lesson learned...

call it "karma", call it "the universe", call it "The Almighty"...whatever you believe in, It seems to get a thrill out of throwing us life lessons. and, if we don't heed to these lessons, it will inject these lessons into our lives over and over until we finally realize how to do things the right way.

i am one of those slow people who never get it the first time around...or second...or fifth. it takes about 10 times of getting a huge, atomic wedgie for me until i can smack my palm to my forehead and mutter,"duh! i get it now."

one lesson i have yet to learn? procrastinating is bad.

when we took in our blazer to get the oil changed, we were told that it needed a new water pump soon. total cost for part and repair; $450 big ones...yeeeeeaaaah, we're going to wait on that one. thanks.

with illya not working, us planning on him going to school soon, and money coming back to us from our taxes, we decided to use the return money to fix it and protect our little savings account by not having it dipped into. that sounded very adult-like, right? i thought suze orman would be proud. so, we forgot about it (for now) and moved on.

awhile back, our blazer had a rock spit at its' windshield, which caused a tiny ding to form. a few days later, that small, quarter-sized ding spread its' wings and created a spiderweb-like orb, circling our entire windshield. great! thank goodness for 100 buck deductibles! oh, and yes, now we're REALLY going to put off that new, shiny $450 water pump.

the next day, with our new window in tow, i headed to work. while waiting at the light to get onto the freeway on ramp, i smelt a smell that could burn a hole into your nostrils. you know what i'm talking about; that hot, burnt hair, burnt rubber smell. now, knowing our state watches over the toxins that come from cars and enters our earths atmosphere, i was a little perturbed to inhale such fumes. i thought to myself,"okay, which jalopy in front of my should not be on the road?!" looking for a beat up, car held up by duct tape, and not seeing one, i let it go and saw the light turned green. i then moved my foot from the brake to the gas and heard a loud clanky, clunky, grinding noise. again, the slow person that i am (we've been over that i'm slow, right?), i looked ahead of me to try and see if i could find whatever punk, teenagers engine was making such an atrocious noise. it was then and only then that i felt my car spasm and i realized,"crap. it's me. it's my car."

so, fast forward a tow truck ride, a tearful call to a mother, and $500 dollars later, i learned many lessons...

a) never put off til tomorrow what you can afford to fix today

b) it doesn't matter how cool and calm you are in a horrible situation, the minute you hear your mommy's voice on the phone, you bawl like someone receiving an oscar!

c) aaa WILL extend a lapsed membership over the phone and send out a tow truck pronto, but will charge you a hidden "same day usage fee"...you have been warned.

d) with all the crap things that can happen within a matter of hours, God will make sure you are covered.

having this happen on a day my flatmate is on spring break so she can drop me off and pick me up from work was amazing timing. having this happen when we actually had the money to cover the cost (unlike a few months ago when we would've been up the creek) was so comforting. and, having the mechanic misquote us the price, going from 450 down to 350 was a miracle (seriously, who does that?!).

so, thank you, Lord, i get it now. my lesson HAS been learned. and, i am grateful for the many silver linings we had in our little experience. i just beg You...can my next lesson not involve my poor car?