The Rest of the Story...

My aspiring journalist, wrote a story called The Road Warriors on her blog. It's a tale of about family bonding on a long car trip. It's actually a true story, from her point of view. I'm glad she can laugh about it because I didn't think any of it was funny at the time. Go ahead and read Jillana's story, I'll wait.

OK, so now I can tell you that I was not amused at all that night. And to make matters worse, the van was fixed in Charlotte... the water pump any way-- and we we so there was no immediate need to replace the van right away when returned home. After all, ever part on that van had been replaced in the past year or so... except for the transmission. You can probably think you know where this story is going, but bear with me.
Shortly after we returned to Michigan after Spring Break, I went to Texas to visit my sister. The goal was to give her some relief in caring for my ailing father. The day I arrived for my 4 day weekend, he was taken to the hospital. I stayed a total of 10 days and only left then --with him still in the hospital, because I thought he was making improvements. While I was gone, my husband ran into trouble with the van again. And this time it was the only thing that had not been recently replaced -- the transmission.
This purple Plymouth Voyager was the first car that we owned that was picked out by me and primarily for me to drive. Remember I said that it was purple so it was special to me. The truth is, my husband wanted to replace it years before this happened, but I wouldn't let him. Nobody was making purple vans any more and I didn't know how I could go back to driving a van that was a regular color. But deep down I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to trust it again. I didn't think I could venture out on a long distance drive with all my babies in it only to have it break down on the side of the road -- again.

My father passed away and my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer just a week or so later. The van was the last thing on my mind. We did eventually replace it shortly afterward. I guess I realized that the color of my van wasn't important compared to the other things happening in my life. But for two years after that, that van sat in our garage while I drove my new van-- because I couldn't let go of it. I didn't know why, but I just didn't feel like it was time to let it go.
Finally when we were preparing to move to Atlanta, I realized I had to make a decision. This time, the timing felt right. While we contemplated and prayed about what to do with it, God was making preparations. There was a missionary family with limited funds looking to purchase a family van. To make a long story short, we donated my purple van, another man from our church who was a mechanic donated the labor I think the church kicked in the funds for the parts and she was repair. My baby was fixed up like new for them and they didn't have to pay a cent. This family had the van driven all the way from Michigan to Canada without incident ( I'll have to dig up the note that told me which part of Canada they had to drive to-- I just remember that it was a few days of driving.)
I finally let go of that van when the timing was right and it is now blessing another family. Jillana has sweet memories traveling with her siblings and I watched God do a work in my heart and bless one of his diligent workers. I like stories that have happy endings, don't you?

Of course I took pictures....

This was the day it was going to the Van Hospital.


And here is the 'new' van. I think they are first cousins :)
(It's dark blue and looks a little purple in certain lights.)





I actually finished my first card for the 2009 today, but I think I'm going to use it for the Web Artist week on the Hero Blog-- so I can't show you. I got a few other things in the works that I'm hoping to complete tomorrow if I don't have a day like today. What happened today? Glad you asked. ( OK I'm really silly now, it must be the drugs, LOL)
I went to the rheumatologist on Wednesday--- a follow up from a December appointment. He's the one who is now managing my care because of that medicine I'm on. We talked about joints and he checked them for inflammation and stuff like that. I mentioned the pain I've had for years in my shoulder. It turns out that I have tendinitis in my shoulder. It's been bothering me for years, and I noticed that it really hurts when I exercise. So I took the easy solution and stopped exercising-- sounds about right, don't you think? He didn't think I needed to stop exercising all together(party pooper), He just wants me to stop doing anything strenuous with my shoulder and he put me on an anti-inflammatory. I took it with food this morning like I was instructed, but maybe the instant oatmeal wasn't enough. It made me extremely dizzy so I went back to bed. I told you before that medicines do weird things to me...
Anyway I realized a little while ago that this means I can't do Wii bowling?!!?! My husband and the boys can relax for a while and maybe get a little practice time in while we wait for my shoulder to heal. Remind them, if you talk to them, not to relax too much because The Champ will be back. Let me tell you why I call myself The Champ. I stink at real bowling but my husband is pretty good. He bowls in the high 100s close to 200. My best score in real life is maybe a 68 and that was a loooong time ago-- and I think we had the bumpers in because I was bowling with the kids... sad, I know. But the first time I bowled with the Wii, I got a 213 ( with some tips from The Other Boy) and beat everyone in the room. LOL. It was clearly a fluke, but I'm pretty proud of that, can't you tell. If I were smart, I would quit while I'm ahead and try a new sport with the Wii.
Speaking of the Wii I do pretty good at some of the other sports too which is surprising to me because I'm the most nonathletic person on the planet in real life. It's probably one of the best purchases we've made.

OK, I think I'm finally getting tired again. I wasn't when I came down to the computer since I napped most of the day. Be blessed!