When it rains, it . . . dumps lakes-worth of bitterly cold, leech-infested, bacteria-ridden water on our innocent, unsuspecting heads

They say troubles come in threes . . . I guess they can't count.

Nathan has been having horrible tooth pain for more than a week, and we can't figure out why. For the last few months he has had a dull ache in his teeth, but after our cleanings last week the pain became unbearable. The dentist said it wasn't infected, just inflamed, and that he should take ibuprofen until the pain died down. Only, it didn't. Then he started taking a serious pain prescription but it would wear off before he could take more. So he's been alternating hydrocodone, ibuprofen, and ice cubes (to numb it) just to get through the day. They finally gave him some antibiotics, thinking he had an infection after all, and he seemed to be getting better, when--

Last night we went out to dinner for our anniversary. I had just come home from a hair appointment. We got a few things together and went back out to my car . . . which wouldn't start. Not wanting to spoil our evening, we switched the carseat to Nathan's car and went to dinner, figuring we'd worry about the car later.

After dinner Nathan started feeling really sick. He took a nap for about an hour. When he got up at 10:30 Annalee was asleep--miracle of miracles! (She's been going to bed around midnight lately, and waking up in the middle of the night because of teething pain, poor girl.) I thought hmm, the baby's asleep early and it's our anniversary, so now Nathan and I can--

BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGCHHH!!!!! Nathan threw up, again and again and again . . . Nathan spent our anniversary night sitting on the toilet, hunched over a garbage can, while I spent the night changing the liner of said garbage can. He finally got a break from the body fluid barrage around 3 a.m. so he fell into a hallucinatory sleep on the couch. I went to bed, only to be woken up again after 4 by a request for assistance. I set my alarm for 7 to call his work and report that he would not be in. Then I woke up a few hours later to call my friend and cancel our playdate.

Nathan's work called and begged him to come in later since they were understaffed, but it was impossible. He was no longer throwing up, but he couldn't eat or drink, and he was completely exhausted. I spent the day taking care of him, Annalee, and the car. I was fortunate to find a tow truck guy that would take our car to the repair shop for the price of our roadside assistance coverage (so it was free). Unfortunately, the cost to repair it will likely be far from free! (The battery is fine, I think it's the starter.)

In desperate need of some Retail Therapy, I decided to go to the grocery store and cash in on a great sale during Annalee's afternoon nap. I got into Nathan's car and . . .



(you just aren't going to believe this)




(I couldn't)





it didn't start. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Like the other car, the battery is fine, the lights and fans all come on, but the engine won't start. Our roadside assistance is used up, so we will have to pay to have it towed. We were planning a trip to Utah this month to visit some family we haven't seen in 7 months, but something tells me that our budget is shot, and we don't have a car besides!

Of course, things could always be worse, and there are several things I am thankful for:

1. It didn't die with me at a store with the baby, having just purchased a cart-load of groceries.
2. My brother will probably let us borrow his car to take Nathan to work in the morning (if he feels better).
3. I didn't get sick.
4. Baby didn't get sick.
5. Nathan is so miserable he doesn't notice his tooth pain anymore, which is good since he can't keep down medication!
6. Our insurance policy renews next week, so we could wait till then to have the car towed for free, even though it would use up our roadside assistance for the next year. Of course, then I will have to put the tow truck driver on my Christmas card list because we will be such good friends.
7. I have awesome parents who have offered lots of emotional support over the phone and out of germs-distance.

So there, Koreena, my Thankful Thursday.

Rain, rain, go away.