We Are THAT Family...

Ok, so I may have mentioned this before but it came up again in a conversation with my friend Kristi. We are that family...you know, that family that seems to always have something going on that makes you forget your own problems and remember how blessed you are? Yeah...we still are that family. Ready to feel better about your life?

Today was a day from Hell... I have been working on finishing up tax papers and forms and I have hit every roadblock you can imagine. Bear with me....I bought Quickbooks in 2004 for the coffeehouse and I have used the same version ever since. Like every good computer owner I backed up my computer on an external hard drive. 2 months ago my MAC started freaking out, freezing, crashing and not working and I tried to get everything off of my computer before it completely died and I thought I had. I thought I needed a new hard drive. I had just installed the latest OS and I thought that was the problem. After installing a new hard drive and installing the OS again, my computer would not come back on. I had tried to move all of my files over to Scott's mac but guess what? His also died that same week!! It needed a new power supply. I got 99% of the stuff of my computer but wasnt sure what I was missing. After a little trip to Microcenter, we discovered it was bad Ram (which was my second guess) and after they were replaced the mac worked great. When I was reinstalling all of my software I realized that I no longer had Quickbooks because it was a download.... But, never fear...I had a back up on my external hard drive....until I tried to find the power cord to that...and picked the wrong one and FRIED my back up....with the only copy of the software that I had....so never fear, I just decided to call the company to get another copy, but since its been 5 years they no longer support that version but they will let me upgrade to the latest version for $179. Last night I tried to work around that and upload my files to their free online version...but it wouldnt install mac files...so I call my dear mother in law and send her the file and walk her thru the process to install my files...and after an hour we get to a part where it tells us that my files are from a version that is not compatible with the online mac version....so I call them today, tell my sob story to 3 people and my phone drops the signal twice...and I might have said some bad words....and finally get a 3rd person who tells me I could use their free online trial and upload my files...oh, but the mac version isnt available online yet...and oh, I could buy the new 2010 version but oh wait, it won't be ready until 10/19/09....so there is nothing they can do for me.... So, it was a very frustrating day and I have no fix for my tax problem....which leads me to my afternoon...still with me???

In the past 2 months we have dealt with near death days with mom, horrible days with Scott's health and car problems. I have driven Scott to treatment 2 times a day, 7 days a week since may and have visited my mom almost every day at the hospital in the last 6 months. Our mountaineer was having big problems and we finally had the radiator replaced and then the manifold replaced....and within 2 days of a new manifold, our transmission started acting up... We have been babying it for the past month and thought we were doing ok until I left to go get Scott from his afternoon treatment. I made it 15 minutes from our house when it decided it didn't want to move anymore...I was stuck on State Line, at rush hour, at 435...not a great place to stop. I was horrified!!! Nothing I could do would make that dumb truck move...so I put on my hazards and texted Scott and 10 other people. Scott was stranded at the clinic while I was stranded on the busy road. After about 10 minutes of nervously watching the cars swerve at the last minute before rear ending me I called 911 and asked for an officer. He showed up about 10 minutes after that to protect me...There was one stupid idiot who honked at me as I was stuck...because OBVIOUSLY I just decided that Stateline and 435 was a great place to hang out...it couldn't have been because my CAR WASN'T WORKING YOU MORON!!! The 911 dispatcher called a tow truck for me (*side note- if you call a truck on your own it will save you 20-30 bucks!!! Don't have the police call them for you!!!) Anyway, did I mention it was raining? I called Kristi to have her come meet me at Midas, which was a block away...in the mean time some patients took pity on Scott and after getting my text, picked him up and brought him to Midas....but then Midas said they couldn't fix our problem and so we had the truck towed to a transmission shop....while Kristy picked up Scott and followed close behind...and the tow cost $77 bucks!!! And dear Kristi drove us back home...I called mom while stuck on State Line but she was eating dinner in the dining hall so I asked the nurse to pass on my message...I wouldn't make it there tonight...and we were supposed to finish up her paperwork and pack tonight because I am supposed to pick her up tomorrow morning...

Ok, are you starting to feel better about your day yet? Now, we have my moms van that we could use but guess what? The battery is dead and the tags are expired. I tried to renew the tags online but it was past the due date and they wouldn't let me do it and I haven't had a free moment to drive to Ottawa to get it done...oh, and it needs a new exhaust because it sounds like 50 Harley's (which Scott loves)...so this is where my plan starts to get a little desperate...I don't have a ride for Scott planned for the morning so we are going to jump start the van in the morning, with a charger my dear boss let me borrow 5 months ago for the fiat (now thats a whole other story!) and then we are going to drive an illegal van all the way to Ottawa, hoping we don't get pulled over, so we can get tags, run to my moms house to get some winter clothes and then back to the rehab place before 11. If I get arrested tomorrow, will someone please come bail us out and let the nice people read my blog so they can see that I can't possibly be making this story up?....And I haven't even mentioned Scott's heart attack scare last week and the FBI scare the week before...or any of the other health things that make up our exciting life....but that is the life we have right now and I am really trying to make the best of it...it could be worse...we could be that family across the street who called 911 tonight...and had 4 cop cars, 1 emt truck, 1 fire truck and 1 ambulance come invade their home only to leave empty handed after a few hours...and to then have the coroner and funeral home minivan come pick up your loved one...it could always be worse and we could be that family...I for one am glad that His Mercies Are New Every Morning...and that it didn't happen this morning when I was wearing my PJ's, half asleep with my parka on...cause I just can't handle another day like today...