Broken and stranded

Yesterday afternoon I got the kids packed up in the car so we could go grocery shopping. I had volunteered to make dinner for of the moms in the club who had her second baby a week or so ago and I needed to pick up a few things to make our favorite chili (and other stuff).

I was driving down the road when the power steering went out. I thought I might have had a flat tire since it was more difficult to turn in one direction. The street I was on was pretty small and I was about to make a right hand turn onto a very busy road when the radio died. OH CRAP, I thought to myself as I hoped the car didn't die where I was - a terrible place to break down. I was lucky enough to make the turn and then turn safely right into a medical complex parking lot. Both boys were fast asleep, oblivious to our situation.

I called Bill at work (which was about 3 minutes away) and he came to our rescue. He drove us home with the boys finally waking up and confused at being loaded up in a different car, a friends car that Bill had borrowed. We stayed home for the rest of the day and I canceled dinner plans for the following night.

Today the car was towed and worked on. We are very lucky that it was a simple fix; a belt broke, the battery needed to be replaced as well as the battery cable. It cost a chunk of change, but it could have been a whole lot worse. Plus, the auto shop discounted the bill quite a bit. Bill found a great car repair bargain!

While being stranded without a car at all, I felt lucky to be living where we do. We live in a small town where you really don't have to have a car (sort of), but for us specifically, we have everything we need within walking distance - Target, restaurants, the gym and a brand new library among many other stores and many more that aren't even open yet. Our only car breaking down could have been a major fiasco in another city, but it was a very small annoyance here.

The car is back in action tonight and our little adventure was fortunately that. Little.