How to Spend $850 in 5 Seconds

I can do it. We have had that money saved for exactly 24 hours, and it's gone. No, I didn't go buy those amazing boots I wanted or get a new oven. Instead I paid a tow truck driver and got new tires and rims. What a disappointment.

Something has happened to my driving skills lately. I used to be a good driver. OK. I used to be a REALLY BAD driver, then I became a good driver, and now I'm back to being a bad driver. I think it could be the distraction of children, or maybe it's the lack of sleep. Whatever it is, I got a speeding ticket fairly recently. I just paid that about a week ago. Today we actually had plans to get out of the house...early. I was a little concerned because we haven't gone anywhere early for a really long time. Miraculously, the kids woke up on their own. We would have left on time if it weren't for the winter coat fight. We were at least close.

About 10 minutes into our drive, Little Sissy started wanting her milk cup. Then the whining started. "I want my milk cup, my milk cup, my milk cup." Sometimes I calmly tell her I can't reach it and that she needs to wait until we get there. Today I was tired and not in the mood to hear whining, and I reached over my seat full of bags (Big Sissy's MOPS bag, my purse, Little Buddy's diaper bag, Little Sissy's diaper bag) to dig out her cup. In a matter of seconds, I hit the curb, heard a loud pop, and my car sensed that I was going to slow down and pull over because it just did it for me. In fact, it leaned us over in case I still wanted to get the milk cup. What a thoughtful van we have.

I called Hubby, who is only in his 2nd day back to work after surgery and probably has a few things to catch up on. In heroic fashion, he dropped everything and came to rescue us in his little Mazda Protege, which all the car seats will NOT fit in. He called our insurance company to take advantage of our roadside service, which apparently got dropped in the buying of the van. At least they called a tow truck for us. We had to call our dear friend Derrill to the scene in order to get all of us home. In the middle of that, Little Buddy started throwing a "hold your breath, arch your back so you can scream better" fit. I was so nervous to change his diaper (which he really needed) and feed him because I was in the middle of the road with my flashers on, but I was able to do that before all the extras arrived. Thankfully, we are all fine. The girls thought we pulled over just so they could watch 3 episodes of Dora the Explorer on the DVD player. Little Buddy thought I just wanted to feed him so he could take a nap.

The bad news is...the repair bill. Ugh. I'm just sick about it. Somehow this happens every time we put anything in savings. But we have lots to be thankful for--that we actually had the money without resorting to credit, that Hubby's job is flexible enough to allow him to rescue us, that he is recovered enough to come, that Derrill was home and could help, that we're not hurt, etc. I certainly can think of more fun ways to spend that money though!!!