I’m pretty sure that wine was first created because there was a mom who, at some point, turned to her partner and said, “Honey, I need a drink, and this crap you’ve got right now just isn’t cutting it.” I am that mom today. I need a glass of wine or two. Or six. (I’ll just have to settle for hard cider, since that’s all we’ve got at the moment.)

I am less than a month from my wedding and today was supposed to be the day I went shopping for a wedding dress. Then we had severe weather that took out our power for a while. When it finally did come back, so many things weren’t working right: the central air, the box fan, the ceiling fan, the stove, the toaster, the washer and dryer, the lights in the kitchen. Possibly other things, I don’t know. I found out today that the water heater also isn’t working right, which means no showers for us for the time being.

As if that wasn’t enough of an annoyance, my car is also out of commission. I was on the way home from the store last night with Boo and on the way back, my brakes decided to stop working. To make a long story short, my fiance left last night to park my car where we planned to get it fixed and walked home. This morning, we all got up too late and then rushed over there so that Boo and I could wait for two hours to be told, “We can’t start the car.”

At this point, I was sitting in the Applebee’s across the street with my toddler, who insisted on standing on top of the table to play with the light fixture above us because toddlers have zero self-awareness and even though I am dying of embarrassment because my child will not listen and is now standing on top of the table, I can’t get her down because she has a complete meltdown and then gets back up on the table again anyway. Such as the life of a mom.

But this isn’t about that. Let me back up a little and tell you a little bit more about my other baby: my car.

I drive a 2000 Chevy Cavalier. The poor thing has had it kind of rough, but I do my best to keep her running and in good condition. The past few months, my starter has been a little bit fussy; sometimes it will take longer than normal for it to turn over and start the car, but it does, in fact, start the car. I actually haven’t been worried at all that my starter would one day just quit working. When I took my car in to this place today, I went strictly to have my brake lines looked at and fixed. That was the only issue. And now, suddenly, it will not start, either. It seems awfully coincidental, doesn’t it?

Best case scenario, the total repair for replacing the starter and the brake lines (which are pretty much completely rusted and leaking profusely, hence the reason I had no brakes) would be almost $700. Worst case scenario, the total repair would be around $1100. That’s for the new starter plus the brake lines plus some of the other things connected to the brake lines that I actually have zero knowledge about, even though the mechanic explained everything to me in detail. Anyway, we’re looking at something within that range. Needless to say, my fiance is adamant that he would like to try to fix it himself but I am too stressed out and tired to deal with it at this point. I left my car in their parking lot, and hopefully we’ll get the thing out in the next couple of days.

After that fiasco, I waited around for a bit for a mechanic to give me a ride home, then changed my mind and ended up walking the two and a half miles (after walking about a mile earlier in the day) with R in the Ergo on my back. She slept part of the way since she missed her midday nap and was a real joy to deal with once we got home. I was sore and tired and hot and dehydrated and that walk was absolutely awful. I would not do it again unless my life depended on it, and even then, that’s a maybe.

Did I mention that we got back from vacation just two weeks ago? We spent five days on beautiful Lake Michigan and it was awesome. It was nice to get away and relax, and Boo really enjoyed it as well. She was so well-behaved, I wasn’t sure she was actually my child. My fiance and I also had our first date in almost two years that week while we were gone – as in, a date where Mommy and Daddy go by themselves and have a nice meal together without trying to keep a child from throwing forks into people’s faces or standing on top of tables. It was weird, but it was also nice to have that one-on-one time.

I wish we were still on vacation. We have one to look forward to at the end of the month, but it’s too far away. I need a break already.

I guess I’ll just have to settle for that cider instead.