After my ex-brother-in-law left to go on another trip as part of his vacation, a family member and I decided to do a overnight road trip. We got his truck fixed temporarily and decided not to take his truck, but instead to drive my van. Since my van is a 1990, I need to make sure it was road worthy. I decided to go ahead and get the front end aligned and the tire pressure checked. Keeping your tire pressure at the correct PSI will save you a lot of money in gasoline cost. So after we had been at the tire shop that does the front end alignment for about 15 minutes after they put the van up on the rack, the mechanic asked us to come out in the bay and look at a major problem. UT OH!!! He started to show us some routine things, but noted the ball joint was in bad condition. I had just had my van in my mechanics shop two months previously and the only thing under the front end they said needed replacing was the right adler arm. Now this shop is telling me I need another $300.11 to fix the rest of the front end suspension BEFORE they will do a front end alignment for additional $54.35. I smell a rat about this if you know what I mean. So we drove away from the shop.

We decided to go ahead and do our road trip. 12 miles out of town, my van overheats. Strange. I just put a new radiator in it, not even a year ago and rust is coming all out of it. Thank God there was a clear stream running beside the interstate. We were able to fill the reservoir and several bottles that I had in the back of the van. We had to stop a total of 4 times. We managed to limp the van to the nearest exit to be able to use a phone that was 21 miles from home. People are going so fast and not taking the time to help anyone anymore. Surprising also no State Troopers either. When you don’t want to see one, there they are. When you need one, none around. Anyway, we got towed back to our hometown and it didn’t cost us anything. Thank God for a relative that has paid for AAA Plus membership for our Christmas present each year since we moved up here.

So now I am very limited as to getting out and around town except by taxi and city bus. I will have to check bus schedules and cost.

This additional stress is causing my blood sugar to be elevated again. I am wondering how I am going to get all the party supplies out to the building for my daughter’s graduation party for her and her friends in two weeks. Also I am suppose to go this coming weekend to a cabin for the weekend with relatives. Need the Lord to perform a miracle.

My daughter came over and we had a chance to talk. She told me about her eye glasses needed changing again. I told her to make an appointment with our Ophthalmologist and let him know what is going on with her eyes. She told me she is tired of having to get new glasses each year. I told her about Lasik surgery that allowed her to not have to get prescription glasses anymore, saving her a lot of money over the years. She liked that idea a lot. I told her some insurance companies did not cover Lasik surgery cost to please check if hers did.

It is so relaxing sitting here typing to the peace and quiet in the house. My brother-in-law left this morning to return to home. Family member gone at work. My youngest daughter has finally graduated from high school. The graduation program was wonderful. The only disappointments were the football field grass had been torn out to put Astroturf in and it had rained hard the night before graduation and was a big mud puddle swimming pool. Made a terrible background for the pictures. Also the sun was starting to set and hard to set my camera lighting with all the glare and the fast fading light also for great pictures over the course of the graduation ceremony. Over all, it was great. Her dad and I are so proud of our daughter for completing high school with a diploma with honors, a GPA over 3.5 or higher, National Art Honor Society. She received 3 cords for the honors. She has been accepted into a university with a local campus extension and scholarship money.

Now it is back to getting into a routine. I had to loan my van to my ex-husband because his truck broke down and needs to get to work while his truck is in the shop for repair. So I am limited for a few days to getting out of the house. I have plenty to keep me busy here catching up on the computer. Cleaning out my emails is a pain for me since I have 4 accounts.

Got a phone call from my daughter. She is coming to visit me a little later today. So I guess I better get on with my to-do list for today.