It's A Sh*tty Day For An Auction

Saturday I finally made the trek out to Ionia, Michigan (roughly an hour west of where I live) to my trusted and favorite veterinarian. This woman treated Shabbi through cancer scares, the onset of dementia, seizures, incontinence and was the person Adam and I called from California the day we had to say good-bye to our girl. We love our vet.
Greg House's self-inflicted injuries have gotten worse, and so has my house. The constant gnawing, licking, and scratching has caused the open wounds to grow in size and ooze blood and serous fluid. Not only does he manage to rip open any bandage I put over them, but the lack of air to the wound causes them to stink and border on infection. So, I've started leaving the wounds open, but have put an Elizabethan collar around House's neck to immobilize his head, making him unable to access the wounds. However, he's still able to smear the blood and gore from his wounds onto my couch, clothes, and walls...
So, Saturday. All of southern Michigan was expecting yet another winter storm, with snowfall amounts estimated at 3-6". For those of you non-Michiganders, the further west into the state you go, chances are the higher the snowfall totals will be. So, I was hoping to get an early start on my trip, get through the exam and head back to Lansing before the brunt of the storm hit.
All was going well--Kika and a kennel-bound Greg House were warm and snuggled in the passenger seat of the car, and the snowfall was heavy but not brutal--until about 45 minutes into the trip. I had just taken the exit ramp off I-96 toward Ionia when I noticed that my car was no longer accelerating. At first, I thought it was my imagination, but as I tried to accelerate to the stop sign at the end of the ramp, I realized my car was failing me. I coasted to the sign, managed to pull off to the side, and the car shuddered, then heaved a big, heavy sigh before dying. I tried to turn the engine, and while the motor cranked, it wouldn't catch. Great. Cars and semis were flying past me on the highway I had just entered and I was grateful I had managed to coast out of traffic before my car stalled. I attempted to turn the engine a few more times with no luck, then decided to stop trying to start it, in case I burned out the motor. So, I followed the normal course of action: I called Adam.
Luckily, he was awake already. After determining my location, the weather conditions and the car situation, he was about to tell me what to do, when a big tow truck pulled onto the shoulder ahead of me. I hurriedly hung up with Adam while the tow driver got out to ask me if I was okay. When I told him I had stalled, he asked if I wanted a tow somewhere. I didn't know of any local garages, and I really didn't want my car stuck 45 minutes away from home, either. I declined his help, remembering that Adam had renewed our AAA membership before leaving. Just as the tow truck pulled away, I noticed that the car was starting to feel cold. I searched for my AAA membership card and dialed the number. The ever-chipper customer service agent apologized for my misfortune and assured me that she'd help me. But then, she couldn't find Adam's name in the system. I knew he had paid for the membership before he left, so I wasn't sure what the problem was. When she took my name, she found our joint account. I breathed a sigh of relief. The car was getting colder, Kika and Greg House were getting a little restless, and Baby Mittman must have picked up on my stress, because s/he started wiggling and kicking me to the point of nausea. During my call with AAA, several cars stopped to make sure I was okay, and I thankfully assured them that I was. Sometimes being in a state like Michigan is really good, I have to admit.
I started to get weepy when I realized that there was no way I was going to get Greg House to the vet that morning. We had waited so long to get him there, and now this. And the AAA lady was just so nice, I could hardly hold back the floodgates. I thanked her for kindness, and then told her that I was pregnant and had animals in the car with me. I felt like one of those On-Star commercials, where you hear the weepy woman on the recording thanking the On-Star agent for getting her out of a jam. I was embarassed for breaking down, but the AAA agent was graciuos and worried and caring, all the things I needed her to be at that moment. She assured me that a tow truck would be on its way shortly, and she called me back just a few minutes later to let me know it was just a couple miles from arriving at my location.
When the tow arrives, a youngish burly guy with a beard got out and started hooking my car up to the truck. He instructed me to put my car in neutral, and before I knew it, I was going up onto the back of the tow truck with my car. I wondered how I was going to get out of the car for the ride back to Lansing. After the car was locked in position, he opened the door and told me to hold his hand coming down. I told him Kika and House were in the car; he instructed me to leave them there, that they'd be okay. I was flustered; my car was already getting cold, how could I leave them in there by themselves for another 45 minutes? I had draped a blanket over them but still. But with the snow getting even heavier and the tow truck ready to go, I relented and got into the passenger seat of the truck. As we drove away toward the entrance ramp to I-96 to Lansing, the driver exclaimed, "It's a sh*tty day for an auction!"
I looked at him, trying to figure out what that had to do with me. He pointed to a fairgrounds area in the distance, going on to say that there was a bank foreclosure auction for farming equipment occurring that day. I nodded, then started to feel incredibly hot. He had the heat on full-blast, and with my winter coat on, I was starting to overheat and get sweaty. I started to think how fortunate it was that I'd left the kids in the car; better too cool than too hot. I kept looking at the driver to see if the heat was making him uncomfortable; after all, he was a pretty big guy. But he was in the midst of asking me about where I was from and which vet I used in Ionia. We chatted amiably for the duration of the ride, with the occasional interruption from the driver as he yelled at sports cars that were travelling too fast for the road conditions. "That's right, buddy! You wanna go in a ditch, 'cause you're just asking for it!" He then went on to recount various times he correctly predicted a careless driver ended up wrecked during icy conditions.
He towed me to the garage that's located at the end of our street. After getting Kika and Greg House out and walking home, I flopped on the couch and didn't get up for the rest of the day. I was depressed--Greg House had to wait yet another week to see the vet, I had no transportation, and it was snowing buckets out. I called Adam and he was equally unhappy being on base for the weekend. We commiserated over the phone and kept each other company, calling each other back and forth for most of the day. I ate a large bowl of cookies and cream ice cream.
It might have been a sh*tty day for an auction, but it was the perfect day to stuff my face with ice cream.