And You Thought Monday Mornings Were Bad

This past Tuesday morning a nincompoop motorist reduced the total of our vehicles from 2 to 1 in a single fell swoop. Poor reflexes caused him to swerve (instead of brake) directly into Adam's car when a stray animal wandered into the road. (I suspect this is because he was cruising along at much faster speeds than the posted limit of 25.) I am glad the dog survived but sad that our car did not...

It's a wonder this hasn't happened already. With only enough room in the driveway for one car, Adam has always had to park on the street. Which we hate. The real kicker is that we're moving in about 3 weeks to a place where each vehicle would have had its own cozy parking space.

Adam had just turned the engine on and gone back in the house to put his laptop in his briefcase when he heard it. When he went outside he found bits and pieces of the bumper and fender scattered all over the road - the other driver was nowhere to be seen. My husband has quite the temper when rightfully wronged, and I'm glad I wasn't there to see or hear him when he had the worst Tuesday morning of his life. Fortunately, the car killer came back, the cops showed, and insurance information was exchanged.

Adam called with the unlucky news 15 minutes after I got to work. He still needed a ride to school because he had a day full of required classes. I had to find someone to keep an eye on the twins for a few minutes while I drove home to pick him up. As I neared our house, I could see the familiar blue blob of Adam's car in the distance. I noticed it looked a little wider than usual and started to feel a little sick at the realization that our car was no more.

We have had the worse luck with our cars. My car's battery randomly dies if it isn't driven everyday and also on days of extreme weather. Over the last few months it's been leaking coolant which causes it to overheat. The mysterious source of this leak continues to evade us. Even so, we adapted, purchasing containers of antifreeze to fill up before lengthy drives and keeping backup containers of water in the car just in case.

The leak became so bad during our last trip home to visit our parents that it wasn't safe to drive back. We had to trade cars with my parents. And now its the only vehicle we have left. Don't worry, mom and dad, we're being extra careful!

Now all that remains is to fight the car killer's insurance company until we are rightfully compensated. And, believe me, we are rip rarin' and ready to fight. I keep thinking about all the cases like this I've watched on Judge Judy (love her!). I know she would rule in our case, and likely give the defendant a humbling lecture on his stupidity. I'm ready, Judge Judy! I have my pictures and the police report, which clearly names the defendant as responsible.

But that's life...about which James said to consider "pure joy" since "the testing of your faith develops perseverance" (James 1:2-3). I don't know that I'd go quite so far as to consider the annihilation of our car pure joy (I know Adam doesn't), but I get it. I have faith that something good will come of it. I've already thought of one: now we'll only have to drive the moving truck and one car to our new place in Tennessee, which means we'll save on the 14 gallons of gas we would have otherwise had to purchase! And with gas prices as ludicrous as they've been, that's actually a pretty expensive blessing!