Oh how I hate cars

We have owned several different cars throughout our ten years of marriage and most of them were anything but nice. We had the cars without the air conditioning that we drove in the hot summer months, we had the nice car that would die every time you stopped, we had the car that would overheat if you drove it too much, we had the car without a heater that we drove during the cold winter months, and let's not forget the Buick that we drove that was given the nickname POS. Trust me, it lived up to it's name.

It's true, I am grateful that my cars have usually been able to get me from point A-point b in a normal amount of time, but today ladies and gentleman my car can get me NOWHERE! I guess you really do get what you pay for as I am slowly learning. At the time we bought this van otherwise referred to as our behemoth, I thought that it would be great, after all it was such a great price, it seemed like it was in decent condition, and most importantly, we could fit our entire brood in the thing.

After purchasing the 2001 piece of hud for $4500 we slowly started having problems with it. The check engine light started coming on, and we could not get the thing to pass emissions to save our lives, even after having it cleared by a mechanic who deemed that there was nothing wrong with it. Let's just say that I have been spending a lot of time learning about cars, and one of the things that I did learn was that since this is a Toyota vehicle, you have to get the codes checked at an actual Toyota dealership. After the Toyota dealership diagnosed the problem, I was on my way to the mechanic who I normally use. He replaced several of the belts, the fuel canister had issues, and then replaced the water pump. Mind you that this work was just done less than a month ago. This cost us close to $800.00.

Of course this morning we have a million things to do. We need to drop off Alyssa's friend after her sleepover last night, take Alyssa to meet her friend Zach who she will be spending the day with, and last but not least, we have a party for Vanderbilt that we need to be at. The van is having major issues, and we can't get it to idle very well, and the thing just keeps dying. Kevin's frustrated at this point, I am frustrated at this point, now what? We load the older kids in Kevin's car, take the babies out of the van, and he heads off to the party alone.

Kevin just called me and said that they are now heading home from the party after only being there for 10 minutes, good thing they drove all of the way to Nashville for NOTHING! Apparently Kelsie threw a tantrum and doesn't want to be at the party anymore. The party was held at an inflatable bounce play place. Sometimes, I seriously wonder why as parents that we even try to have a good time with our kids. That could be it's own subject so I won't go there right now.

I just want to get this stupid van fixed, and not worry about car problems anymore! Hopefully the rest of the day will go better than it has been going.