Not the Sunday I Wanted!

After we had cleaned up everything from dinner today (Sausage, Bean and Spinach Soup, yum!), I decided to go to Staples to get the last few things on the boys' supply list. Matthew needed eraser caps and both of them need dry erase markers, and both were on sale this week at Staples. Plus, they had a spend $30/save $5 coupon, so I thought I'd get the rest of what I needed. I headed over there, and got everything I wanted (except for the crayons which were NOT a quarter a piece like I thought), and headed out. I decided to stop at Kroger on my way home and get some pudding mix since I had a graham cracker pie crust I needed to use. I headed in there, grabbed the couple of things I needed and headed out to go home. I jumped in the van, turned the key, and got. . .

NOTHING.

That's right. The car was dead. I called Jeremy, but there wasn't a lot he could do since he had all three boys, including a napping Andrew at home. I stood around for a while, hoping that someone would notice my distress. Finally, I decided to put the hood of the car up. Well, nothing attracts men like a woman staring blankly into the engine of her vehicle. I had a guy come right over and ask if I needed help. He pulled his car over, and then pushed the van into a better position so the jumper cables could reach. We kept the cables on for a while, and while they were attached, I could get the electronics on the car to work, but it still refused to turn over. We kept trying, but it just wasn't working. So, I used my Emergency Roadside Assistance I have through Progressive :-) and called them for help. The first question the lady asked me was if I was in a safe place. I guess the parking lot at Kroger's is pretty safe, though I was getting a little warm. (J/K, I know what she was really asking) She also asked where I wanted the car towed to. Not really the best question for me. I'm standing there in a hot parking lot, under the beating sun, and I can't come up with anything. Finally, I told her Pep Boys. Thankfully, that was within the 15 miles they will pay to tow. I called Jeremy to have him bring the boys, so I could go home and he could go with the car. Repair shops are a man's job in my book, plus, I was really hot and wanted to go home. As I'm waiting for the tow truck, I put the hood down and close the doors, having conveniently forgotten that the keys are in the car, and the locks engaged the last time I tried to start it. Now, I'm standing in a hot parking lot, next to a locked car with nothing but my cell phone. (And Cool Whip probably turning into a hydrogenated mess in the car!) Before disaster struck, though, Jeremy came with the boys, and the tow truck showed up at the same time. I headed home, leaving them to tow the car. I went home, laid on the bed in the air conditioning, and had a glass of water. Nice.

Of course, Pep Boys is going to charge us $95 just to figure out what's wrong, and who knows how much more to fix it, but my Service Engine light had been on anyway, and emissions tests are just around the corner, so it was an expense I was going to have to pay anyway. But finding out this week I'm losing $750 in salary between now and December and now the car expense is a little stressing. Guess we'll see what happens.