10 minutes, finally got it started, and instead driving to the mechanic, I went to the gym instead.  Hey, I had steam to blow off, I needed it.  After my class, I called the Chevy dealership, and they told me to bring it in.
Thankfully, they gave me a rental car to drive home, so B wasn't late for school, and I would have a way home.  It's a sweet ride.  Probably the ugliest color of florescent blue I've ever seen, and it could probably fit in the back of my Tahoe.  I'm not used to driving little cars, but at least I have something to drive, so no complaining.


I got a call from the mechanic late in the afternoon telling me the final diagnosis was a bad fuel pump, and it's going to cost $1000 to fix it.  I called around to different mechanics, and there were a few that were slightly cheaper, but the dealership offered a lifetime warranty, so I went with it.

So, sorry kids, this year, instead of presents for Christmas, we get a new fuel pump for the car!

Happy Holidays! 

Guess we'll wait to see what today brings.

5 comments:

Missy said...

I think a fuel pump will make a lovely gift for the children!
They can beat on it like a drum...

Lara Neves said...

Ugh.

I'm SO sorry. We just had a home repair that was almost $1K, and our Christmas will be slim, too.

Here's hoping things get easier!

Mikki said...

I think you're doing a great job of hanging in there!
That looks like my husbands car, same color too. hmmm.

Anonymous said...

Darnit. I hate to hear things like this. It's part of life, but who wants to be in it? :0). I know how you feel. We just had to dump $540 into a new toilet, repairs, etc. Something I really didn't want to spend my money on, but you know, everyone has to go the bathroom! It's a must.

wendy said...

Well, just tell the kids the reason they get to drive around and look at all the pretty Christmas lights....is due to the NEW fuel pump.
They will be grateful (tee,hee)

things like that always happend when our spouse is away it seems. Is it some kind of cosmic plan??