sigh

i think i mentioned that my car died... it will take more money to fix it than i paid for it in the first place, so i will not be fixing it.. therefore as that was the way that i was able to get to and from work etc, i need to either 1) find a new very cheap car or 2) find a place to live that is close to work and Charlies school.... trbl with all that is the same trbl with my life, bad credit... i have applied for an apt. which is right across the street from the school and only a few miles from work, thinking that i could either ride the bus or my bike.. however they turned down my application.. so now $30 less in my account, i have to look for another apt... my hopes have been dashed and i am very frustrated with my life...i told charlie today that we will have to register his vw bug so that i could drive it.. he then lamented the rest of the drive into town over the fact that it is his car, his dad would not want me to drive it, he is never going to get his drivers permit or licence... and that he is therefore the laughingstock of life bec he is going to be over 17 before he can drive HIS CAR...

sigh...

remaining firm in
Jesus' loving arms

Children's Church

Yesterday I really did not want to wake up and go to church. Friday evening I had already decided that this was going to be a sleep in til noon BOTH days weekend. Then when I got home I had a "gift" from Ginger. It was the children's church program book and dvd for Sunday. I had totally forgotten that I had agreed to lead it this week because Ginger was going to her cousin's baby shower.

So, I put it in my room to look at later. Saturday was later and I went thru the booklet for the October 8th lesson and it gives a lot of different options to do, ranging from the ages of 5-13. I picked out a couple of things that would work well with the children that have been coming to church recently.

None of them showed. The only children were Ginger's and they are much above the age range material that I picked out, but oh well, I was going to stick with those items. I did lose their interest a bit and while I think they did learn from the lesson, I know they were not there completely, especially towards the end of the 45 mins we had. I had at that point put on the DVD portion, and lost them, because I did not have a remote control for the DVD playter. I had to search thru the disc to find the 2 parts of the lesson. We only watched the one "station" once, and it was boring even to me.. the kids played with their blocks, building Bible story towns.

The song came on for the lesson "Jesus is the Messiah" done to a rock tune, and the youngest child did start singing the song and wiggling himself about a little. But, the older one was not acting like he even heard the song.

I must say they did put together a great block city. And they like the conversation cube activity -- a paper die with questions on each side. It was good until a question that had already been answered came up... then that went to the side of the table too. I tried, but I am really not a great teacher, not very exciting. But, we made it thru, and maybe they learned something new today... I can hope so.

In His Loving Arms

Death of a Car

My car died this morning. Actually not all the way. More like it has liver or kidney failure.

I was on this huge merging turn from southbound I-5 going on to eastbound I-80 in Sacramento, and hear a very loud POP. Then my car kind of lost breath, with a whoosh; my foot on the gas lowering giving the car more gas, but the car slowing and chugging. This is a very dangerous curving on/off ramp and I was more than a little scared, as cars and big-rigs were rushing by my poor car. I fumbled with the hazard lights, and tried to keep to the right, in the break-down lane.

My son said it seemed like maybe a belt had broke. The car has a serpentine belt that runs everything, and it has been changed quite recently.... thought "maybe?..." So we carefully got out of the car and checked the belt. It was fine, so we got back in the car. I didn't feel safe sitting there so, cautiously limped the car forward...crossing over an off ramp lane, continuing to go towards Charlie's school exit at Truxel.

If you have ever been in this area you know that it is dangerous at the best of times. So, with morning traffic rushing around me, I prayed a little prayer, and pressed the gas, chugging along, eventually getting over to the right lane once again (passing over two on-coming lanes of traffic). I eventually got off the freeway at Truxel and was able to pull over in a relatively safe place, right across the street from my son's school's baseball field.

We just sat there, I was trying to figure out why I even woke up this morning. I had Charlie call his father and tell him that we broke down... but Charlie just dialed and handed me the phone. I really did not want to call my estranged husband for help. Didn't really know what he could do to help me anyways, because I knew my car was dying. He actually came and looked under the hood and said he thought the trouble was with the cam-shaft (whatever that is) and lifters. I thanked him and told him he could leave me and go on to work. He did offer to drive me to work so that I would be able to call a tow truck from there. I declined and used my cell phone to call Geico, after I searched thru every paper in my glovebox more than once.

The lady at Geico was very nice and called a tow truck which came relatively quickly. I only had to wait about 20 more minutes. By this time Charlie had long gone, walked the short distance to school; I was already late for work and was able to get excused time off because it was slow. I rode to the shop (in the tow truck), that was near my work and came recommended to me.

I then walked the block or two to work, getting there around 9:00 and started work. By noon I had not heard from the shop about my car so I called them to find out the damage. I was told the transmission had blown and that the estimated repair costs would be around $3400.00, more or less.

Y-I-K-E-S

So.... I have been on the phone for my lunch and last break, calling around getting other quotes, and they are not good. So now I have to figure out if my car is worth spending the money on... There are so many other things wrong with it.

Windshield is broken, with a crack going from side to side.

Air-conditioner needs to be completely replaced -- estimate of $750.00.

Front passenger side window will not roll up (almost winter -- rained last night)... and its electric.

Front Drivers side window occastionally does the same.

My radiator is not holding water like it should and needs to be replaced... I have to check it often, because it tends to drain and I can smell the radiator water smell when sitting at a light.

I am sure there are more things but I am too tired to think of them right now...

Oh yeah, the lighter plug in shorts out and blows the fuse which operates the interior lights/automatic door locks/etc.

So, I am going to pray long and hard about my options and see what comes of it.

I am always...
In His Loving Arms.