Ode to my Odyssey

She has failed me again.

This picture was taken somewhere between home and vacation.  Really!  Ipod in my ears, Dr. Pepper nearby, children and B occupied, Jason and Mom sleeping, the road was mine to drive.  That is until the car made a slight jump and speedometer dropped.  Without panicking, I slowly made my way to an exit and pulled into a gas station where my car officially died.  Only could God have guided the car off the highway and into a safe area (okay, so "safe" is used loosely).  We determined, by we I do mean Jason, that the transmission had died.  We posted a frantic Facebook call for anyone to come get our crew of 7 and all our weekend's luggage.  It was asking alot but what other choice did we have? 

So we waited and waited and waited.  We made a few walking trips to the Dollar General next door and hung out on the curb of the highway's service road.  Not fun.  Did I mention yet this was in August, right in the middle of record breaking high temperatures here in Texas?  What's 110 degrees and sitting outside a few feet from tar side streets? 

While we tried to hitch a ride, Jason was working on a tow truck that was willing to make the drive from Forney to the middle of nowhere and back to Forney.  Success!  My uncle and cousin came to our rescue and we were able to bring most of our luggage with us.  Jason stayed with the tow truck driver. 

Hours later, Jason and I are back at home contemplating what to do next.  My mom and sister took two of the kids and made the drive back to the family reunion/vacation without us.  I think they finally arrive at 1am the following day?!!

We make a decision on where to have the transmission fixed which took a full week.  Get that taken care of only to drive the car to it's next stop to fix the timing belt, again another 3 days.  Pick up the Odyssey and drive it home to learn the battery is dead and needs to be replaced.  Frustrated, we get it fixed and keep our fingers crossed that it will decide to drive properly.  After this, we've somewhat grown used to being a one-car family so why not take it in to the dealership for it's warranty repair.  While there, we find out there are TWO warranty repairs that need to be done and it will need to stay overnight.

Of course this is becoming comical, or extremely frustrating, depending on the minute of the day.  We get the Odyssey picked up... again.  At this point, we've invested more than we had planned into the car.  We aren't sure if we even want to keep it but being free of any car payments.  If we decide to sell it, we need the cracked windshield replaced.  And what the heck, why not just fix the windshield too!  So we get that taken care of.  While we're racking up a fine bill on our once empty credit card, let's fix the dent in the back too.  Now we can pretend it's a brand new car!

No lie, just days after this, we have a headlight out.  Such a minor thing and a cheap fix, but it's no longer comical.  We're seriously considering our safety in this car that's only 6 years old.

I would say ALL of this work was done over a 4 week period of time.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to not have a vehicle with 3 kids, their school and activities?  Near impossible without the help of friends and family!

Just this past week, I went out to take Cameron to school, and the car is dead.  Like dead as in, it won't even move to neutral kind of dead.  I call Jason because what else would a girl do?  He comes home that evening and once again, God on our side through MUCH prayer, the connection from the battery to the car had become loose.  Again, quick and free fix.  Just the headache.

For today, the Odyssey is driving nicely, almost brand new really!

Here is a picture of us trying to move the car at the gas station when it first died.  I took a moment to take this pic while they were pushing.  I got in trouble, imagine that!  I told him I was still steering!!