Monday: Hmm. I'm not even sure where to begin ... this has been a "terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day" ... to quote a book title.
The majority of what was SUPPOSED to happen today did NOT ... my best-laid schemes went very much awry. You see, I had all laid out in my brain that I was picking up three of four grandchildren from Dylan and Kelly--Erin was signed up for an Irish dance class (we were scheduled to pick her up from that at 2:00 in the afternoon)--so the boys and I were coming back to my house where we were going to have breakfast, play with toys and games, eventually eat a light lunch (that I had pre-prepared), and then we were going to go exploring down at Mill Creek for about an hour before driving over to pick up Erin from her dance class.
BUT ... our day did not go even remotely like what I had planned!
On my way over to Dylan and Kelly's, I was on the 96 (I got on at the E.Beltline by Calvary Church) and as I was "merging" into the left lane I felt a weird sensation in my car--JUST LIKE it felt two years prior when I "jumped on it" while merging onto the 131 and instead of accelerating ... NOTHING happened; in fact, the car slowly decelerated and stopped moving at all! Today, I did finally get the car up to 70mph but no faster. I arrived at Dylan and Kelly's a little bit concerned, being this was so reminiscent of the incident two years ago (which was diagnosed as a "burnt out engine" and was fully replaced by Kia)--but Dylan and Kelly were really counting on me today and I had my plans all laid out--so I dismissed the car issue as being perhaps a fluke.
Dylan and Kelly and Erin left at 8:45 and the 3 boys and I hung around the house until about 10:45. I decided to do a little bit of a kitchen clean-up before we drove over to my place. But on the way over to my house, over on Grand River Drive (not far from Carl Street), we were going up a tiny hill and suddenly--NO acceleration--and finally NO forward movement, so I just let the car slide backward and aimed it off the road and onto the grass because it would not move forward even one inch. Can you imagine?
The boys were not alarmed because I wasn't screaming or anything--but I was truly afraid. Once again I found myself in a car with grandchildren that was totally UNSAFE! I called Jesse. HIS car was in the shop but due out in a few hours. He decided to call Larry and then both of them came in Larry's vehicle to pick us up from the side of the road. In the meantime, I called my insurance company and got the name of one of their tow-truck people and arranged for a tow over to the Kia dealership.
Larry and Jesse arrived and took all of us back to Dylan and Kelly's. In the meantime, I was trying to call Kia to tell them my car would be arriving; but Kia doesn't pick up their phones anymore. They just want you to TEXT back and forth. Yikes. What on earth is this world coming to?!?!?!?
Very long story short ... my car was towed to the Kia dealership (because I thought surely another engine had blown--the one they replaced my first engine with) and the kids and I went back to Dylan and Kelly's.
Here is where my car sat off of Grand River Drive and went absolutely NOWHERE ...
Meanwhile, I asked the kids to vacate the car (in case we were to get hit by another vehicle who wasn't paying attention) and then we all waited for Jesse to come and rescue us.
The boys didn't do badly at all while we waited ... they kind of paced back and forth. We were all a bit hungry, and I had been looking forward to feeding them the lunch I had prepared for them but now wasn't going to be able to do that. I actually had a few games in the back of my car that we hauled out and played along the sidewalk, except we had to keep moving because this is a bike path ... the grass was still wet from dew, so we couldn't sit on it. But eventually, Jesse and Larry arrived and took us back over to Dylan and Kelly's.
It all worked out in the end (about Erin). Her dance teacher was able to drop her off to us--but I didn't know that for several hours. Simultaneously, I was unsuccessfully calling the Kia dealership to let them know my car would arrive and would need some diagnostic testing. Evidently, a person cannot call and talk to any HUMAN BEING anymore at a dealership. One must TEXT and wait for a TEXT to be returned--even in emergency situations!?!?!
I fed the kids Mac 'n cheese, except evidently I cooked the WRONG Mac 'n cheese (this is according to Cal) because it was NOT the shell kind. Cal refused to eat lunch but told me he was very hungry. He just could NOT eat the other kind of Mac 'n cheese! So ... since I was already frustrated to the max about the car and not being able to contact Erin (oh--did I mention that I didn't even have a phone number to reach where Erin's dance class was being held?), I went to be pantry, found the "shell" Mac 'n cheese and cooked it up for Cal. He was right--this kind was far tastier than the plain kind!
Here is Cal in his very own coupe ... which runs about as good as mine does right now.
Thankfully, Dylan called Kelly's work place, reached the receptionist who then reached Erin's dance teacher and SHE drove Erin home from her dance class. Here she is. Erin is listening to my tale of woe regarding my very dead car.
Here is Cal listening to the entire story once again ... he's a very sympathetic little soul. And doesn't he have the dearest little face?
Here is Aidan ... he handled himself very well during our entire misadventure.
Since Dylan and Kelly's house is kept at 68 degrees (YES ... SIXTY-EIGHT) ... my toes were so cold after a few hours that I decided to warm them up on their front porch. All of the kids spent some time outside too--but mostly they were pigging out on screen time that I completely neglected to monitor most of the day.
Cal decided to play with a few ants on his front walk. He seriously was talking to them, directing their interactions with each other ... it was so much fun to watch him.
Cal eventually got an idea to make his ants a sign that would direct them over to the Forest Swamp he was making for them in the dirt by his front bushes. He went inside the house, retrieved a small piece of black paper, a colored pencil, and a glue stick -- these were his "sign" supplies. I observed him for awhile attempting to make his sign, but a glue stick doesn't work very well as an adhesive for paper and pencil unless, of course, your grandma helps you. I was able to write the words "FOREST SWAMP" on the little piece of black paper, and if I rolled the paper a few rolls with the pencil inside of it and the glue stick administered to the paper, it actually worked. Cal was able to post his sign and was very pleased. What had inspired the sign in the first place was the sign on their curb (see it in the bottom right picture?) inviting everyone to the Greek festival next weekend.
Dylan and Kelly returned home. Dylan drove me back to my house by about 6pm. I finally received a text from Kia telling me they had run the diagnostics and my car needed THREE things: (1) there is a dealership recall on some brake part that they will do for me; (2) it needs it's spark plugs replaced and a tune-up for which they quoted $325+; and (3) evidently the catalytic convertor is "clogged", and they will fix that for a mere $2,572. I am supposed to APPROVE via email and have them proceed with these three items.
NO WAY.
In the meantime, Jesse is picking the brains of his mechanic friends (Larry and Scott) and calling around to get other estimates. He advises that I at least have Kia do the recall (since that should be a no charge item), and then have some other shop do the other two. But I have to ask myself--is a 2016 Kia Soul worth the hassle and expense of costly repair? The last time I checked it's value, it came to just under two grand. I have to weigh it all out and try to come to a wise decision.
Naturally, I have worked myself up into a state of high anxiety over this. Shame on me.
I am NOT supposed to live naturally as a believer! I have supernatural Life within me! It's not that I haven't asked the Lord for wisdom about this situation; but I surely haven't rested in my heart about it. So that is what I need to do. I need to remember WHO I AM.
I am a child of my kind Heavenly Father, redeemed by his beloved Son, kept by his awesome Holy Spirit. I will do any and all research on my end, but I will reject the fear, the anxiety, the lies of ... natural thinking and learn to rely on Him for the answer. Thank you that You are always available to listen and that You have the answer that I need ... because You are a good and holy God.
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