Car trouble part 2

It's not my day....We may have bought a real lemon for the 17 year old. Had it towed yesterday to our mechanic who believes the headgasket may be blown. There is oil in the radiator. He won't know until he takes the engine apart, but according to the agreement we signed, the car has to be repaired by the sellers mechanic or the warranty will not come in to play. Our mechanic thinks we're looking at $1800 worth of repairs. My husband, poor thing, who has to deal with this stuff from out of town, called the dealer and had them pick up the car from our mechanic. A few hours later my husband gets a call from the dealer saying the car is fixed. It was "only a hose" that had broke. Hmmm.....somebody is either blatantly lying or doesn't know shit about cars. I guess we'll find out tomorrow how this drama will unfold.

Car trouble

So, my husband is out of town. He left yesterday to San Diego for a convention. He'll be back Wednesday. Today, my 17 year old left the house to go visit her boyfriend who lives 15 minutes from here...by car. We just bought her car a little over a week ago...a used 2003 Hyundai Sonata. She called me 15 minutes after she left and said "My car just died"!!! Well, did you put gas in it? I know....stupid question maybe, but trust me; in this family one has to ask these sort of things.
She told me she had a 3/4 tank and that her boyfriend was on his way to take a look at it. Meanwhile my almost 16 year old texts me and ask to be picked up from babysitting, and almost instantaneously the toddler has climbed up on the tall kitchen chair and proudly announces that he needs a new diaper...(like I couldn't smell it). I took a deep breath and counted to 10. Of course the car had to break down today. My husband, who is the mechanically inclined one, is out of town, so if something is to brake, this is the time. Last night the dishwaher broke!
Almost everytime my husband leaves town somebody has car trouble. I can honestly say that no one in the family has ever broken down while he is at home and would have been able to fix it. No instead we've had to call AAA and we've had cars towed to the mechanic more than once. So, now I had to delegate.
First, I called the husband to notify him and get the number to our mechanic, then I gave him the number to the person whom we bought the car from. I wanted my husband to talk to him about paying for any possibly repairs. Supposedly we have a 30 day warranty on the damned thing. Secondly I called my friend whom my daughter was baby sitting for and asked if she could bring her home since I had some stuff to deal with. Third, I dealt with the toddler and the diaper. By now, the kid with the car trouble called back and said her boyfriend diagnosed the car with over heating. He put coolant in it... (guess the level was too low) and halleluliah the car started. We're still going to have our mechanic look at it, and also notify the seller, but at least she can drive it home...for now.

You mean I have to say thank you?

I have teenagers and a toddler. My toddler says "thank you" all the time with no prompting. Not so with the teens. Last Friday I spent all day helping the 17 year old find a car. I spent two hours on the online auto trader, and then I drove her to the valley and we looked at some potential buys. We found something we both could live with, of course out of her price range, but, being good parents (or stupid, take your pick), we told her we'd help her out with the difference. My husband and I agreed to gift her $1000 towards the car and lend her another $1100 at no interest. She had herself $1600 in her savings. We didn't buy the car right there and then because I am not mechanically inclined, and I wanted my husband to look at it before we made a purchase. So, that evening we left the toddler with the 17 year old and my husband and I went back to look at the car. He testdrove it and decided that it was a good buy. So, we bought the car upfront and brought it home to our daughter. We walked in the door and said "Guess what? You have a car!" She didn't turn away from the TV when she asked "Which one did you end up buying?". She did not run out of the house screaming with joy that finally she had a car. We never even heard a thank you. She just asked how come we picked this one over the other one of the potential cars we had looked at earlier. All weekend she showed no excitement over having a "new" car....well it's a 2003 Hyundai....silver color with a sunroof. Did I tell you that my first car was a grey (not silver) 1985 Ford Escort station wagon with no airconditioning and no radio, and I was damned pleased to have some wheels (I was 25).
Yesterday, I was in a god mood and the kids were out of the house and the toddler was sleeping, so I decided to clean the teenaged girls' rooms and do their laundry for them. I am working up a sweat doing this when I get a text from the youngest teen "Be here at 4:40 at the latest to pick me up"....??? Hello, what happened to please and thank you? I have created monsters!!! But at least, once at home, the youngest teen noticed my work in her room and said "Thank you for cleaning my room". The 17 year old, however, did not. I physically took her up to her room and asked "Do you see something different about your room?" Her reply "You cleaned my room!" .....and.....??????? She gave me a puzzled look. How about a simple thank you, I replied. And I do take hugs as payments. In her defense I have to admit that she gave me a hug, But, what the hell, why is it like pulling teeth when it comes to get these kids to see that showing gratitude is a basic human response to kindness. How did I fail so miserably?

Milkshake Cravings

It's nice having kids that drive when you crave a strawberry milkshake after 10 pm at night when hubby is out of town and you don't feel like driving. And no, I am not pregnant. Ahhh...I can hear the door. It's them...my milkshake is here. Halleluliah.

Night time thoughts

My husband is out of town, Hayden is sleeping soundly, the girls are in their rooms watching TV in bed while texting their boyfriends, and I...am alone in my bedroom, not taking advantage of my newfound solitude. I should have a steaming bath filling and a coctail with an umbrella sticking out of it...or at least a glass of red. Or I should be laying in bed watching all the soaps and reality shows that my husband would never suffer through no matter how much he loves me. What a bore I am....

Sleepless in T.O

Went to a party last night. Didn't drink much and didn't stay late because I knew I had to work the next day. I went to bed at 22:30 and was sound asleep in 20 minutes. So, when I woke up a couple of hours later I thought, no big deal, just turn around and go back to sleep. Hell, that was easier said than done. I tossed and turned all night long. I looked at the clock with dismay...first it was 1:22 am. I had slept a total of 2 1/2 hours. Then it went downhill from there. The clock turned 2 am and I still couldn't sleep, at 3:30 am I was getting a little worried and annoyed. My alarm clock was set for 5:30 am. Did I mention that I work a 12 hour shift in an ICU caring for critically ill patients. It doesn't take a science degree to figure out that one need to be sharp and on the ball in such environment. At 4:30 I still hadn't slept and, pathetic as I was, I woke my husband and said "What do I do?" "I haven't slept all night"....Call in sick was his reply. So, I did! I felt like a looser because I had called my work the day before and told them I was available to work if they needed me. Now, I felt like I left them hanging with one nurse short. So, in hindsight, don't go to a party the night before work if you know you really need that sleep. I should have said no to the party or no to work. Trying to do both messed me up. ...$450 went up in smoke just like that! Sorry kids, back to school shopping will have to wait!

Getting back to normal

It's been a few days since my sister and her family left. It's been quiet and the house feels kind of empty. How the hell that's possible, I don't know, with two teenage girls and their boyfriends, a 20 year old with friends that come and go, a toddler, and my husband and I. I guess I miss them already. Not that I'm in any way disapointed to have my house back, on the contrary. Finally the toddler is out of our bedroom after sleeping with us for three weeks. The girls have their rooms to themselves and no longer need to share with cousins. It's just that for three weeks I was in Sweden and lived in close quarter with my parents and then I came home and 4 days later my sister arrived. So, I have been accustomed to a hectic and crowded schedule, so now when it's quiet I don't know what to do with myself.
I have kept busy since they left last Thursday...I spent the whole day on Friday cleaning house, on Saturday I did some more cleaning, some laundry, and yes I spend a few hours resting by the pool. On Sunday I worked for the first time in 2 months...that felt weird. I had gotten used to the lazy lifestyle. And today I had organized a playdate for Hayden at our house. I had 6 other toddlers at my house, with their mothers of course. We swam in the pool, we played with sand, we colored and played with playdough. And of course we ate... and after the last two guests left Hayden begged me for his nap. Was I ready or what?