When life gets in the way

 

The stack of boxes we used to pack. That’s a lot of boxes!

I bet you’ve all been dying to know about my trip from Indiana to New York (not City, but Central).

We left on 9-11 at about 5 am. I should have went back home when I filled the tank and the gas started pouring out. Hubby said the fuel neck had a hole in it, and it only leaked when filling (more like poured out). But I ignored my initial instincts and headed out anyway.

By about 8 am and in heavy fog, our car just died on the toll road. Just inside Ohio and barely able to see. Great. We made it to a gas station and I blamed the oil guys for not replacing the oil when they changed it (they said they swept the floor too!) So after about a half hour and  2 quarts of oil, we are on the road again.

Until about 10:30 or so.  I feel the car chugging and I immediately pull into a rest area and add another quart of oil. I let the kids get a break, and we left after a half hour. 

The car died about a half hour later, approximately 13 miles from the next rest area. On the side of the toll road, with 6 kids in tow. No cell phone. No idea what to do.

Fortunately for us, a state trooper stopped to help within 15 minutes. About a half hour later, we got a tow to the next rest area, where we proceeded to go to the next town.  We got the  car into the shop and after waiting for 2  hours (with 6 kids, only one in diapers, and a 2 yr old to boot) we decided to get a motel room for the night. They had no idea what was wrong. At least they gave us a ride to the motel.

More box fun!

Well, the car got fixed that night, but we stayed anyway to destress and get some rest. It’s hard being stranded with so many little ones. And I am so proud at how well they behaved the whole time. We had our moments, but considering the circumstances, they were sweet angels!

So on Sat morning, we had our continental breakfast and headed out at 9 am. We were just outside of Cleveland, close to our halfway point. We are going along good, and then BAM!! The car dies again.

This time we are NOT on the toll road at least. In fact, we are in Erie, PA, our halfway point. I make it to the next gas station and then after a few frantic and angry phone calls find somewhere to get the fuel filter changed.

After a few hours and we are good to go. I met my Mother in law about an hour or so later and she followed us the rest of the 3-4 hour drive. No problems this time.

Wow, what a trip. I left out the tears, the cussing, and the high level of stress that I endured. It was like a nightmare awake. Really. But in the end, we are all ok, and we made it. Should have taken us less time and less stress, but it’s all good.

We’ve been staying with my MIL in a small 2 bedroom apt above an elderly lady (87-ish). We are not the quietest bunch either. So far, so good.

We get to move to our own place on Monday. Yay!! I’m so excited to be able to have our own stuff, our own space, and rooms for the kids. It’s been less than ideal to have the kids camping out in the living room. And add to that, my MIL has no cable. And you know, you can’t watch any TV without cable. And you can only watch so many movies….

 

What we do when we’re bored…

But we get all that hooked up in a week. Yay! Excitement abounds. I’ve discovered that I can’t do plain stockinette without watching TV. It’s soooo boring.

So what would I be doing that requires copious amounts of stockinette? Why, another Wallaby. This time for kid #4. In a nice bright green. Acrylic. But he’s only 5 and doesn’t care about fiber. I just hope he never catches on fire while wearing it.

My Sept socks are not even half way done. I discovered that I made a mistake after the heel turn and need to figure out what to do next.

I’ll be posting more pics as soon as we get moved in and I find my stuff. I will be able to get caught up on a lot without cable OR internet!!