Of roadblocks and potholes

My faithful old Rhonda the Honda is having an issue. It started yesterday when Jenn and I were out and about and Rhonda started making a horrible noise that seemed to be tied to the air conditioning. That was proved wrong when I drove it later in the evening without the air turned on and the noise came back worse than before. Brandon looked it all over, topped up some transmission fluid and all seemed well. I drove it to my eye appointment this morning on the other side of the city and had no issues. But when I tried to leave the parking lot, the noise was back. I got scared and didn't want to drive it so Brandon graciously came to rescue me. We traded vehicles and through eyes that were starting to fill with tears, I drove off to work.

When I finally got there I commented to my mom in an email how much we really don't need this to happen right now. We need to sell that car and get as much out of it that we can. I said that I feel like this is fate putting up a roadblock since everything else has gone so smoothly in the planning of the Scotland adventure. But she replied so beautifully that this is not a roadblock, just a tiny little pothole. Nothing to worry about just yet. 

So, until we know for sure what Rhonda is suffering with, I'm going to try really hard not to worry too much. And I'm leaving this one up to Brandon. When he got to me this morning he just put his arm around me and told me not to worry, that he's got this. Sigh. How am I so lucky to have him?

In other news, there isn't much news to report. We've just been busy packing and waiting. Brandon gave his official notice at work last week so now we're both counting down work days (14 for me, less for him) as well as days till moving out (31), and then days till we fly away (38). We drove the first load of boxes up to my parent's place last Friday and seeing them all there in the truck made me realize we're really quite ahead of the game in that department. This coming weekend we're looking forward to band practices and camping. And after that, it's down to the business of planning a party!

UPDATE: Turns out it was a pothole after all. New front brakes and a little TLC was all it took to make Rhonda happy again. Whew!

UPDATE #2: Rhonda the Honda is back in the shop today. the knocking noise in the back end is back. I traded vehicles with my mom this weekend so they could take it to their mechanic this week and see if he can figure it out. Fingers crossed Rhonda will actually make the noise for the guy and that it won't be a hugely expensive fix. Apparently this pothole is deeper than we thought. And it splashes a little when you drive over it.