Santa Came Early, And Brought a White Sleigh

Our new (used) van came with a remote starter, and it's rather sweet. We had one on our last 2 vans, and have become accustomed to getting into a warmed vehicle in the dead of winter. That is, when the remote works. Sometimes the battery will die on the remote, sometimes the van wiring is on the fritz, sometimes it's just not a full moon or it hasn't snowed for 18 days straight and the remote will choose not to work. Who knows? But the remotes on the previous 2 vans were after-market installed. The one on this van is from factory. It's part of the van. It has been since Day 1. This means that when it's not functioning, we don't assess the situation ourselves, but take it to an authorized dealership for professional help. We did just that, because for whatever reason this van has made up in it's mechanical little mind, the remote starter isn't working.

Sam dropped me off at the grocery while he did the manly thing and took care of the vehicle. We were on a strict time schedule with a parent-teacher meeting staring us down from an hour away. That was why things went horribly, horribly wrong. At just the time we should have been leaving, we got the news that the van was rendered completely undriveable. And by undriveable, I mean that it wouldn't even start.

This seems like bad news, but as we've been down this deeply rutted road with this van before, we know it's more like craptacular news. The main computer chip was taken out, making every other feature that's controlled by it unusable. This includes things like the lights, and door locks, power windows, and turning on. Well, nuts.

And by now I was officially late for the meeting with Micah's teacher. I called to let her know I was running late, and we discussed options with the dealership. They kindly gave us a loaner car until our van was once again capable of getting itself home. So after the meeting at the school, home is where we took the rental car.

Luke was so kind in asking if we needed help carrying groceries in. (Sometimes that boy just needs a pony.) Since he went out to be the best son ever, Micah decided to go as well. (There's very little that Luke does without Micah copying.) And while Luke was all, "Whoa! Where'd you get the car?," Micah was more, "Dude, for me? You shouldn't have!" His grin wasn't going anywhere as he ensconced himself in the driver's seat, checked out shotgun, and searched the back seat for hidden treasures.

He's seen the commercials. You know, the ones where Santa is at the car dealerships. Santa came early as far as Micah was concerned. I didn't know that Micah was so into vehicles. Apparently Santa does know all.