Two Days' Time

Monday

I was grading papers at the kitchen table last week.  The sun was shining through the patio window, and the house was all tidy.  It was quiet; Emmie was napping.  Suddenly horrible screams rang out from her room.  I ran upstairs.

The smell struck me before I pushed into the room.   There was vomit everywhere.  On the carpet, stuffed animals, the bed, blankets, everything.  In the middle of it was my daughter, screaming in terror, soaked head to foot in her own sickness.

For a moment, I had no idea what to do.

Emmie has, for her two years of life, been a very healthy child.  She's gotten a fever maybe once.  She never puked on me as a baby, as far as I can recall.  We've been extremely fortunate.  But that also equates to inexperienced.  This was new to both of us.

The first thing I did was to pick her up, place her in the bathroom, and strip off her clothes.  Of course, I had given her a bath earlier in the day.  Back in the tub she went.  Then, I pulled off all her sheets, grabbed everything I saw that was dirtied and put it in the sink. There was too much, I had to get a garbage bag.  I was trying to reassure my scared daughter while inside I was freaking out.  

I called Bruce, he was leaving work in half an hour anyways. Then I called my mom, who's a nurse for a pediatrician.  She told me that a bug had been going around just like what Emmie had.  Sudden projectile vomiting.  She said not to give Emmie anything for an hour or two, then try a little bit of ice chips or Pedia-Pop.  She warned that the illness could last a day or two, that we would just have to gradually feed Emmie liquids and plain solids like toast or crackers, and no dairy.  I also left a message for Emmie's pediatrician. They called back a while later and recalled the same advice as my mom.

Emmie was sick one more time before Bruce came home, about an hour later.  When she saw him, she raised her little arms in welcome.  He picked her up, and she promptly threw up on him.  It wasn't funny then, but looking back, it kind of was.

I had to go to work.  I would've called off, but adjuncts have very little job security, and it's seriously competitive out there.  A little thing like canceling one class could put me behind my colleagues.  I dismissed class early, though, and rushed home to Bruce and Emmie, who was somewhat better.

Tuesday

The next day, Bruce  stayed home from work.  I can't even imagine what it would have been like if he hadn't because besides our sick kid, I had a work meeting (my brother was originally going to watch Emmie, but we told him not to), our old car was scheduled to be picked up by the pound, and our new dryer was supposed to be delivered.

A few days prior, we Googled "cash for cars" and called around to different places, getting quotes.  We had decided weeks ago not to fix it up again, but to just get rid of it and try to recoup the the cost of the original towing back to the house.  We've been a one-car family for over a month now, and even though it's not always ideal, we're managing fine.  One place offered us free pickup and more than we anticipated.  They would send a tow truck driver over with a check.

When the tow truck driver arrived, he walked around the car, scrutinizing it.  "What's wrong with it?" He asked skeptically.  He was contracted by the junk car company, so he was unaware of the situation.

Bruce told him: the car wasn't running, and even though it only had 167,000 miles on it, we didn't want to pay for any more repairs.

"I'll give you $100 more dollars for it. Cash." The tow truck guy offered. All we would have to do is call the junk car company and cancel the sale.  The tow truck driver explained that he fixes up cars himself.  There was nothing majorly wrong with our car.  He said he would fix it up and drive it himself, or sell it.  "They have this listed as a junk car.  It's not junk," he told us.

When Bruce came in the house and told me what had transpired, my B.S. radar went off.  "I don't know... This seems fishy to me," I muttered warily.

Bruce felt confident that everything was legit.  We had signed no paperwork with the junk car company; he called and swiftly canceled business with them while the tow truck driver drove to the nearest ATM.  The company immediately emailed a cancellation confirmation.

Goodbye, old car.

The tow truck driver came back with more cash than we had seen in a very, very long time.  The amount was more than we had hoped for.  Considering all the money we've sunk into the car over the years, the fact that we considered it an unreliable mode of transportation, that we would've had to pay to tow it to an auto body shop and then pay for repairs which would add to our credit card debt - this was the best possible outcome.  Bruce signed over the title, and we watched our old car get towed away.

We immediately put the money in the bank and paid down a credit card.

A few minutes later, I got a call from Maytag.  Our new dryer would be delivered soon! We bought the thing online from Home Depot during its President's Day sale.  That's right - back in FEBRUARY.  We got a good deal on it: it was on sale, we had a gift card we got from credit card points, and we also bought it through Ebates, so we would get a little extra cash back.  

We were thrilled to finally be getting a new dryer.  The one my parents gave us would take hours for one load to get dry.  A while back, it was deemed irreparable by the gas company.  We have a warranty, so the cost of replacement would get reimbursed.

We were like little kids with a new toy when the dryer arrived!

The problem is, when we went to buy it, we weren't able to schedule a delivery date until 6 weeks later.  Then, the day before it was supposed to be delivered, we got a call saying delivery would be postponed at least another week.  They told me I could call later that week to see if it would really be shipping out.  I called several times over the next week, and no one could give me a straight answer.  It was quite possibly the worst customer service I've ever experienced.  

What made me the most angry is that Home Depot charged my credit card right away, instead of when the item shipped, which means I was paying interest on a product I didn't even have yet.  Worst of all, reimbursement couldn't be processed until after we received the product.

But it did finally get here.  The deliverymen took away our old dryer and Bruce installed the new one (we didn't want to pay for it).  We just got the reimbursement and promptly dropped it on the credit card, too.

Notice a theme here?  Bruce and I are trying resolutely to get out of debt, to make a better life for our family.  With my job being so unstable, we have to do everything we can to make our financial situation better.  We got our tax refunds back, and with that and the car money, we've paid off four small credit cards!  It makes a minor dent in our overall debt, but there is a sense of accomplishment in it nonetheless.  Also, four less payments a month gives us a little more breathing room.

So Bruce, Emmie, and I survived the chaos of those two days.  The old car was taken care of, and our insurance cost went down.  We finally got the dryer, and I'm able to do laundry quite easily now.  I went to my work meeting and think I make a good impression.  Emmie got better.  Plus, the weather's been getting nicer every day!  We go outside as much as possible.  I've started to do work on the yard while Emmie plays.

Onward and upward.