The Freakin' Ford and the Daring/Darling Duo!

I am learning how to "dance in the rain". This blog entry is my attempt at dancing. (See quote on left.)

We have been having some problems with our Ford lately. At first we thought it was the battery, so we got it replaced under warranty. Then it still wasn't working well. Then we thought it was the alternator. We had it tested and Auto Zone said it was bad. We went to Ford (it's under warranty) and they said the alternator was fine and that it was some overloaded wiring, blah, blah, blah. We paid our $90 and Rob asked them to pinpoint the problem and he would look at it. He played around with some fuses and it started working again. I thought it would be a good time to go to Cost-co and get the "4 things" I thought we so desperately needed. Those 4 things always cost alot. I came out to the car and started it and it wouldn't keep running, so I couldn't drive it to go home. I called Rob and asked him to come and rescue me. During normal years, January would be "cold", but it was 70 degrees that day! So to keep the things that I bought from Cost-co somewhat frozen I had to keep the car on in park and rev the engine so my ac would work and my stuff wouldn't melt. Rob rescued me (he somehow figured out how to keep it going during the stoplights) and I took the things home and put them in the freezer.

As the kids were getting resettled.. I heard a flushing sound and then a..... MOOOMMMM!!!!' Now normally I wouldn't rush, but the tone in the voice was one of panic. I came in to see the "Daring Duo" staring up at me with their big blue eyes and lovely toilet water filling around their toes. Let me introduce you to them:


Mr. "Whatdidido"


Miss "Whomei'mjustababy"

Cute aren't they?

Now back to the story. You know the flushing sound. I asked ever so calmly, of course,"Oh sweet, little, and darling children of mine...what happend?" Mr. Whatdidido said, "Miss Whomei'mjustababy put a pencil in the toilet and I flushed it." As I ever-so-swiftly turned the toilet water off I asked, "Now, Mr. Whatdidido, haven't we learned our lesson from the box of band-aids and the bar of soap...that nothing goes in the toilet except #1, #2, and toilet paper?" Silence. "Oh sweet husband of mine can you fix our toilet with your newly discovered talent?" "Sure Sugar lips." So he went out to his ever-so-organized garage and grabbed one of our wax rings (since we buy them by the case now) and an auger. He starts working on it, when to our surprise only half of it comes out....the auger that is. "Sugar lips you better find a toilet that you want me to go and buy". So I scurry off to research on the computer the toilets with the biggest pipes plug thingys and the biggest "bulk removal" holes. My sweet husband came back with a toilet and a logo on it that claims that it can flush a "bucket of golf balls". "That should do it!", he says. A 10 cent pencil cost us $300.

Now to get our sweet, little, and darling children to bed, when what do we see? A big and beautiful, mural drawn by Mr. Whatdidido. It was all over the wall and the windowsill. I just have to say, I LOVE THE MAGIC ERASER! As I was nearing completion of clean-up duty, I hear a crash. Miss Whomei'mjustababy comes running in with front of our stereo. "Oh sweet husband of mine will you please remove the stereo that we NEVER use, to your ever-so-organized garage?" "Sure sugar lips."

The next day we went to church, since our Ford was on the fritz, a friend of ours took some of our kids, so that we could all fit into our FIT! The rest of the day we relaxed, and I went to a meeting. After I got back I said, "Oh sweet husband of mine, let's go take the Ford to the dealership tonight so we won't have to wake the kids up so early in the morning". "Sure Sugar lips." So our friend came over to watch our kids and we went on our merry way. We get parked and Rob gets out to fill out the envelope to leave our key, when a man rushes out of the building and runs straight over to me. After hearing a loud, buzzing sound, He says, "Do you work here?" (after I realize he wasn't coming to me to rob me and he was Ford's cleaning crew, I answered)"No." "Does he work here? (pointing to Rob)" "No, we are just dropping off our car". "The smoke alarm is going off and I don't know the code...do you know the phone number to the fire department?" " No, but I'm sure there is a phone book in the building" (I know I'm so helpful). Just then we are surrounded by 5 fire trucks of all shapes and sizes, 1 police car, and 1 helicopter. They all look at me and I point to the man (cleaning crew)."Oh SWEET HUSBAND of mine, we need to go! Maybe we should move our car." "Too late Sugar lips the key is already in the box". "Ohh...PLEASE don't let my ever-so-reliable Ford burn to ashes!" As soon as Rob got in the car, we sped off. (We didn't want to be involved with this incident when it wasn't necessary, of course.)

Our car still isn't fixed. I used it everyday this week to drop off and pick up my sweet, little, and darling kids from school. It strangely worked long enough until the last kid was home and then it would putter into our driveway and die for the rest of the day. It did this for 3 days until yesterday. I had one measly little errand to run and as we got in it to come home it died in the middle of the parking lot. Without the engine working, the power steering doesn't work so I asked Logan to put his foot on the gas (while in neutral) and steer the car to a parking spot while I pushed. He couldn't reach the pedals. Heavenly Father loved me so much and saw how frustrated I was, so I tried again and it worked just long enough to get it into a parking spot. I called Rob, "Oh sweet husband of mine YOUR car died again and I'm stuck in a PARKING LOT! Please come rescue us again". "Sure Sugar lips."

Part 2 of this saga to be continued....