Series of Unfortunate Events...Howard style.

I can't be the only one who has felt cursed with bad luck. I mean everyone runs into the unwanted beast every now and then. But we have been hit left and right the past month and I am about to lose my mind. It is at the point that we are just like "Bring it on!". Ok so here is my list. Some of these might sound stupid, but when you are a family of 7 on a single income (and a meager military income at that) these all are very HUGE!

1. We bought what we thought was a great little commuter car for Ron when we got here. A 1990 Honda Accord. It looked very nice and taken care of, the owner had a folder full of paperwork of all the things he had replaced, and it was CHEAP. Yeah, well...that was too good to be true! A week after we got it, it stopped starting. So it sat until we could get some money. Ron's brother is a mechanic and bless his heart, spent hours on the phone trying to diagnose the problem. Ron replaced something in the distributor and it seemed to work. So he took it into the shop to get some other work done on the wheels or something which was not cheap and guess what...it didn't start again. Turns out it is the fuel pump which is not cheap...see a pattern here?
So the moral of the story?? You get what you pay for!!! Ka-ching!

2. Our van. Our only means of transportation right now and the only means of transportation for our whole family. It's only a 2007 but man we have put some miles on her. All the trips to Idaho/Utah and to Van Horn, Texas add up. Well it has started making a nasty whining noise when it first starts up and then also it creaks when you turn left. Really? Not only do I have to drive a minivan, but a noisy minivan?? Give me a break! So before our only car breaks we have to get it into the shop. Oh and the best part...our heater isn't working in it. Yeah, it just stopped one day. Ka-ching!

3. With the sale of the house we had to settle with our bank for a big chunk of change. They had originally told us we would be able to make payments, but they have since told us that they need it all at once. Hahahaha! Yeah, if we had that kind of money people, we wouldn't have the problems we have! So it will be interesting to see where we pull that one out of. Ka-ching!

4. I had bought a cute little mouse for my laptop...it was pink:) I had thought I had some weird disease or was having a heart attack because my arm would go numb and I wouldn't be able to use my thumb...turns out it was carpal tunnel. So a mouse is a necessity. Those wireless cuties are $30 a pop. Did I mention mine was pink? Well, I am not sure what happened but I walked into the room to find my mom and Ron trying to fix the USB adapter. It fell or something and broke. So sad. But, I have to have one so I bought another one. THE NEXT DAY I open up the new mouse and not even a couple hours later Tyler steps on and breaks the new adapter. Really? Am I in the Twilight Zone? So I just can't bring myself to throw the cute little pink mouses (?) mice (?) away. Nor can I bring myself to spend another $30 on a new one. No problem, I can live with a numb thumb. Haha that was funny. Ka-ching!

5. Dylan's bike....the tube has a hole and the chain keeps falling off. Oh and we broke our tire pump. Lovely. Ka-ching!

6. My flat iron...my Chi!! It fizzled out last night. I was seriously distraught. It worked one minute and not the next. How can you buy a Target flat iron when you've been using a Chi? That's like buying the nasty cat food kind of tuna when you have been used to the lovely white albacore tuna. (Although it has been proven the cat food nasty one is better for you...side note)
And it was PINK!! Ka-ching!

Ok, that is enough. I may sound like I am whining, but really we are at the incredulous stage. We are kind of laughing now. I know that for every "bad luck" there are a million blessings that are received. It is just so crazy when you feel slammed with burden. And financial burden is the worst. Everyone is struggling right now. It is a scary time. And even though I don't know how we are going to fix all of these things, I know in my heart that we will get it done and that it will all be ok. I was having a mini panic attack about it all today and I said to Ron, "Is it going to be ok?" And he said, "Better than ok." And I believed him.

One degree of seperation to Kevin Bacon, Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson and many more!

Thursday night Ron and I were able to go to a concert at the Mirage. It was the Lt. Dan Band with Gary Sinise. He and his band tour and perform for military members. It was a good concert and they even bussed us downtown. All FREE which is my favorite word! I wish we would have taken the kids, but it was a school night. Cierra would have loved it because they called all the kids on stage to dance.

Things I learned at the concert:

Ron enjoys concerts WAAAAY more than I do. We have gone to John Mayer before and all I wanted to do was sit and enjoy the concert, but everyone was up and "dancing". You know...the tap your foot and snap your fingers kind of dance. I love to dance as much as the next girl but really...I just want to sit and enjoy it. Same thing at this concert. Come on people! Sit down every now and then! Geez! I had gone to the bathroom and when I came back, there was Ron dancing all by himself. Hahaha. So, yeah, I think he likes it a little more than me.

People LOOOOVE an open bar! Halfway through the concert they announced that it was open bar. You should have seen the stampede. I was happy too though because I didn't have to pay $5 for a Diet Coke.

Ladies can get craaaazy when there is an open bar! One girl jumped on stage to booty dance on Gary Sinise to "Sweet Home Alabama". A guard swiftly escorted her off stage. Gotta give the girl some credit though...it ain't easy booty dancing to that song.

And last but not least....I learned that I am getting old. The concert started at 8. At 9:30 I was ready to go. All I could think of was how early I had to get up the next morning...I was missing "King of Queens"....time was ticking away on the babysitter meter...

All in all...a good night. And Gary Sinise even walked around and was right in front of me. Does that make me famous???