So . . . yesterday (Saturday) Steven went with me to work to check out my car. He got it driving, and said the power steering was not working. However, he checked and there was plenty of power steering fluid. He thought he could drive it home and then we’d talk about whether we’d take it in or just buy another car.

I followed him home, and about 3 miles into the 10 mile drive home, a big puff of smoke came out of the exhaust and Steven slowed way down. I called him, and he said, “Something’s really bad wrong with your car.” I temporarily suspended my job as Steven’s personal grammar police and went, “Oh my gosh, what’s wrong?” He said there was a rattling sound and it smelled hot and it was losing power. We ended up driving 30 mph on the interstate for a few miles! Thankfully, we got the car home, Steven looked under the hood, and found that a belt was missing, plus antifreeze was leaking out everywhere.

We had the car in 3 weeks ago, and they did a bunch of stuff to the coolant system, so we began wondering if the two were related. In the end, we put off heading to Carmax to get a new car (although I really wanted to!) because 1) we wanted to see if Firestone was responsible for the problem – which means they’ll pay for it and 2) our realtor suggested that we NOT try to buy a car before closing on our house because that would change our credit or something.

All that said, what it comes down to is it doesn’t matter. I mean, yes, I need a car to get to work and yada-yada, but I have the things that really matter. My kids are happy, healthy, outgoing, and caring. I have a loving, hardworking husband who is also a fantastic father, and my partner in raising our family in the Orthodox faith. My parents are nearby. I got to have great dinner and conversation last night with two new friends and fellow readers/writers from church. Tomorrow I get to go mentor teens who need someone to believe in them.
Car schmar. It’ll work out.

But it would be nice if Steven were a mechanic.