and the bug went SPLAT.

It is no secret -- at least to anyone who has read this blog for even say, 2 months, that when it comes to car karma, I am not blessed. Not sure why this is... It's not that I am cruel to my cars. I try to take care of them. Oil changes. Regularly scheduled checkups. New tires. I mean, I am not like my dad who once went 1,000's of miles over an oil change and then wondered why the engine died. In all fairness, this was years ago. But as I was the one driving the car when it died, so it has stuck in the deep car-laden recesses of my brain.

Moving on to the topic at hand. I am somewhat cursed in the automobile department.

Now, there is a lot going on this month. Joe and I are moving into a new place at the end of the month. That in and of itself is plenty. Just getting my place packed up is stacking up to be a monumental chore.

What I am getting at is life, like everyone else's seems to be a bit on the crazy side these days. This past weekend was no exception. I was due to head home to my dad's house on Saturday (after making an appearance at a friends BBQ) for a Brady Bunch dinner with my dad, his girlfriend, her son, daughter-in-law and 3 grand kids. Yeah, you read that right.

Then Sunday we would be participating the in Kansas City Race for the Cure with my mom's friends. One small kink in that plan. I was running a few errands on Saturday, right after lunch and more importantly right after filling up a FULL tank of gas when the car sorta died. It died in a transmission went bye-bye sort of way. So there I was stranded on the street with a car that wouldn't go into gear to save my life. A few phone calls later, I was rescued by Nate and his wagon full of cats -- he had just come from the vet. Joe was working, lest you think, where the hell was baby daddy in all this?

After a few calls about tow trucks and swag estimates on a new transmission on a car that blue books for about $2500 -- a blinding flash of the obvious hit me: it was new car time. I wasn't going to pay $1800 for a new transmission. That math didn't add up.

Now, I knew that this fall I was going to have to suck it up and get a new ride. A four door ride to accommodate my growing need to move more than myself around. But that was supposed to be in Oct. AFTER the move. AFTER we had settled in.

Yeah. Not so much.

The cosmos decided I needed another one of those proverbial kicks-in-the-ass that it is so fond of delving out at random.

So a few hours later, I had been to both the Toyota and Honda dealers and found myself a nice, reliable auto-mobile.

Complete with 4 doors, side-curtain air bags and a reliable certified warranty.

Fast forward to yesterday, and I was back at the Honda dealership, signing away my life for said new automobile.

The only wins in this whirlwind of car buying? Well, let me share:

• Nate and Martine graciously loaned me one of their cars and saved me money for a rental.
• The dealership threw me a token grand towards ye olde bug -- sight unseen -- and paid to tow it to the dealership from the street parking where I had kicked the bucket.

The downsides:

• Didn't get to go home and get into the race and see the fam.
• While the car was parked waiting for me to make my mind up -- I got a parking ticket. Insult to injury I say.
• I went from no car payment to a car payment. Ugh.
• I didn't get to siphon out the FULL tank of gas I just forked $50 up for.

But, I got a shiny new mom-mobile. See above.

So there you go. I believe I am now even with the cosmos. No more karmic car debt to be paid. At least I hope not. Cross your fingers.

Now Listening: Speak for Yourself by Imogen Heap