Tires. TIRES. Seriously, why must tires plague me so? I'm always getting nails in my tires or they're leaking for no reason. Recently they've taken to skidding in the rain. NOT COOL. Saturday we took the Rogue in for it's checkup and it as it turns out... we're still running on the original tires despite having over 50,000 miles on the car. Erm.. oops? No one ever suggested needing new tires. They kept passing the state inspection and every time I got a new nail in one Nissan just plugged the hole instead of replacing the tire. I think one tire had 4 plugs in it. Is that safe?
I asked them to price up a new set for me and told them I'd make an appointment this week to get the new ones on.
Sunday: Torrential rain. Mark's driving home. Handling is horrible. Skid light even comes on at one point.
Monday: I don't schedule the appointment yet because the tires they'd recommended were getting bad reviews online and I wanted to do some more research. Plus it's not raining so I'm not worried.
Tuesday: The low pressure light comes on in the car. I head to the gas station and fill them up. Three were at 28psi instead of 33 but the back passenger tire was at 23. I drive to Raleigh and home again. Everything seems fine. Still no rain, no need to panic. I ask dad to recommend tires and he finds a set he thinks I should get at Just Tires, but it was a long busy day and I still haven't made an appointment.
Wednesday: Get kids loaded into the car. Preschool, baby gym, playdate, starbucks. It's going to be a fun morning. Car feels funny... like uneven funny... drive out of neighborhood. Low pressure light comes on. Car is not happy. I'm worried. Really don't want to drive on the rim but Sheetz is sooo close. Know I can get there... HOPE I can get there. Jessica is prattling on about whether I think Tinkerbell is real and how she wants to have her next birthday party at Disney World. I try not to bite her head off and remind her that Tinkerbell is NOT real, death grip on steering wheel. (We've had the Tinkerbell conversation sooo many times.) Say prayer to God out loud that we make it to the gas station. I think Jessica finally gets the point. Back tire is at 16psi. I fill it back up to 33. Do I go the dealership who might not have my tires in stock but have a place for the kids to play or do I drive past them to get to Just Tires who I know have my tires...?? I drive on. Ugh.
Of course they're busy. Of course these tires cost more than the ones at the dealership (they're special rain tires though so I hope they're worth it!) I ask how long it'll be. The guy tells me an hour an half. Well there goes our morning and any hope of getting Jessica to school today.
We walk across the street and spend an hour in Kohls. AN HOUR. With a toddler and a 5 year old. I pretty much let them decimate the toy section for 30 minutes and then we tidy it all up again. We come out of Kohls and my car hasn't moved. They haven't even started yet! Ugh.
Walk over to the Dollar Tree. Promise both children balloons. Jessa spends 20 minutes trying to decide with $1 piece of junk she wants. Gabriel wants to throw himself from the trolley. I start to lose my mind. Finally get to check out. Gabriel gets a spiderman balloon and J gets a heart. The checkout lady ties Jessica's to her wrist while I tie G's to his belt loop. Gabriel freaks. The WORLD IS ENDING. He wanted to hold his own balloon, tying it down is the worst punishment ever. Howls of rage. I am 'that' mom with the squalling toddler. Trying to console Gabriel and get his balloon out the door I don't notice that Jessica is messing with hers and it's loose. We walk out the door. Poof. Pink heart balloon heads for heaven. I can see the tears in her eyes. She's about to lose it. I quickly promise a new balloon if she can hold it together until I get Gabriel changed. She takes a deep breath. Oh did I mention? Somewhere along the line Gabriel pooped and there's no wipes in the diaper bag... they must be in the car with ALL THE SNACKS AND DRINKS. (Yes you read that correctly I'm trying to entertain a 1 year old and a 5 year old with NO SNACKS!)
Walk to the grocery store. I guess I could have bought snacks here but was I thinking straight? No? I had to buy wipes and change a poopy toddler. [He's still angry the balloon is attached to his belt loop.]
Walk back to the Dollar Tree. Buy replacement balloon for Jessica because I'm nice like that and it really wasn't her fault.
Walk back to Just Tires. Gabriel doesn't want to walk. He seems to to suddenly weigh 50lbs. Car is not done. Not Done. arrrrrgh! Kids squabble over the tiny bat and ball we got a Kohls. Gabriel runs amuk. Do you ever have the feeling that if you could just tie your hair back things would be easier to deal with? Mine is everywhere, but you know what? My hair claw is IN THE BLOODY CAR! You know what baby boy? Cry. Maybe they'll work quicker.
Jessica is hungry. She starts to pout. Begs me to take the balloon off her wrist. I tie it to the diaper bag. She sits in the chair and while I try to stop Gabriel from smashing in the vending machine with his new bat, she kicks the balloon and it separates from the string........ seriously? It floats to the ceiling. The super high, like not even a really tall man standing on a chair could reach it, high ceiling. Hmm... no sympathy left. Sorry J. No more balloon. This time it was all your fault.
I ask about how much longer. He doesn't give me a time but says soon. It's already been 2 and half hours. The wifi in their store doesn't work and for some reason it's a cellular black spot so I can't even resort to youtube videos for the kids. I'm going to die. Should I just take the kids a couple blocks over for lunch? He assures me "soon." I don't like soon. It's too vague.
FINALLY they pull the car around. He checks me out. Price is lower than expected.... wait. I don't see the warranty on the receipt that we agreed on. He didn't add it. He wants to know if he should go back and add it now. So he can rerun the bill, print new papers, spend 10 more minutes in this store. No. Thank. You. I told him I'd call him tonight if I decide I still want it. (I kinda do want it because I have such bad luck with tires.... but I don't know if I can bring myself to deal with them again.)We head for the hills. Jessica and Gabriel split the lunch I'd packed her for school.
After leaving this morning at 9am we're finally home by 1. Gabriel almost instantly goes down for a nap, and because I have very little active parenting left in me Jessica is watching Rescue Bots. I try to decompress. I'm off to make a cup of tea now. Hopefully tomorrow will be better (and my tires will still have air in them.)
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