This weekend was awful & awesome all at the same time. Chris is in Canada hiking the Vancouver Island trail with his family (read: ZERO cell service for a week), the car won’t start, it’s raining cats & dogs & we ran out of formula on Sunday (the problem with buying bulk – I always think there’s one can left). To add to all that stress, I had volunteered to teach a Sunday school lesson to 30 elementary-aged kiddos at church.
On Saturday I was planning on taking Penelope & Felix out to the movies for a kid date when the car wouldn’t start. It’s been a little sluggish lately, but this time the engine wouldn’t even turn over. We sat in the car for probably 45 minutes, just praying that it would work & it was some silly thing that was keeping the car from starting. We gave up & went inside. Penelope was so upset that the car was broken. As was I. We ended up eating dinner while watching Pingu on Netflix; not the special night at the movies I had envisioned.
When I finally came to terms that I wouldn’t be driving anywhere soon, I decided that Felix’s car seat needed a little update. Of course, just after I took apart his old car seat cover I realized that he would need to use it to get to church. Crap. I stayed up until about 2am finishing the cover & prepping for church. Exhausting. I’m happy with the cover now – the orange biased tape & the herringbone plaid are much more my style than the previous cover. Why is there such a disconnect between car seat covers & cool designs? Now that the cover is done I really want to replace the webbing with either orange or brown & paint the plastic orange or brown. Do I dare? Probably not. I’ll still probably make an attachable fabric blanket cover thingy – you know the ones that attach to the handle. I think a bolder pattern is in order, though.
Sunday went really well. We got rides to & from church, the kids were awesome for my lesson, my sister brought me more formula and my brother-in-law helped me with the car. The car still wouldn’t start with a jump, so he connected it to a trickle charger & we’ll just have to wait & see if that fixes the problem. Crazy thing, we just took it in for the 80,000 mile check up & there was NO mention of any battery/starter problems.
Long story longer, I was looking forward to some serious alone time during Chris’s vacation. I was thinking that I’d be able to get so much done during nap time & bed time. While that’s still a possibility, I’ve realized that this week will be impossible without the support of friends & family. It’s been really hard not being able to talk to Chris, one thing I completely overlooked. Hello, Melissa! Hikes usually mean no cell service. I miss him terribly.
I can’t help but think of all the wives (or husbands) of those serving in the Military. My hat goes off to you.
Car problems are the WORST! Great job on the car seat cover, It looks awesome!
I hope you can get through the week with a smile on your face.
yeesh, that does not sound fun, especially without the man. Thank goodness for good family. (and glad to hear my 2 year old isnt the only one OBSESSED with Pingu. That show is so weird!)
Poor thing! All these things always seem to happen at once. I have found that these kinds of weeks remind me of what I am capable of and how blessed I am not to test those capabilities on a regular basis!! Praying that the rest of the week is uneventful and that you get to enjoy some alone time:)
Oh my gosh. I have been experiencing the same kind of “challenges” (to put it nicely) over here at my place. My husband went to Asia on May 16th to do mission work and he won’t be back for another week!!! I had all these elaborate fantastical plans of the things I was going to do while he was away including but not limited to: repainting furniture, repainting walls, rearranging furniture etc & etc. I should have been REalistic! But instead my car broke down. My refridgerator broke down. I got an eye condition called iritis (unfortunately it is real) Thats only some of it. I have been lamenting to the 7 people that follow my blog. hahaha I totally agree the spouses of those serving in the military=awesome. Hang in there Melissa! PS: the carseat is great. I have thought about painting mine too. But then I was like, :/ am I allowed to do that? Eh why not?! Ok I’m done. LOL
Boy oh boy, welcome to my world! Hahaha. And the only family close by is about 50 min. away! Luckily, we do have family that close. Yup, military life definitely has its challenges. But we are also very grateful to have a job! Sorry your week was so poopy. Not fun at all. Car seat cover turned out nice! At least you had that going for ya this week!
If your battery and starter are most likely fine, it may be a clogged fuel filter. Lots of short trips? Cheap gas? Those can clog your fuel filter and make starting sluggish. Once it’s completely blocked, the car won’t start. (I’ve had this happen once or twice.)
Get some fuel filter cleaner and follow the directions. Should start right up once the cleaner has time to work.
Good luck!
Firstly I want to thank you for your wonderful blog. I love reading it because it is written from the prespective of a woman who knows the joys of life and the fact that it stays real.
Keep your chin up. Your hubby will be back before you know it and it sounds like your family and friends are awesome and love you. That is such a priceless thing to have in life. Thank you for reminding me about what matters.
Switch out some of the details and our weekends sound sort of similar. N is currently off at The Gorge in WA enjoying the Sasquatch music festival and I had all sorts of ambitious plans for the weekend, chief among them to start on my first quilt. But then E got sick and I came down with what he has and all I want to do is crawl into bed and stay there until N comes home tomorrow night. Unfortunately my toddler and baby have this pesky habit of wanting to eat and whatnot which is putting a damper on that plan :)
I’m so glad that your family rallied around and helped you out. Best of luck with the car; your car seat cover is super awesome.
The car seat looks seriously awesome! And it makes me feel better that I’m not the only one who would take the cover apart only to realize I needed it the next day!
Good call on the military wives! I’ve been whining about how little I saw my husband this week and than realized I’m just spoiled by how much I see him compared to others! It was a nice reminder.
I’ll pray you have a good week and get your car fixed!!!
Boooo for weekends without husbands! I feel so bad about your car. That’s awful. The good news is, your carseat looks phenom. Seriously, there isn’t anything you can’t do. Trav will be gone this upcoming weekend, and I’m totally planning on just camping out at my parents house. Sometimes I seriously question whether I could ever be a single mom. Hope you get your car figured out soon!
Sorry you were having a hard time. That darn car! Do you hear of other people with the same car having issues this far into owning?
Oh my god, I can’t imagine how much worse not being able to even TALK to your husband made things!!! I think you should lovingly ban all future endeavors where that would be a side-effect :) I could handle the distance, but definitely not the silence.
you let your man go away for a WEEK with no cell service, leaving you with a toddler and a very young infant?! I dunno if you’re a better wife than me, or a crazier one…
sorry you’ve had a tough week–however, the new car seat cover is awesome! i’m having my first in november, and have found that there’s a total disconnect not only on car seats, but most patterns and colors for ALL THINGS baby! tough!!
I love this cover! Its adorable!