This has been the week of Murphy's Law

I would swear that Mr Murphy himself had moved into my house if I didn't know any better!!

Here's just a little review of how my lovely week has gone...

On Saturday afternoon Jenna told me that her ear was hurting. Of course you can't go to the doctor on Saturday unless you go to the ER. We don't have health insurance, and this is one of those weeks we did not get a paycheck. Of course! It's always a string of emergencies once your checking account balance reaches a certain low number, right?

Sunday she starts to run a fever. It gets up to almost 102. I considered taking her to the ER on Sunday night, but decided I could get her in to see the pediatrician first thing on Monday.

On Monday morning I called the ped's office. After 40 minutes of busy signal, I finally get through. Get put on hold. For EIGHT MINUTES!! When she comes back, I am calm. I just told her that getting through to their office is like trying to win a radio contest! She laughed. We set up an appointment for 2:30 pm (boy, the whole day filled up in a hurry for a clinic w/ 8 peds!).

We get to the doctor's office, and her eardrum has ruptured. I almost cried at that point! This pediatrician is one we haven't seen before, and I didn't care for her... she made me feel like a horrible mother, and I don't even think it was her intention. She wrote a prescription for a strong oral antibiotic for the infection & some antibiotic drops to put on Jenna's ear to help her eardrum heal up.

I decide to call and find out how much it's going to cost us. The least expensive I can find is $115 for the drops & $25 for the oral liquid. That was when I started to cry. I'd already paid $67 for the doctor's visit, and I knew there was about $35 left in the checking account at that point!!

My mother-in-law came to the rescue. I went home and cried with my baby girl, and she picked up the meds and brought them to us. I owe that woman big-time.

Wednesday I pulled out of the driveway to go pick up Delaney from school and the tire was flat. And I mean FLAT. I drove it across the street to air it up, then proceeded across town to get it fixed. In about 3.5 miles, it once again flattened to the point where I was driving on the wheel. I knew when I got there the news would not be good. It was not fixable--has a cut.

Have you ever cried at the tire shop in front of 3 grown men? It's a little embarassing. I really don't recommend it!

I call Mike. I'm sure I was probably hysterical. We decide to have them put the "donut" spare on until we can figure out what to do. He says we will borrow a little money from our lease company so that I can buy a tire (they're $120 each new--just slightly above insane!). In the meantime, my check for babysitting comes in, and I decide to go this morning to see if I can find a used tire that will work until we can buy 2 new ones at a time.

I get to the tire shop (the second one--the first one doesn't sell used tires) and there is a perfect one on the shelf--it's the right size, and even the same brand and tread pattern as what's on my van! What a blessing!! The poor guy went to take off the spare and 2 of the lugnuts were cross-threaded.

Ugh. Can this seriously be happening?

I then decided to drive back to the other tire place I'd been to on Wednesday. I think the poor guy remembered me crying the day before! They replaced three studs (he said there was another that looked "iffy"), as well as the lugnuts and put on the used tire I had just purchased for $35. When it was finished, he came out and handed me the keys and apologized. Sent me on my merry way. This was 2 1/2 hours after I left the house to go to the first tire shop. But it's another blessing--they fixed it for free. (Thank you, Lord!)

I know there has to be something good in the middle of all of this chaotic mess, but I've yet to find it. But I refuse to believe that tomorrow is going to be the same!!