It HAD to happen

Ever get the feeling you just KNOW that you're about to take one step forward and two steps back?

You try to convince yourself you're being ridiculous and life is simply not THAT cruel to you and you're just being overly pessimistic?

And then...it HAPPENS!  Just like you imagined!!  LITERALLY!!

It's a weird sort of feeling.  A mix of frustration, despair, and ironically some sense of pride.  Yeah, pride, cuz, dang it, I just KNEW it would happen.  Ok, maybe I like to be right, just a LITTLE to much!! (I'm sure my husband would agree.)

So here's what happened.  We've been essentially a one car family more than not for quite a while now.  When we paid off the DODGE (you know the van from he!!) we had planned on getting some a newer vehicle to replace the older van that was not functional MOST of the time.  But with the history of the DODGE, I was afraid to have a car payment and have constant repair needs.  So we've held off.  In the meantime, there was a vehicle I was to be inheriting.  It had been my Grandma's and despite being a '96 is has SUPER low miles and is in almost perfect condition.  So we've pressed on, as a one car family for awhile.  And two weeks ago I was told I'd be making a trip to the DMV to get the car registered in my name.  Then after 3 "simple" trips to the DMV, it was done.  We had a second running vehicle.  I only had to wait a couple days to physically get it.

I was happy to have a second vehicle again, but something began telling me that as soon as we got this new to us car...the van would decide to die.  So last Thursday, I headed home to pick up my husband to pick up our second vehicle.  When I backed out of the driveway the van choked but kept going.  I turned the corner and made it another block before it choked again, HARD this time and the check engine light came on.  My heart sank and my brain did a happy dance at the same time!! An ironic mix of emotions of frustration and satisfaction.  Now that was 6 days ago and the van is continuing to run WITH the check engine light on. 
So now I'm praying for our tax return to show up (yeah I waited until the absolute last minute and filed a paper return) so we can get the van checked out since transferring the title etc and renewing the van's plates ran over $300 I don't have to extra cash right now.  But I'll try to look on the bright side...at least if the van dies completely now, we DO have a vehicle that runs well to get us through. And its not like we haven't managed as a one car family before!