My babies are almost 1. Sigh. One year ago right now I was in early labor, so tired of contractions and thought my babies would never come. Just 1 year ago... It is almost surreal.
I recently came across an email I sent to some doula friends in the weeks before the girls were born and in it I was completely freaking out about pretty much everything, as usual. Reading it brought back all of those feelings of anxiety and stress and anticipation and fear... I can still feel exactly how I felt during that time. I knew life was going to be different but I really had no idea one year ago just how different it was going to be.
These babies have done something to me. Maybe it's the fact that we went through so much hell for 5 months that I can pretty much handle anything at this point... maybe it's because they have forced me to be organized, who knows, but I feel so much better about life now than I ever have before. There are so many things that I used to stress about that just don't matter anymore. I never would have thought these babies would make me sane. Never. Of course the teething and "oh &$*% she ate something with wheat and now she's going to be up all night screaming" days and endless diapers can wear on me but there is really so much joy in my life it is almost nauseating.
A and MJ are such funny babies. Just recently they have really started to interact with each other. They love to play together, even trading toys when they get bored with what they are playing with. The hold hands while they are in the stroller and while they eat, if you put them close enough. Of course, that is between A stealing bites of food off of MJ's plate. MJ really needs to learn to eat faster, before A takes all of it and she ends up being the runt for the rest of her life.
When MJ wants to get A's attention, she will fake cough and then they will have a complete conversation. No clue as to what they are saying... probably something along the lines of, "holy crap, she had to put another one of these ridiculous bows on us AGAIN?! Does she not see they are literally bigger than our heads? This is annoying. That woman has flipped her lid". And then when MJ gets distracted by a shiny object, A will fake cough to get her attention and they will finish out their conversation.
What is most interesting is that they have no interest in other babies, except for each other. If you put them in front of a mirror, they won't look at their own reflection, they will look directly at each other's reflection. If you put just one of them in front of a mirror, she will look at the person holding her, instead of her reflection. But they do love their brother and sister, that's for sure. They are all smiles when W and CB walk in the room. It is so sweet to watch all of them together... I just hope it lasts...
They both are growing leaps and bounds. Just in the past 2 months they have become mobile and quick. While neither of them are very close to walking, they each have their own unique way of getting around. A crawls like she's swimming. She looks just like she's doing the breaststroke. And MJ crawls like she's been shot and is dragging herself to safety. She keeps her left arm under her chest and drags her left leg, propelling herself with her right arm and right leg... maybe we should get that checked...
MJ is definitely the jokester, like we've always known she would be. She plays peek-a-boo and loves to make noise and laugh. She has such a good temperament and is generally willing to just hang out. A is more of the diva princess, for sure. She very much prefers for you to do things for her. She'll crawl all the way down the hallway to get to you and then stop 3 feet from where you are and will sit up and SCREAM until you come and get her. She simply cannot be bothered to crawl the rest of the way. She makes me smile.
It has been a long year. One filled with so many ups and downs, laughter and tears, freak outs and realizations, sleepless nights, character building, humbling experiences, and learning... and yet it seems to have gone by in an instant.
They say it takes a village to raise a child and that is really true for us. We would have not made it through this year with our sanity intact if it weren't for our family and friends who have stood by us and at times literally held us up. Those who came and held my babies so I could take a shower, who stopped by or made me go to lunch so I could have some adult interaction, who took care of W and CB so I could make it through the day with the babies, who just sat and listened when I was at my breaking point and who have come to our rescue in time of need have a huge place in my heart. I don't know where we would have been without all of you.
And to my angel-- the wonderful wonderful woman who so graciously and willingly sacrificed so much by taking everything delicious out of her diet to provide milk for my babies so they could thrive when I couldn't do it: I've told you before what that has meant to me but I really can't say it enough. You helped give my babies life and made them grow. Without you they wouldn't have been as happy or healthy and that is something that is truly invaluable to me. What you did was so selfless and amazing, I only wish I could do something half as wonderful for someone one day. You are a true example of kindness and generosity and we are so blessed to know you. Thank you so much for what you did for us and for my babies. It means the world to me.
So here's to another year-- Happy birthday sweet babies. I love you.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
riddle me this:
I know not everyone is as addicted to coffee as I am, or is as irresponsible as I am to actually go out and buy a $5 cup of coffee on a near daily basis, but I figure there are some people out there who are and will have insight on this very perplexing situation.
A few days ago we went to Starbucks and ordered the following: Grande, Light Ice, Upside Down, Caramel Macchiato. Now yeah, the caramel macchiato is kind of a confusing drink in itself-- I mean, the flavoring is vanilla and not caramel like you'd think it would be, so when you throw the "upside down" in there you are pretty much asking for trouble. But this barista, unlike the one the day before, knew that upside down essentially means you make it in the reverse order that you normally would-- coffee and caramel on the bottom, milk goes in after. The other barista was like, "Um, y'all? So do you like, want the caramel on top? or on the bottom...?" and then she ended up not putting it in at all. Whatever. Some things are just hard for people, ok?
Reminds me of the time way back in the day when I went and ordered a Venti, 2%, Extra Hot, Toffee Nut Latte. And the girl made it with half and half. And when I asked her if she made it with half and half, she told me she made it with 2%. But I saw her make it with half and half and when I said that, she said that half and half is the same thing as 2%. What? How? Because half and half is half whole milk and half non fat, so it's half and half. Um, no. Close, kinda, but no. But good try. 'A' for effort! Now if you would please remake my drink with 2% so it literally does not go straight to my butt and stick to my arteries, I'd appreciate it.
ANYWAY! The upside down thing didn't trip up this barista, the request for light ice did. When he brought our drinks to the counter, they were hot. But we asked for iced drinks. And when I said I had asked for them to be cold he gave me an annoyed sigh and a 'tude and told me that, "around here, 'light ice' means that you want the drink hot with a little bit of room for ice at the top to cool it down." Do what now? First of all, "around here"? Where "around here"? Like, on this block? In this state? Do I look like a tourist and that's why you are saying "around here"? Cause I'm driving a car with Alaska plates... my California accent must have given it away that I'm not from "around here", right?
I've drank coffee in 19 states and 9 countries and I'm pretty sure I've never heard that before. I'm pretty sure that "light ice" universally means "don't put so much freaking ice in my drink that it is coffee flavored water by the time I take 2 sips, por favor". So don't make me look the fool when I clearly asked for an iced drink and you brought me a hot one.
Am I wrong? Baristas and coffee lovers, please correct me if I am and I'll go back to that Starbucks (that is actually located right next door to a sleep clinic-- no lie. Irony.) and apologize to the guy for asking him to correct his mistake. I know it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but let's face it, I don't want to be driving across the country looking like an idiot who doesn't know how to order a drink! I really don't mean to be difficult but if I'm going to drop 5 bucks for a drink, I want to like it and be how I like it. Maybe I should change my tastes and ask for something less complicated? No, I don't "do" regular coffee. Hey, at least I'm not this guy:
A few days ago we went to Starbucks and ordered the following: Grande, Light Ice, Upside Down, Caramel Macchiato. Now yeah, the caramel macchiato is kind of a confusing drink in itself-- I mean, the flavoring is vanilla and not caramel like you'd think it would be, so when you throw the "upside down" in there you are pretty much asking for trouble. But this barista, unlike the one the day before, knew that upside down essentially means you make it in the reverse order that you normally would-- coffee and caramel on the bottom, milk goes in after. The other barista was like, "Um, y'all? So do you like, want the caramel on top? or on the bottom...?" and then she ended up not putting it in at all. Whatever. Some things are just hard for people, ok?
Reminds me of the time way back in the day when I went and ordered a Venti, 2%, Extra Hot, Toffee Nut Latte. And the girl made it with half and half. And when I asked her if she made it with half and half, she told me she made it with 2%. But I saw her make it with half and half and when I said that, she said that half and half is the same thing as 2%. What? How? Because half and half is half whole milk and half non fat, so it's half and half. Um, no. Close, kinda, but no. But good try. 'A' for effort! Now if you would please remake my drink with 2% so it literally does not go straight to my butt and stick to my arteries, I'd appreciate it.
ANYWAY! The upside down thing didn't trip up this barista, the request for light ice did. When he brought our drinks to the counter, they were hot. But we asked for iced drinks. And when I said I had asked for them to be cold he gave me an annoyed sigh and a 'tude and told me that, "around here, 'light ice' means that you want the drink hot with a little bit of room for ice at the top to cool it down." Do what now? First of all, "around here"? Where "around here"? Like, on this block? In this state? Do I look like a tourist and that's why you are saying "around here"? Cause I'm driving a car with Alaska plates... my California accent must have given it away that I'm not from "around here", right?
I've drank coffee in 19 states and 9 countries and I'm pretty sure I've never heard that before. I'm pretty sure that "light ice" universally means "don't put so much freaking ice in my drink that it is coffee flavored water by the time I take 2 sips, por favor". So don't make me look the fool when I clearly asked for an iced drink and you brought me a hot one.
Am I wrong? Baristas and coffee lovers, please correct me if I am and I'll go back to that Starbucks (that is actually located right next door to a sleep clinic-- no lie. Irony.) and apologize to the guy for asking him to correct his mistake. I know it's not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but let's face it, I don't want to be driving across the country looking like an idiot who doesn't know how to order a drink! I really don't mean to be difficult but if I'm going to drop 5 bucks for a drink, I want to like it and be how I like it. Maybe I should change my tastes and ask for something less complicated? No, I don't "do" regular coffee. Hey, at least I'm not this guy:
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
seriously
Yesterday was one of those days where the only proper response to almost every situation was a resounding, "SERIOUSLY?!" Seriously. The twins woke up at 5:15 am, teething something fierce. A is cutting 2 teeth and MJ is cutting 4. Seriously. Cranky babies all day. Seriously.
Then every time the phone rang there was just bad news. It got to the point where we would just look at the phone when it rang, wondering what on earth it could possibly be NOW. M called and told me that it wasn't exactly going to cost the $400 we were told it would to fix the transmission in his car (which busted the day after mine blew, Seriously.) but it was going to cost $3100. SERIOUSLY?! Because we just have that kind of cash laying around. Seriously. Especially after traveling across the country and buying plane tickets to Alaska. Seriously. The fix it place was more than willing to give us financing, at 12%. SERIOUSLY?! Oh yeah, put those papers on the desk and give me the pen. Silly people. I'll pick up a shift or two at Hooters before I pay 12% interest on anything. Seriously!
T's son J, who is 2, was feeling our stress so I decided to take him out for a walk. I noticed an unusually large number of seagulls out, but didn't think much of it, until we started walking and one started squawking and divebombed our heads. Seriously. I thought it was just a fluke so we just kept walking, but no, the thing did it 4 or 5 more times before the light bulb finally went off that something wasn't right, or that this bird had dug through someones trash and took a hit of their left over booze... or pills... or... whatever. As we headed home the thing kept diving for our heads. I was screaming, J thought it was hilarious and was screaming just like I was. I'm sure we looked like a big bunch of freak shows. Seriously. Thank goodness we made it home without the thing taking out a chunk of my hair, or picking J straight up off the ground with its crazy razor sharp talons. Seriously.
After we got home we realized the stupid thing was protecting something and T finally saw the 3 baby seagulls walking across the driveway. The mama had kicked them out of their nest and was teaching them to live on their own, and in the process was keeping everything away by crapping on them or taking off pieces of their ears. Seriously. I am not exaggerating, at all. Seriously. So for a good 2 hours we ran from the porch and back inside trying to avoid getting our eyes gouged out while still watching the baby birds. Seriously. And it was also pretty entertaining to watch as innocent bystanders had the audacity to actually drive into their driveways and get out of their cars, not knowing that they were about to run screaming and crying into their homes as their lives flashed before their eyes. Seriously.
So then M calls back and told me that the transmission in his car breaking might actually be a good thing (??). Seriously?! You are not getting a new car, sorry. Seriously. But no, he assured me it was actually a good thing because we could pay for the transmission by refinancing the van, at an interest rate that was half of the interest we were paying now (the lowest rate in the past 2 years), which meant we could actually be paying less for our monthly payments. SERIOUSLY!? Sign me up! That is a deal I can handle. And I won't have to go work at Hooters! (And for real, don't even start to lecture me about finances and spending and being responsible with money and blah blah blah. SER.I.OUS.LY.)
Deep down I knew the transmission thing was going to work out so I refused to really stress about it. I was pretty much at that "...whatever..." point. I mean, seriously, what are the odds that the transmissions in both of our cars would need to be completely replaced in the same week? SERIOUSLY! We should start playing the lotto and staying inside during thunderstorms so we don't get struck by lightning. Seriously! Do we have little transmission gnomes living in our cars? Did we make the transmission gods mad? How is that even possible? Seriously.
Even though something good came of the crazy day, it was just seriously thing after thing, bad news after bad news, weirdness after weirdness. By 6pm A had found a cookie and was eating that while sucking down a cup of J's soy milk (which she's allergic to), MJ was in the corner sucking on a dum dum and J was doing only God knows what... Seriously, when did I become mother of the year? T and I finally threw all the kids in bed, did the dishes and sat down for a much needed break, only to realize that we hadn't eaten dinner, at all. Seriously. And what sounded delicious at 10pm? Half price day old donuts from Safeway, of course. Seriously! I'm pretty sure the checker thought I was high and had the munchies as the contents of my cart included the following: 6, half price day old donuts, a bag of ruffles, 2 containers of yogurt, a couple of boxes of candy, blueberries, strawberries and a bag of cherries. Seriously. Nothing like a sugar crash to put me right to sleep. Had to counteract that 5pm cup of coffee somehow. Seriously. It was just that kind of day. Seriously.
Then every time the phone rang there was just bad news. It got to the point where we would just look at the phone when it rang, wondering what on earth it could possibly be NOW. M called and told me that it wasn't exactly going to cost the $400 we were told it would to fix the transmission in his car (which busted the day after mine blew, Seriously.) but it was going to cost $3100. SERIOUSLY?! Because we just have that kind of cash laying around. Seriously. Especially after traveling across the country and buying plane tickets to Alaska. Seriously. The fix it place was more than willing to give us financing, at 12%. SERIOUSLY?! Oh yeah, put those papers on the desk and give me the pen. Silly people. I'll pick up a shift or two at Hooters before I pay 12% interest on anything. Seriously!
T's son J, who is 2, was feeling our stress so I decided to take him out for a walk. I noticed an unusually large number of seagulls out, but didn't think much of it, until we started walking and one started squawking and divebombed our heads. Seriously. I thought it was just a fluke so we just kept walking, but no, the thing did it 4 or 5 more times before the light bulb finally went off that something wasn't right, or that this bird had dug through someones trash and took a hit of their left over booze... or pills... or... whatever. As we headed home the thing kept diving for our heads. I was screaming, J thought it was hilarious and was screaming just like I was. I'm sure we looked like a big bunch of freak shows. Seriously. Thank goodness we made it home without the thing taking out a chunk of my hair, or picking J straight up off the ground with its crazy razor sharp talons. Seriously.
After we got home we realized the stupid thing was protecting something and T finally saw the 3 baby seagulls walking across the driveway. The mama had kicked them out of their nest and was teaching them to live on their own, and in the process was keeping everything away by crapping on them or taking off pieces of their ears. Seriously. I am not exaggerating, at all. Seriously. So for a good 2 hours we ran from the porch and back inside trying to avoid getting our eyes gouged out while still watching the baby birds. Seriously. And it was also pretty entertaining to watch as innocent bystanders had the audacity to actually drive into their driveways and get out of their cars, not knowing that they were about to run screaming and crying into their homes as their lives flashed before their eyes. Seriously.
So then M calls back and told me that the transmission in his car breaking might actually be a good thing (??). Seriously?! You are not getting a new car, sorry. Seriously. But no, he assured me it was actually a good thing because we could pay for the transmission by refinancing the van, at an interest rate that was half of the interest we were paying now (the lowest rate in the past 2 years), which meant we could actually be paying less for our monthly payments. SERIOUSLY!? Sign me up! That is a deal I can handle. And I won't have to go work at Hooters! (And for real, don't even start to lecture me about finances and spending and being responsible with money and blah blah blah. SER.I.OUS.LY.)
Deep down I knew the transmission thing was going to work out so I refused to really stress about it. I was pretty much at that "...whatever..." point. I mean, seriously, what are the odds that the transmissions in both of our cars would need to be completely replaced in the same week? SERIOUSLY! We should start playing the lotto and staying inside during thunderstorms so we don't get struck by lightning. Seriously! Do we have little transmission gnomes living in our cars? Did we make the transmission gods mad? How is that even possible? Seriously.
Even though something good came of the crazy day, it was just seriously thing after thing, bad news after bad news, weirdness after weirdness. By 6pm A had found a cookie and was eating that while sucking down a cup of J's soy milk (which she's allergic to), MJ was in the corner sucking on a dum dum and J was doing only God knows what... Seriously, when did I become mother of the year? T and I finally threw all the kids in bed, did the dishes and sat down for a much needed break, only to realize that we hadn't eaten dinner, at all. Seriously. And what sounded delicious at 10pm? Half price day old donuts from Safeway, of course. Seriously! I'm pretty sure the checker thought I was high and had the munchies as the contents of my cart included the following: 6, half price day old donuts, a bag of ruffles, 2 containers of yogurt, a couple of boxes of candy, blueberries, strawberries and a bag of cherries. Seriously. Nothing like a sugar crash to put me right to sleep. Had to counteract that 5pm cup of coffee somehow. Seriously. It was just that kind of day. Seriously.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
trippin numero dos
Well, we made it. As semi promised, my car was ready by 3pm and we had it repacked and on the road by 3:18 on Thursday afternoon. And then we drove... and drove... and drove. We drove from the Arkansas/ Oklahoma boarder, through Oklahoma, North Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and half of California, only stopping for food, gas, and diaper changes. And for a small nap at a well lit and very busy rest stop somewhere in New Mexico.
We drove for 35 hours. 35 non stop hours with 4 kids ages 4 and under. It was... interesting. Someone asked my friend J if it took us so long because we drove 50 MPH the entire time, and no, we didn't. But we did drive about 60 because it was so darn windy through New Mexico, Arizona and So Cal that we couldn't go much faster in a fully loaded van with a stroller strapped to the roof. It was so windy that I got only 13.4 miles per gallon through most of AZ and So Cal. And there was the stopping 30 minutes out of every 3 hours to take care of everyone. 35 hours. THIRTY. FIVE. HOURS.
But we all survived, relatively sane and mentally intact, even with all of the car drama. The kids were amazing and put up with it very well and NO, there was no use of benedryl or other sleep inducing medicine. I don't roll that way, ever. People have asked me how we did it, how we kept them entertained and from throwing things at our heads and the truth is, we didn't have to do much (but I'll save that post for a later date). They are just awesome kids.
Three days after we got "home", the twins and I hopped a plane to Alaska. I'll save the "how the heck do you fly with twins" post for a later date also, but let's sum it up, again, as I have awesome kids. I am so glad I am here, I have missed my friend T like crazy and this is exactly what she needs... what I need too... because it is all about me, after all. I have to say though, it is a little weird to have my family spread out just about as far as you can be within the USA. M is on the East Coast, W and CB are on the West and I'm all the way in Alaska with the twins. I think we should all meet in Hawaii later in the Summer and call it good. Then we will have literally trekked from end to end of the country.
There are so many questions, I know: "Why are you up there?" "What is going on?" "How on earth could you leave your kids for so long?" "Why would you leave your kids for so long?" "How could you take them away from their father for so long?" "Why would you leave your husband for so long, or at all?" "Are you guys separating?" That one is always my favorite. Blah.
I'll answer the first two questions when I can but I will say now that, no, M and I aren't separating and yes, I love W and CB very, very much. I'm ok with being away from them for so long as they are ok with being away from us for so long. I trust them, I trust my parents (who they are staying with), I know they are fine and will survive without me and will be ok without M too. M can't take time off right now and while he misses us tremendously, he knows this is exactly where we all need to be right now and is fine with it.
Dudes, we live a crazy life. It wouldn't be us if it wasn't ridiculous. We'd be all bored and stuff. We'd be... "normal"... and that would be weird. Not that normal is bad, it just isn't what we do. This is what we do. It doesn't make sense to many, or any, and there are very few people who understand this kind of life but it works for us. I'm not going to justify it, or try to explain it because 1) I don't need to and 2) it would probably be a waste of time and 3) did I mention I don't need to? Ok, thanks. Ooooooh, look at me getting all defensive. I just don't want to hear the judgments anymore. So if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all, por favor. Gracias.
We drove for 35 hours. 35 non stop hours with 4 kids ages 4 and under. It was... interesting. Someone asked my friend J if it took us so long because we drove 50 MPH the entire time, and no, we didn't. But we did drive about 60 because it was so darn windy through New Mexico, Arizona and So Cal that we couldn't go much faster in a fully loaded van with a stroller strapped to the roof. It was so windy that I got only 13.4 miles per gallon through most of AZ and So Cal. And there was the stopping 30 minutes out of every 3 hours to take care of everyone. 35 hours. THIRTY. FIVE. HOURS.
But we all survived, relatively sane and mentally intact, even with all of the car drama. The kids were amazing and put up with it very well and NO, there was no use of benedryl or other sleep inducing medicine. I don't roll that way, ever. People have asked me how we did it, how we kept them entertained and from throwing things at our heads and the truth is, we didn't have to do much (but I'll save that post for a later date). They are just awesome kids.
Three days after we got "home", the twins and I hopped a plane to Alaska. I'll save the "how the heck do you fly with twins" post for a later date also, but let's sum it up, again, as I have awesome kids. I am so glad I am here, I have missed my friend T like crazy and this is exactly what she needs... what I need too... because it is all about me, after all. I have to say though, it is a little weird to have my family spread out just about as far as you can be within the USA. M is on the East Coast, W and CB are on the West and I'm all the way in Alaska with the twins. I think we should all meet in Hawaii later in the Summer and call it good. Then we will have literally trekked from end to end of the country.
There are so many questions, I know: "Why are you up there?" "What is going on?" "How on earth could you leave your kids for so long?" "Why would you leave your kids for so long?" "How could you take them away from their father for so long?" "Why would you leave your husband for so long, or at all?" "Are you guys separating?" That one is always my favorite. Blah.
I'll answer the first two questions when I can but I will say now that, no, M and I aren't separating and yes, I love W and CB very, very much. I'm ok with being away from them for so long as they are ok with being away from us for so long. I trust them, I trust my parents (who they are staying with), I know they are fine and will survive without me and will be ok without M too. M can't take time off right now and while he misses us tremendously, he knows this is exactly where we all need to be right now and is fine with it.
Dudes, we live a crazy life. It wouldn't be us if it wasn't ridiculous. We'd be all bored and stuff. We'd be... "normal"... and that would be weird. Not that normal is bad, it just isn't what we do. This is what we do. It doesn't make sense to many, or any, and there are very few people who understand this kind of life but it works for us. I'm not going to justify it, or try to explain it because 1) I don't need to and 2) it would probably be a waste of time and 3) did I mention I don't need to? Ok, thanks. Ooooooh, look at me getting all defensive. I just don't want to hear the judgments anymore. So if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all, por favor. Gracias.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
trippin
A couple of weeks ago my best friend T called me with news that managed to turn my Y axis 180 degrees and caused my world start spinning in the opposite direction. She's been my partner in crime, my confidant, the devil on my shoulder, the voice of reason in my ear, my medicine, my poison, the source of my sanity and a pillar of strength for the past 9 years-- what was happening had to be a cruel joke, but it wasn't. In that moment, I told her that if there was anything I could do, anything at all, to just say it and I'd be there. Last week we decided that I was going to go to her, so we could just be.
In order to do this, I needed to head back to CA, with the kids, drop the older 2 off with my parents and then take the twins with me to T. No big deal-- this is cake! We just did this trip, we're pros. I called my friend J and asked her if she wanted to take a few days off of work to come out and then drive with me and she said yes. And I reminded her that I had 4 kids and she would be stuck, in a minivan, for 4 days. And she still said yes. That is a good friend, right there
So I got everything in order, started packing, tying up the loose ends and getting ready to be gone for anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. I took the car in for a check up, making sure they checked the transmission because the car had done something funny when I tried to reverse earlier in the week. They changed the oil, told me everything was fine with the transmission and I told them that was good because the last thing I needed was for the car to blow up on me in the middle of Texas. Everything was going great, and then J's flight got delayed, and she ended up stuck in Dallas for the night, instead of making it to me.
No big deal, slight change of plans. I would just take a little detour and pick her up from the airport after her flight landed on my way out the next morning. We ended up getting on the road 4 hours later than I wanted to, but no worries. All we had to do was be in CA by Saturday, we still had time. At one point we pulled off to fix the straps that were holding down the stroller on the top of the van and I noticed there was a very weird sound coming from my car. I thought we were dragging something underneath, but when I looked, there was nothing there. I turned off the air conditioner and we drove a bit and the noise seemed to disappear, so we went on our way. After stopping for dinner we decided to push for another 120 miles and then called it a night.
The next morning we got up, got dressed and headed out. Everything was going well, despite it being 80 degrees at 8am. Because it was so hot I broke down and turned the AC back on. I noticed the car was a bit "jumpy" but would calm down after a few words of encouragement. We were making really good time and I blew through a tank of gas in record time. Looking back, I should have realized I was getting only 15 miles to the gallon, instead of the normal 21 highway that I normally get. As we pulled off to get gas, the car jumped. And then pretty much refused to accelerate. I managed to make it to a gas station, only to have the car peel out on me as I tried to accelerate into a parking space. At that point, I knew something was really wrong, and my gut told me that if I didn't get the car to a service center, we were going to be stranded within 90 miles. And the thought of being stranded on the side of the road with 4 kids and a busted up car in 90 degree heat gave me a panic attack. 4 kids, 4 carseats, J and me cannot fit in a tow truck! What would we do?
There was a dealership about 15 miles away so I gave the car a little rest, said about a hundred and fifty prayers and slowly headed back onto the freeway. As I pulled into the left turn lane to turn into the dealership, my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree decorated with warning and check engine lights, and then the car refused to accelerate. We literally coasted into the parking lot. Thank you, Jesus, we made it but Oh. My. Goodness. Are you kidding me? W defines the "middle of nowhere" as "Texas" but we weren't in Texas-- we were in The Middle of Nowhere, America. Stuck. There was no way that car was going anywhere.
The service guy was like, "well, we'll see if we can work it in, but we're really busy..." and I was like, "well, my 4 kids and I are going to have to sit in this waiting room and terrorize all of you until you manage to 'work it in' so you might want to think about doing that sooner rather than later, if you know what I mean." And he was like, "well, last time we saw this kind of problem it took about a week to get the parts." And I was like, "well, that's hilarious because there's no way in heck we are going to be stuck here for a week. I'll rent a car, fly a plane, stowaway on a train car, paddle a boat or find a donkey cart and go get the parts myself before we are stuck here for a week." And he was like, "well, the other dude is going to look at it while I'm at lunch and then we'll go from there" and I was like, "well, ok, cause I don't really want to ride a donkey from here to Dallas to pick a transmission, know what I mean?" and he was like, "yo, I totally do."
So the other dude took it out for a test drive and disappeared for a couple of hours. When he finally made another cameo, he was with the head of the service department, someone who is normally allusive. I knew this wasn't good news. Mr. Allusive didn't beat around the bush, he just gave it to me straight and told me they had ordered me a new transmission, and it would be here the next day. Oy. And then the service dude told me he would personally bust his butt to get it put in as fast as he could, while still doing it correctly, and that we should be on the road again by 3, maaaaaaaybe 4. Oy.
Apparently, when I took the car in to be serviced before I left, they didn't really look at the transmission. Because if they did, they would have seen that it was a mess. The other dude told me that the pan thingy under the transmission was filled with metal and that it was totally messed up. He also said he was pretty sure we had been driving in 1 gear, overdrive, for a very very long time and that he was really surprised we had made it as far as we did. He also said it was a very good thing we had stopped because if we didn't, we would have been stranded within 90 miles. Oy. And believe me, there is NOTHING between here and the next big city, which is well over 90 miles away. We would have been screwed.
After spending almost 6 hours in the dealership, we made our way to the hotel for the night. The dealership was awesome and had contacted some of their advertisers and got us a free hotel room, free food and a $30 van rental. That all managed to take some of the sting off the fact that my van, that only has 25,000 miles on it, is now having the AC fixed for the 4th time (because that, and the defrost also failed again about 300 miles before the transmission did), has had the radiator replaced at 8000 miles and is now getting a new transmission. I really know how to pick a winner of a car!! Ironic, because the Jetta I had before I got married required a new transmission at eight HUNDRED miles, and then 2 more transmissions after that. Everything I touch turns to crap, I swear.
Now I get to decide if I want to call the other service center, the one who told me my car was just fine 4 days ago, and yell at them, or if I just want to file a formal complaint through the car maker, or both. This dealership thinks the other dealership just said they looked at it, but didn't, but still filed the warranty claim to get some cash. They think this because 1) there's no way they could have told me what they did (took the transmission apart and looked at it) in the time they said they did it in (2 hours) and 2) if they had taken it apart, they would have seen some of the problems the dude did right away. Oy. I'm just irritated.
Thankfully, I have the best kids in the entire world and they are pretty much up for anything. They are having their moments but they are doing pretty well, especially for being cooped up in a car and waiting room and hotel room for the better part of 3 days. It could be sooooo much worse. I'm waiting for the call to come get my car, and praying really hard it comes sooner or later and then we are going balls to the wall and driving as far as we possibly can to get through the rest of America and to California before Saturday. Oy.
To be continued... just not sure how yet...
In order to do this, I needed to head back to CA, with the kids, drop the older 2 off with my parents and then take the twins with me to T. No big deal-- this is cake! We just did this trip, we're pros. I called my friend J and asked her if she wanted to take a few days off of work to come out and then drive with me and she said yes. And I reminded her that I had 4 kids and she would be stuck, in a minivan, for 4 days. And she still said yes. That is a good friend, right there
So I got everything in order, started packing, tying up the loose ends and getting ready to be gone for anywhere from 6 weeks to 3 months. I took the car in for a check up, making sure they checked the transmission because the car had done something funny when I tried to reverse earlier in the week. They changed the oil, told me everything was fine with the transmission and I told them that was good because the last thing I needed was for the car to blow up on me in the middle of Texas. Everything was going great, and then J's flight got delayed, and she ended up stuck in Dallas for the night, instead of making it to me.
No big deal, slight change of plans. I would just take a little detour and pick her up from the airport after her flight landed on my way out the next morning. We ended up getting on the road 4 hours later than I wanted to, but no worries. All we had to do was be in CA by Saturday, we still had time. At one point we pulled off to fix the straps that were holding down the stroller on the top of the van and I noticed there was a very weird sound coming from my car. I thought we were dragging something underneath, but when I looked, there was nothing there. I turned off the air conditioner and we drove a bit and the noise seemed to disappear, so we went on our way. After stopping for dinner we decided to push for another 120 miles and then called it a night.
The next morning we got up, got dressed and headed out. Everything was going well, despite it being 80 degrees at 8am. Because it was so hot I broke down and turned the AC back on. I noticed the car was a bit "jumpy" but would calm down after a few words of encouragement. We were making really good time and I blew through a tank of gas in record time. Looking back, I should have realized I was getting only 15 miles to the gallon, instead of the normal 21 highway that I normally get. As we pulled off to get gas, the car jumped. And then pretty much refused to accelerate. I managed to make it to a gas station, only to have the car peel out on me as I tried to accelerate into a parking space. At that point, I knew something was really wrong, and my gut told me that if I didn't get the car to a service center, we were going to be stranded within 90 miles. And the thought of being stranded on the side of the road with 4 kids and a busted up car in 90 degree heat gave me a panic attack. 4 kids, 4 carseats, J and me cannot fit in a tow truck! What would we do?
There was a dealership about 15 miles away so I gave the car a little rest, said about a hundred and fifty prayers and slowly headed back onto the freeway. As I pulled into the left turn lane to turn into the dealership, my dashboard lit up like a Christmas tree decorated with warning and check engine lights, and then the car refused to accelerate. We literally coasted into the parking lot. Thank you, Jesus, we made it but Oh. My. Goodness. Are you kidding me? W defines the "middle of nowhere" as "Texas" but we weren't in Texas-- we were in The Middle of Nowhere, America. Stuck. There was no way that car was going anywhere.
The service guy was like, "well, we'll see if we can work it in, but we're really busy..." and I was like, "well, my 4 kids and I are going to have to sit in this waiting room and terrorize all of you until you manage to 'work it in' so you might want to think about doing that sooner rather than later, if you know what I mean." And he was like, "well, last time we saw this kind of problem it took about a week to get the parts." And I was like, "well, that's hilarious because there's no way in heck we are going to be stuck here for a week. I'll rent a car, fly a plane, stowaway on a train car, paddle a boat or find a donkey cart and go get the parts myself before we are stuck here for a week." And he was like, "well, the other dude is going to look at it while I'm at lunch and then we'll go from there" and I was like, "well, ok, cause I don't really want to ride a donkey from here to Dallas to pick a transmission, know what I mean?" and he was like, "yo, I totally do."
So the other dude took it out for a test drive and disappeared for a couple of hours. When he finally made another cameo, he was with the head of the service department, someone who is normally allusive. I knew this wasn't good news. Mr. Allusive didn't beat around the bush, he just gave it to me straight and told me they had ordered me a new transmission, and it would be here the next day. Oy. And then the service dude told me he would personally bust his butt to get it put in as fast as he could, while still doing it correctly, and that we should be on the road again by 3, maaaaaaaybe 4. Oy.
Apparently, when I took the car in to be serviced before I left, they didn't really look at the transmission. Because if they did, they would have seen that it was a mess. The other dude told me that the pan thingy under the transmission was filled with metal and that it was totally messed up. He also said he was pretty sure we had been driving in 1 gear, overdrive, for a very very long time and that he was really surprised we had made it as far as we did. He also said it was a very good thing we had stopped because if we didn't, we would have been stranded within 90 miles. Oy. And believe me, there is NOTHING between here and the next big city, which is well over 90 miles away. We would have been screwed.
After spending almost 6 hours in the dealership, we made our way to the hotel for the night. The dealership was awesome and had contacted some of their advertisers and got us a free hotel room, free food and a $30 van rental. That all managed to take some of the sting off the fact that my van, that only has 25,000 miles on it, is now having the AC fixed for the 4th time (because that, and the defrost also failed again about 300 miles before the transmission did), has had the radiator replaced at 8000 miles and is now getting a new transmission. I really know how to pick a winner of a car!! Ironic, because the Jetta I had before I got married required a new transmission at eight HUNDRED miles, and then 2 more transmissions after that. Everything I touch turns to crap, I swear.
Now I get to decide if I want to call the other service center, the one who told me my car was just fine 4 days ago, and yell at them, or if I just want to file a formal complaint through the car maker, or both. This dealership thinks the other dealership just said they looked at it, but didn't, but still filed the warranty claim to get some cash. They think this because 1) there's no way they could have told me what they did (took the transmission apart and looked at it) in the time they said they did it in (2 hours) and 2) if they had taken it apart, they would have seen some of the problems the dude did right away. Oy. I'm just irritated.
Thankfully, I have the best kids in the entire world and they are pretty much up for anything. They are having their moments but they are doing pretty well, especially for being cooped up in a car and waiting room and hotel room for the better part of 3 days. It could be sooooo much worse. I'm waiting for the call to come get my car, and praying really hard it comes sooner or later and then we are going balls to the wall and driving as far as we possibly can to get through the rest of America and to California before Saturday. Oy.
To be continued... just not sure how yet...
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