The dreamy afternoon I planned for us yesterday was not to be.
First, I invited my two neighbor girls (ages 8 and 9) to go with us. They were so excited. I packed them and all of our beach gear into the Jeep and headed down the road. About halfway down the hill we live on I heard a THUNK sound in my engine. Great.
I turned left at the stoplight and noticed that I didn't have any power steering. And all my guages were going crazy. All the warning lights were flashing. I managed to maneuver the beast into a convenience store parking lot. Obviously, we weren't going to the beach.
So we hiked back up the hill, and after escorting each of the girls home and explaining to their parents what happened, I once again called the tow truck and had the vehicle hauled down to the dealership.
This morning they called and said the bolt that holds the power steering housing (?) thingy had busted. Voila! No power steering. Which caused all the power steering fluid to gush out, which caused the serpentine belt to slip, which caused all the systems to think they were failing (which they weren't, thankfully).
All covered under warranty, so no cost to us, but still. I can't take much more of this.
And then TODAY. Oh, God, today.
I picked up B from daycare and we stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things for P's camping trip tomorrow. I have a hard and fast rule that I must carry her across the parking lot and into the store, because of the cars and traffic. She doesn't like it, but that's the rule. Well, today I got across the parking lot, her in my arms, stepped up onto the sidewalk, took about 5 steps, and turned my ankle. I fell really hard, and so did she. She landed on the asphalt and hit the back of her head. I was devastated. She cried and cried, and I just sat on the sidewalk and held her, and all these people came rushing over to us to see if we needed help, medics, whatever. After a few minutes, B seemed to calm down and was okay after the bakery lady brought her a balloon and a cookie.
But she's got a big bump on the back of her head, which I've attempted to ice, but which she squirms away from. She really does seem okay. Joked with her daddy about how Mama fell down and she fell down too. Got an owie. I don't think she has a concussion. She was very alert and active right after and still is -- but I'm watching her.
I, on the other hand, have a distinct limp and swollen ankle. Actually, this is a recurring injury I've been plagued with since sliding into third base playing fast pitch softball in high school. Sometimes I fall down. But I've never fallen while carrying B. This was the first time, and I seriously shook for hours after it happened.
I heard a story about a woman whose sister was carrying her infant daughter on a walk one day, when the sister stepped into a pothole in the sidewalk and fell with the baby. The baby suffered a serious head injury and is disabled now. I am sickened to think what might have happened to B today.
She's just come down the stairs to tell me Rug Rats is over and she's ready to do something else now. And she's thirsty. That's my cue.
Let's hope for a less eventful weekend.
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