The car gods are laughing at us. Actually, everyone is laughing at us.

The new, awesome cleaning woman was scheduled to come over today and we did not have cash to give her. So, we raced to Publix to make a withdrawal this early morning. When their was cold steaming up our windows. Jay dropped me off, I ran in. I was charged $3 for the withdrawal (thank goodness that gets refunded!) and ran back out. Jay slowly moved the car towards me.

Me: What’s wrong?
Him: (Silence) I hit a shopping cart.
Me: (Confused) You hit a shopping cart?
Me: (Thinking to myself—How do you hit a shopping cart in an empty parking lot?)
Him: Yes
Me: Well, it can’t be too bad, I did not see anything when you pulled up.
Him: It is bad. You will notice it.
Me: (Thinking-C’mon, a shopping cart, they bounce, how bad can that be? This is the guy that freaked about a scratch on his car and parks in the last spot in the parking lot so as not to get dinged)

We arrive home. He runs in to leave the money. I look at the car. Ouch! Totally indented. Big scratch.
I get back in the car. He gets back in the car.

Me: (Silence)
Him: (Silence)
Me: You hit a shopping cart? (I really should quit when I am ahead)
Him: Um, yes.
Me: But I thought they just bounced?
Him: (Silence)
Me: So…how exactly did you hit a shopping cart in an empty parking lot? (I really should quit when I am ahead)

Did I mention we have a $1000 deductible?

In totally unrelated news. I was bent over in seething pain last night. Jay was ready to take me to the hospital. I told him no, she was just moving around and went to bed.

While at work, a male co-worker looked at me and said, Holy Cow, she dropped. Sure enough, I looked down and my belly was considerably lower than before. I took a deep breath. I could breathe! Then I realized I had to pee.

This morning was the first morning we awoke to frost on the ground. Last night we had rushed out to buy more long sleeve t’s, a hat, and some lined pants for Thane in anticipation. This morning, we, hesitantly, put Thane in a very cool elephant waffle shirt (thanks Thea Marie!), jeans, and his very warm, very quilted, very bulky jacket, complete with mittens attached that we bought in NYC last Christmas.

I say hesitantly because every previous time we have padded him up for the cold, he turns into this tearful, unhappy, miserable little man. Add a car seat to the mix and he may as well be enduring Chinese water torture.

This morning however was different. He eagerly put his arms through the sleeves, making the mittens dangle below his hands. He walked around the house a bit like that, waving his arms to make the mittens dance. I put the mittens on. (How exactly do you make sure a tiny little thumb goes in the tiny little thumb spot?) He looked down at his hands in awe. Then he giggled. Then he walked around the house some more.

He teetered around the kitchen like the little kid from A Christmas story who is so bulked up he can barely move.

The true test…the car seat.

I don’t think he noticed, he was amazed by the icy frost on the window next to him. When we started the drive, I looked back to see a giggling little boy looking in awe at his hands outstretched in front of him.

I really wish we had a true winter here to see his face light up when he saw snow. This is too much fun.

PS–Thane survived night two in a row in the big boy bed… Details on the saga of last week to come.

We have bad car kharma. We have angered some car gods somewhere and I don’t know how to make them happy again. If I sacrificed my first born car, well, that would be the Mazda and that would be bad.

So, just to recap:

At the end of September, Mazda was broken into: $250
Last week: Check Engine light on on Mazda, replaced PC Valve and 3 spark plugs: $900
Monday: Honda tire blew on I65, $140
Today: Mazda check engine light on, catalytic converter needs to be replaced. $900

Grand Total: $3190. Priceless

I need to do a rain dance or something.