When it rains it pours...

Warning...this is a rant. you are now warned.

so, last thursday, i took my car in to get inspected before my road trip to san antonio and austin. i didn't want anything to keep me from going. well, obviously i didn't go because something did happen. i failed my inspection....i needed 2 new tires, and my exhaust manifold was cracked, which caused me to fail the emissions part of the inspection. the guy at the shop gave me a quote, and i told him i'd think about it.

of course, i immediately call my dealership to see what they would say. they asked me to bring my car in today so they could look at it. i dropped my car off at 7:30 this morning, and at noon they were finally done. they ended up finding a whole slew of things wrong with my car. now, it's not only the exhaust manifold, but the catalytic convertor, the pipes connecting it, the muffler, and the gasket (although besides the gasket, everything else is engine parts....isn't the gasket part of the oil system? i'm a little confused on that part...) what started out as an issue that will cost me a pretty penny, but something i can afford, has now turned into this huge thing that i'm not really sure I can afford...

and then, to top it all off...someone hit my car today while i was at sylvan. they left their pretty red paint and a nice scratch on my bumper. they didn't even have the decency to leave a note.

i'm pissed.

i had FINALLY gotten to a place where i felt comfortable. i worked the first part of the summer so that i could have some money saved up, and now i'm completely drained once again.
i'm SO LOOKING FORWARD to this retreat. i know this is just the devil's way of bringing me down, but that's not going to happen...because you know what? there's a silver lining to this dark cloud over my head.

silver lining 1- at least i have a car that runs
silver lining 2- at least i have the cash to cover the majority of the repairssilver lining 3- at least i have friends who are willing to drive me around in a pinch (thanks jen for picking me up and letting me vent)
silver lining 4- at least i have family who will offer help even if i don't want it
silver lining 5- at least i was able to work summer school to have the money to pay for this, because otherwise i wouldn't have had anything saved up!!!

so yeah, devil, try as you might to bring me down, it's not going to happen...yeah, i'm pissed, but i'm thankful that i'm able to take care of all this stuff

this is going to make my retreat all the better this weekend :-)