My punishment

I wrecked my van.

Its tragic, actually. Because as much as i HATED the idea of getting a van, i now readily admit that i love mine. Its a 2007 Honda Odyssey Touring model and its loaded.

So i had a fender bender a few weeks ago. A guy slammed on his brakes at a light (which had just turned yellow.. he sped up like he was gonna go and I was going to join him but then changed his mind and i was too close) and i hit him. He was a cheeky fellow (watching too much thomas around here, lately) from Bosnia and it was nice to make his acquaintance, although I'd much preferred to have cleaned his teeth or met him in a supermarket line.

My bumper had a broken place but you had to look for it to see the indiscretion. So we decided to leave it be. It made me sad, but it cost almost $1000 to replace a bumper and it wasnt worth it for something cosmetic.

Or so we thought.

And then this weekend my car started acting funny. Turns out, the radiator was busted in my little fender bender. :-(

So now, my beloved van is at nash collision center in Lawrenceville.

And my punishment has been... driving Jeffs 1997 Chevrolet s-10 truck.

He's had it since 1998 when he went off to college. It was SUPER nice then. 14 years ago. And while i'm grateful for it, it has undoubtedly taken some abuse over the years as it has moved from one of our primary vehicles to our "backup" or more appropriately, our "work truck".

It's a stick shift.

It has NO air conditioning.

And the windshield wipers are possessed. As in, they turn on by themselves and wont turn off.

So sometimes I'm driving down the road with the windows down, burning up, with the windshield wipers on low. Just cause I'm cool like that.

I like to think of it as having a little Jesus in the car with me. Reminding me that He's there. In the wipers of all places? Odd place to hang out, Lord :-) But ok!

Yeah, so i'm trying to make myself feel better.

OH, and there is only one knob left to control the heater/AC (that doesnt work) and the temp. So you have to pull it off one control and put it on the other to turn each one...

AND, it has crank windows. As in you have to roll them up and down yourself.

Its hard work driving that thing. Its a workout in itself. At least, thats how i'm justifying NOT working out this week :-)

And i'm pretty sure I've lost a pound of water weight from sweating on the way home from work.

I want my van back.

However, when it broke down on me this evening and we had to have it TOWED (leaving us with ONE vehicle) i was sad.

I'd even take my beater back at this point. I wont even speak ill of it anymore if it will just heal itself or at least be cheap!

But Jeff reminds me that driving the truck was my punishment but that in retrospect, maybe it was wrong of him to punish the truck by making me drive it all week. HE thinks i broke it, like i break everything else.

He might need to watch himself... i may break him next :-)