Aug. 28, 2008 - Optimism put to the test

I am by nature an optimistic person. I don't have to think very hard and long to find the positive in any situation. Even in Rachel's cystic hygroma ordeal last summer, I found several things to be grateful for.  For instance, I was grateful that she was diagnosed after she was born, due to chromosomal issues if found in utero, that John had a great situation at work with time off and insurance, and that it was summer time and I didn't have to worry about schooling and surgery.  See, I took a trying time and found blessings in it. 

The problem is that today I strapped, ok supervised, all five kids into their car seats and boosters and then I started the van with its new battery.  The good news is that today the van started!  Yeah!  We had battery issues yesterday and the kids sat in the car for 30+ minutes while the neighbors tried to help jump the van. 

So, the kids are all buckled up, journals in their hands so we can do our school work at the playground while we eat, the van is started and then I put the van in reverse.  It felt really weird, unlike anything I have felt it do before. I was sure I had run over a toy so I sent Sam out to look under the wheels.   No problem there, so I put the van in drive to pull forward and try again.  It lurched to a complete dead stop instantly.  Picture the scene, I am going under 5 mph  and the van comes to an absolute complete stop in a second, which makes the girls sceam and the boys look amazed that I would do that to the van.  It actually made the tires squeel, similar to a teenaged driver who is heavy on the brakes.  Every time I tried to drive forward it would abruply stop no matter my speed.  Needless to say  I didn't even leave the driveway.

I have no idea what is going on now, so I called John,and he said to let the car idle for 30 minutes and then try to drive it again.  He thought it might have beena computer gliche from changing the battery.  So I left everyone strapped in and we just sat, and sat, and sat for 30 minutes.  The boys wrote in their journals and the girls complained about how hungry they were.  Austin actually wrote a few more poems and Sam wrote another journal entry about his friend Noah.

I prayed out loud, Austin prayed silently, Sam prayed silently and yet, the van would not move properly. So I gathered my little cranky ducklings and went inside to fix a non Zaxbys lunch. 

So without further ado here is my list of blessings in this situation:

• We saved gas money for two days in a row
• We saved money being spent on my meal (the kids had coupons)
• I saved myself about 1,000 calories :)
• We spent time together as a family, in a locked down van with seatbelts on
• We finished up all the leftovers in the fridge, finally
• My fridge is a lot cleaner and streamlined looking now
• I probably saved myself a load of dirty, wet laundry from the playground visit
• Naptime started on time, even Sam and Katie in their crankiness earned a naptime today
• I had time to read the business meeting notes from our church, they had taken up residence in our van for some reason
• And lastly, not having a working van for 2 days has made me appreciate having a van at all!

To be continued . . . . . .

Update later on tonight.

So, John left work to service my van and see what was going on. Right before he came home I went out and tried the brakes again and sure enought they wouldn't function properly.

When John gets home he goes straight for the van, starts it right up and drives away!   Not a single problem with the brakes!  I couldn't believe it.  I seriously checked them 10 minutes before he came home and they were still terrible and then he just sits down and drives away. It's a good thing he loves me because it really looked like I cryed wolf. I'll have to say that I am not one to waste such a great opportunity to have another adult on hand, so I took Sam and we ran several errrands, in Daddy's car!