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It could be worse… It could be worse… It could be worse…

It’s what I keep telling myself and everyone that asks.  But, it’s still frustrating.

We’re stranded.  Yes, it’s at my in-laws (who have food, heat and a washer and dryer), but we’re still stranded.  Unable to get home and back to the things we need to get back to.

We came to St. Louis to visit family for the New Year.  On Saturday morning, we packed the van, stripped the beds, cleaned up after ourselves and were preparing to head over to our niece’s birthday party on the way out of town when we discovered that our van wouldn’t start.  This wouldn’t have been too disconcerting, except that two days previously, we had had a brand new battery installed.  So, it wasn’t something as simple as replacing the battery.

We made some calls to see who would be able to work on the van THAT day, so that despite being delayed, we’d still be able to head home to Chicago.  We ended up having the van towed to a nearby Honda dealer who told us they could work on it – they were open until 5 p.m., and the service manager thought that would give him enough time to diagnose the problem and make a repair.  Things were looking up!

A few updates later and things were looking expensive (go figure), but still doable.

Getting a jump on things, Dan had his dad bring him over to the dealership at 4:30, anticipating being able to pick up the finished van, get back, pack her up (again) and get a move on.  No such luck.  No luck at all, it turns out.  Not only was the van not finished, but the problem was WAY worse than anyone thought.  It’d be Tuesday at best, before the repair could be done, and cost several thousand dollars, to boot.

Happy F-ing New Year to us!!!

After much discussion and debate, we decided that Dan HAD to go to work and Jack and Maria really couldn’t afford to miss school.  So, at 6:40 a.m. on Sunday, Dan, Jack and Maria boarded a train bound for Chicago.  I stayed behind with Sam and Luke to wait on the van.

On Sunday, I ran out of deodorant, prenatal vitamins and the always-needed-while-pregnant-Tums.  And I had to do another load of laundry.  During which I shrunk to doll-size my newest, most comfortable bra EVER.  Also the only one I had with me, as we thought we’d only be here for two days.

Not only do I now have saggy boobs, but very COLD saggy boobs, as it’s 15 degrees here and dropping.

I’ve had one call from the dealer.  As of 11:35, they were taking things apart and were hoping to have an estimate for us sometime this afternoon.  So far:  nada.  Not looking good for a reasonable departure time tomorrow, IF it’s even ready tomorrow, is it?

Have I mentioned that a nasty storm system is headed our way beginning Wednesday?  Nothing like driving six hours through a snow storm with two young kids, is there?

So, while we could be stuck halfway home, missing work and school or paying for a hotel, it’s still a little hard for me to see the bright side of things right now.

Guess I can fill the day tomorrow with bra shopping… that should be fun a fun thing to do with The Little Boys.