bumpy roads

so friday, while on a lunch outing with work friends, the check engine light shines brightly from my panel. i mildly panic but then remember just a month ago i had the 20k mile service done. all should be fine and dandy. i take the car in early am yesterday, get to work via the parental units and beging my day. my dad was going to pick up matilda from school then shuttle us to the dealership to pick up my car. that, unfortunately did not happen as planned.

at 320pm my office phone rings. it's mom. 'daddy's been in a wreck.' now, there are two things that you think upon the instant... 1) was matilda with him? 2) is he okay? the answers to those were no and yes, respectively. the car - was not okay. so i'm at work, no car. my child is at school waiting for her granddaddy to rescue her, no car and panic sets in. for everyone. at the same time.

i tell mom we need to leave, find a ride to the dealership so we can a) get my car, b) get matilda and finally c) get my dad. that was our plan with which we executed rather well. a friend from work happily accepted my request for a ride and we were off. mom was freaking out mildly because she knew my dad was freaking out bigtime and she had no way to get to him.

we made good time considering the time of day and the amount of traffic we endured. picked up matilda, all smiles which is so very sweet, then trekked over to meet my dad, who apparently was sitting on the side of the road downtown. we get there, he's shaken and stirred to say the least, but knows a trip to the local ER is in order. we go, sit, wait, sit, wait, wait some more and then we go. he's fine... clean bill of health - more or less - and with a few meds on board. all in all, he's fine.

their car, their ONE and ONLY car, is totally totalled. totally. so, again, our family endures a wreck. it was about a year ago i was in a nasty wreck leaving my car totalled and my body banged up fairly good; then, while riding with the parent's, another wreck, in which their car was totalled. i endured a minor fender bender about 6 months after getting a new fabulous car... and now - dad is in another wreck... much worse than anything he's been in before. i'm beginning to think that maybe we're cursed or something. but then i remember i don't believe in curses. i do believe in karma though... so that's got me on high alert every waking moment of the day.