"All my bags are packed..."

Well, not quite. And we're not quite ready to go.

The sweet one is eating. Daddy is showering. Mommy is blogging.

The great news is that I'm blogging from my very own, now much healthier computer! They finished repairing it by late morning yesterday and we picked it up in the early afternoon while running some necessary errands.

The less than great news is that our driveway is empty. (Please don't panic, mom, this is less than great, not bad news.) So while running said errands, in a grocery store parking lot, our car just. would. not. start. The battery was clearly fine so this was mysterious. While waiting for AAA, 20 minutes later it started again. So we cancelled the call and on the drive home called the pastor of church one (see Kev, bizarrely enough, was the only one of the two of us who had a cell phone handy- bizarre because this is the guy who didn't want a cell and didn't have one for the longest time- and Kev had a total of TWO nashville phone numbers in his cell... so... we tried a friend first, while waiting for AAA, thinking we might need a ride home when the car got towed... no luck. Then we called the pastor, the only other number Kev had!) and we let him know that we didn't need a ride (today), but that we did need a referral to a mechanic. He didn't have that. I take it he does his own car repairs. But he gave me the number of a church member who could surely help us. And he answered right away, listened carefully to our mysterious car situation, and made a glowing reference to a mechanic less than 5 blocks from our home. I called the mechanic while still driving home and he said to bring it right to him. We did. And when we turned off the car in his lot, it once again wouldn't start. He hooked up his scanner and couldn't find anything wrong. Looked under the hood and watched as a co-worker tried to start the car several times (and NOTHING- other than the dash lighting up- happened that we could see) and determined confidently that we need a new starter. I was fearing much worse. We paid off the car when we moved here. I knew repairs would begin replacing car payments, but we've had a wonderful grace period. And thought this could be a biggie. It is not cheap, but it is not bad.

So we took out Caroline's car seat, pulled her stroller out of the trunk, grabbed our two small bags of groceries, the diaper bag, and my backpack and we walked home. Nashvillians were shocked we would be willing to do this as it was "so cold", but it wasn't really that cold at all. And we got some exercise in an otherwise hectic day. And the best thing of all about this was that Caroline slept like a champ straight through the errands and though beginning to wake through the diagnostics at the mechanic, and then again through the walk home!

And, you know, I had wanted to find a ride to and from the airport, as we're not planning to bring Caroline's car seat, my friend has borrowed one for us on that end, and it is going to be hassle enough with the abundantly more stuff with which we're traveling (it took SO LONG to pack yesterday- and I had visions of ordering the house for a peaceful return, but... um... no), but most of my friends, if not all of them, will be on spring break when we get back on Sunday and we couldn't think of anyone who could take us on Wednesday and pick us up on Sunday. Until... the providence of our pastor being the only local number available kicked in. We called him back once home to let him know what had happened and asked if he or someone in his family or someone he knew might be able to assist with transportation. He could do it!

So he's picking us up in a little over an hour and a half.

We have toiletries yet to pack, changing of the wee one, and dressing of us all to do. A computer to pack, hooray, and a few other odds and ends too. The babe is done eating now. Daddy is starting the change. We're almost ready...

So looks like, so long as I have a signal I'll be able to post this week!

And once again I realized how overly attached to my computer I am! It was more distressing not having my computer than not having the car. Wow.

Thanks again for all your tips and assurances.

Please pray not only for our traveling mercies, but also for Pa, Kev's dad, who flies to Colombia today in order to fulfill a six week (?- Ash Wednesday to April Fools Day!) accompaniment mission there. Abuelita was there, doing the same peacemaking work, while Caroline was born. This is GREAT stuff and we are so happy for them and proud of them. And we covet prayers for them in their separation and especially for Pa as he serves.

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HEIDI!!!!!