Wednesday, June 04, 2008

CED 2008 ~ Stop the ride! I want to get off...


I should have know something was bound to happen. Everything was going along just fine, according to plan; pieces of the puzzle were quietly falling into place, perhaps, a little too easily. I'd managed to rest up, find some time to relax, get Alexxis' curtains created --- even managing to make SpongeBob fabric look a bit more "girl-ier" --- and on Monday, all hell broke loose!

It started when Don appeared in the computer room doorway with that look on his face, the one where you just know before a word is ever spoken that you don't want to hear what he is about to say. It seems "Houdini" aka Chaos broke his steel cable and is now wandering around our neighborhood. Great! It isn't even 8 a.m. and I'm in for an adventure... Luckily as soon as I got dressed to begin "the hunt" and walked out the door, Chaos came near me before darting across the road {Be still, my beating heart.} Between our neighbor's houses he runs, while choose to walk completely around one to head him off, when he surprises me with a sneak attack coming up behind me. The "surprise" turned out to be on him as I was thankfully able to step on the remnants of the broken cable and lead him to the safety of our home.

A trip to Lowe's to purchase a new cable, securing the cable and the dog to a tree in our rear yard, we're once again on our way to my chiropractor's for an upper back and neck re-alignment. Hard work and stress always cause me to become completely out of wack. Once adjusted and feeling as if my jaw bone is now back in its original place, we decide to stop at Perkin's for a quiet breakfast before home to tackle cleaning the refrigerator of leftovers and moving frozen goods from the upright freezer to the smaller one in the side-by-side refrigerator. We wheel the upright out onto the deck for defrosting and get the trash to the curb right before the garbage men show up.

This Monday promises to be a beautiful day, warm, high in the low eighties, sunshine with a few clouds and softly blowing gentle breeze. Don, in an attempt to help me relax, suggests a road trip over to Amish country for which I'm very grateful for. I really need to getaway.... from everything and everybody and do something just for us. So, we're cruising along, down St. Rt. 30 East, singing along with the radio, enjoying the warmth of sun on our bodies, when all of a sudden the Jeep gets louder. Pulling over, we check the Jeep out to discover we've blown a small hole in the exhaust system. Well, we can't do anything about it now, so we continue on our journey and onto a road less traveled. Over hills, around curves, taking in all the late Spring beauty of nature in such a peaceful setting. We drive for hours before finally coming to a stop in Walnut Creek to browse through a few gift shops and stores. In the mid-afternoon, early evening, we stop to get a bite to eat at the Der Dutchman, dining on a fabulous buffet while taking in breathtaking views before we visit their gift shop located across the street. After browsing, making a few small purchases, we decide it's time to begin our journey of heading back towards home. As we travel up over hills, coasting down the opposite side, before climbing up over the next one, seeing the wonderful views that await us, the Jeep periodically decides to "hiccup" and begins missing. Upon entering into Loudonville, Don casually mentions, "it's time for a tune-up" to which I can only agree. We travel through some quaint little Ohio towns where we've visited before in our travels, talking about "remember when" we went shopping through the antique stores, visited with friends who used to live nearby, when the "hiccuping" began to occur more often. I offered up silent prayers, "Lord, please, allow us to arrive home safely." feeling the tension in my body become more and more pronounced. Our next stop is into a Marathon station in Lexington, Ohio, where I breathe both a sigh of relief, and pray a little bit more and longer. Inspecting the Jeep, we find no signs of any major trouble, no "idiot' lights on, no apparent damage, and after a quick restroom break we finally decide to attempt to make it home , hoping to arrive before nightfall.
As luck would have it, we didn't make it too much farther down the road before the "hiccuping" resumed again. Slowing down in an attempt to avoid disaster, 45 mph seems like a crawl while your praying and you begin noticing all the familiar landmarks, hoping to make it to the next one. Just as we turned off of St. Rt. 97 W onto St. Rt. 288, the "hiccuping" worsens, so off the road we go, pulling in to inspect once again. Not finding anything, Don attempts to drive a bit further, against my wishes. By now, my nerves are completely shot but I remain quiet not desiring to complicate our demise further and in less than a 1/4 mile we pull over again --- this time to call for help! A quick telephone call to Shane for a phone number to a towing company we're familiar with, then to the tow truck company, to learn they cannot come out and get us as their rollback is broken down. Another call to our friends, Jim and Rosella who live in Galion for additional phone numbers for a wrecker. One company doesn't even answer the phone and the other, heck I cannot even remember what was up with them. Another call to Shane, another call to for a wrecker.... yes, they can come! Quickly wondering where to have the Jeep towed, we made a phone call to our mechanic, who quickly informed us to call the other company back as he can come and tow us home. Hallelujah! So we provide directions and he is on his way, while we sit, try to smile, laugh, and joke about our misfortune, neither of us wanting to discuss the situation we're in. Approx. 45 minutes later, Scott arrives, disconnects the drive shaft, gets the Jeep onto the wrecker, and we're on our way towards home. We arrive safely at almost 11 o'clock at night. Upon coming out of the house with a check in hand for the tow bill, you'll guess who peeks over the bed of the trailer..... why my wonderful dog, "Houdini!" He broke another cable and had been wondering around loose for who knows how long! Thank God he is safe! I get him and myself into to the house and collapse! What a day!!!!

{We do not know as of yet the status of our Jeep Cherokee... Scott's hoping to look at it today. I just hope and pray that this time, it's "Good News..." and nothing too expensive to repair.}

And life goes on....today, I'm heading back to my parent's to do some cleaning, in an attempt to keep from wondering and worrying, hoping against all odds that somehow, someway, it's all going to be okay.

1 comment:

liannallama said...

oh, Cathy! Car troubles is the last thing you need now! I hope it gets fixed easy and cheap! Oh, if I could win the big lottery I would buy you a brand new vehicle so you wouldn't have to worry when you went on your travels! (((HUGS))) to you!