I had yet another medical procedure yesterday; this time it was a D&C.  Without going into too much graphic detail, my menstrual cycle has not been behaving the way you would expect in a 55 year old woman.  My primary doctor said she would be content to take a wait and see approach if not for the fact that the cancer I had earlier this year was hormone receptive, and the drug I am now taking (tamoxifin) has as a side effect increased risk of uterine cancer.  So off to a specialist I went, who agreed with my primary, and I spent yesterday going under general anesthesia for the procedure, complete with a camera insertion.  They did find some polyps and I will get the results of those sometime in the near future.

So the day before the procedure, I had just gotten off work and stopped to pick up some take out.  SB was scheduled to work late and I did not feel like cooking.  I got back in my car and it wouldn't start.  It clearly wasn't the battery as my dash lit up, my AC began to blow, and I had just used the remote key to open the car.  No sound from under the hood, not even the initial click. This situation had happened before about 1.5 years previously and I had a new starter installed.  I waited a few minutes and tried again, then waited and tried a third time.  Still nothing. I had to call a tow truck, get a tow to a nearby repair place, drop the key and instructions in their overnight slot.  I called SB while waiting for the tow truck and he said he would leave work early and come to collect me.  I should mention here that our home is 22 miles north from the town where I work, and it is up a mountain.  Of course the tow truck driver will not drop me home.  SB works in a small mountain town a bit further north than ours,  so I had to wait a while at the repair place for SB to arrive.  I demonstrated for his viewing enjoyment the fact that my car would not start.  So it was official.  It had been 2 hours of my car not starting.

Yesterday while I was having my procedure, SB went to the repair place to discuss my car.  Guess what?  It started immediately for them.  I actually did not think this was good news.  What is going on with my car?  I need to be able to rely on it starting.  I do a lot of driving through remote areas and I do not want to be stranded.

Today I am just resting at home.  Tomorrow I plan to drive down to my mom's house, then take her a couple of hours further south to my niece's house.  She and her husband moved into a new house last month, and have recently taken in 3 small children through an adoption agency, with plans to adopt them.  They are a sibling group, ages 3 years, 2 years, and 6 months.  This niece is also the mother of Mya, the baby for whom I cross-stitched that "Once Upon A Time, A Princess Was Born" project I shared a few years back.  Mya is now 3.   Mom and I have yet to meet their new children and see their new home.  

That is 9 hours of round-trip driving planned for tomorrow.  It's not that unusual for me, and I need to be able to rely on my car.

This particular niece and I have been planning a surprise 90th birthday party for my mom this December.  This past week I have confirmed that an aunt from Indiana, in her 80s herself, is making the trip out to attend.  My mom is going to be so delighted!  This aunt is Mom's sister-in-law.  She was married for many years to my Dad's youngest brother.  Mom has known her since they were both young wives.  It's a big deal because there just aren't too many from that generation left.  Also a cousin from Vancouver, WA, and a cousin from Spokane, WA and his wife.  

And...my kids are both flying out from Illinois!  Squee!!  While my kids are here, we will be making a trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (my daughter's request).  We visited often when the kids were growing up and they have that new deep water exhibit that we all want to see.  They will only be here for 5 days but we are going to make the most of our time together.  

The day before the party, I am going to show up with them at Mom's and tell her happy early birthday present.  She will be surprised and delighted, and I think it will throw her off and make her think that nothing else big is afoot.  The day of the party, I will insist that we are going out to lunch, then drive her to her party instead.  We are having it in the fellowship hall of the church she attends.  

So what is the big decision to make, you ask?  The car.  Do I replace it?  It is a 2008 Honda CR-V with 180k miles.  I am perfectly content driving it and had hoped to get a much higher number on the odometer.  I do not have enough cash on hand to replace it, so buying a different car would mean a loan.  I'm not really in to having loans.  However, I'm also not into being stranded for hours at a time.  And I was lucky to be right in town.  I drive through canyons with no cell signal daily.  I just don't know.