Friday the 13th

WARNING: THIS MAY BE A VERY LONG POST!

The day started out good with a morning of swimming at Grandma's house. All the grandkids came and the moms hung out and talked. It was great. Then we ordered pizza for lunch and then the kids played in the house while we talked at the table. It's nice to get to socialize with other moms who understand me and my frustrations. I talk to Chad about stuff but he doesn't understand the pressures of being a Mom like other moms do. Then it was about time for the babies to have a nap so we all gathered up the kids (Chad didn't have to work so he came over later and ended up staying with the 2 big kids because they "weren't done swimming yet!") So after I left the house, I figured that the a/c would take about 2 miles before it got really cold. (When we picked up the van on Thursday evening, the a/c wasn't as cold as it usually was when Chad and Allen put refrigerant in it, but the guy told us to see what happened the next day and it should be fine.)
Well, after about 5 miles, it was still not cold and actually the back vents blew out warm air! I was furious. We just paid them all this money and it's still not working! So I called Chad and he told me to just drive it down there and take it in (even though Callie and Kate were exhausted from swimming and being up early in the morning and desperately needed a nap!).
So I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes at the stupid dealership with the two tired girls. When I got there the guy who had been dealing with our van was not courteous, nice, or at all apologetic to me (I looked like crap--no make-up and hair tied back from swimming. I know that if I came in dressed nice and looking nice, he would have treated me differently--I saw how he was with other people who didn't look like a drowned rat like myself!.) I was even more mad that he didn't even care that I had to drive my vehicle back to them (with MY gas) because it wasn't working like it should be and that I had two cranky babies who were missing their nap because of it and I had to entertain them for 2 hours!
So he came back about an hour later and said that sometimes the equipment they use to put refrigerant in vehicles doesn't put in the right amount so they were sucking out what was in there and putting in the right amount. (So how would they be sure this time that the machine was putting in the right amount?) So an hour later he came back, not looking like it was fixed, said "Well, we got it to read about 40 degrees in the front but the back is only going to get as cold as 60 degrees because you have the front blowing at full blast (the switch is broken and will only blow out on high). He also said that if the other low/medium settings were working that the air would be colder and that we needed to get it fixed as soon as possible.
So I took the key and carried out (by myself) the diaper bag, Callie, Callie's carseat, and Katelyn's booster seat, with Katelyn trailing behind, passing about 4 guys who work there, and not ONE of them offered to help me! So I drove off and it was cool, but not COLD like and air conditioner should be. I was so mad. They put in a new compressor, new condenser, new lines and it's not getting my air freezing cold????!!! So I called Chad and told him how I was feeling about this whole thing and how the guy was rude to me, and Chad was mad. So he called the guy and told him that I wasn't happy with his service and that the air is still not what it should be. The guy basically told Chad that once he fixed that switch that it should work perfectly. So we are ordering the part today and hopefully getting it put in (anyone know how to change out a blower resistor?) asap.
So I have a few questions: If, once the blower resistor has been changed out, the air is still not freezing like it should be (and was before it broke), what can we do about it? Anything? Isn't the dealership at all responsible for the work that they complete? If they say that they can't get it any better than it is, are we just stuck with a vehicle that doesn't blow cold air? The a/c is like the most important thing in your vehicle when you have 4 kids and live in Arizona. I know if we tried to trade it in to get a car that DOES have cold ac that we wouldn't get enough to pay off the loan we are currently paying on.

When I finally came home from the dealership I put the girls down for a nap (even though it was 4pm!), and got in the shower. When I got out, I heard Callie crying. I thought she'd sleep for hours since she'd been up all day! So I got her and fed her (thought she was hungry from not eating since lunch) and she stayed up. Then Chad called and said he finally got a phone call from his boss saying he could go pick up his check (we needed that check to get deposited before 7pm so we could pay the mortgage on time and not have a late fee), but he wasn't home when he got there so he came home. Well, at about 6:40pm, the boss finally returned his call, and said Chad had to go out to a building that wasn't cooling in the primary room because they were having a funeral viewing. So Chad was going to go pick up his check and meet me at Fry's so I could deposit the check but it was too late. So I decided that I would use my last 2 WIC checks before they expired today. So while I was in line to checkout, Chad called and said he was out front of the store and to send Jordan out to get the check. So I told Jordan to go get it (we were at the check stand closest to the entrance so I could watch Jordan go to the truck) and he took off running.....and so did Jocelyn and Katelyn!! I started yelling at them to come back but they didn't listen. So I grabbed my purse and Callie and went running out of Fry's while everyone watched and wondered "What is that woman thinking bringing 4 kids to the grocery store????!!"
Chad took Jordan with him and I came back in to get my stuff with the rest of the kids. While putting the groceries on the counter, Katelyn decided she wanted a candy (I just gave them a sucker before we went to the store) and when I told her no and to put it back, she had a full-blown screaming tantrum and flung herself onto the floor! Just what I wanted after just running out the door yelling at my kids! So with Callie under one arm and my purse over my other shoulder, I bent down and managed to somehow pick her up with one forearm and put her in the cart. That made her even MORE MAD and as I pushed her forward so the lady could put the groceries in the cart, she turned and looked at the lady and let out the loudest cry/scream I've ever heard!! The woman didn't mind, she was a good sport and kept talking to her in a nice tone and managed to calm her down. Then just as I thought I was done with that store (nearly out the door) I forgot to deposit the check in the ATM, so I headed back in to deposit the check without any further disruptions.
Later that night, as I was going to get in bed, Callie woke up crying AGAIN! She was all stuffy and couldn't breathe through her nose. I had noticed that for about the last week or longer she had been tugging on her ear and thought it was really hurting her. So I gave her Tylenol and put ear drops in her ear. Nothing calmed her down. I walked around and tried to rock her. I called the Nighttime Pediatric Urgent care and asked what I should do and she said to wait about 30 minutes to see if the medicine would help her sleep. She ended up screaming bloody-murder for about an hour. I felt so badly for her. I knew she was in a lot of pain. So I asked Chad to give her a blessing. He did and a short time after that she went to sleep. She slept for about 4 hours and got up again. After I finally got her back to sleep, she was crying again. So I woke up Chad and asked him to walk around with her while I tried to sleep. He eventually put her back to bed and she's been asleep ever since (it's now 9:45am). Unfortunately, we have 3 other kids and one who was up at 6am!! I feel like I didn't get hardly any sleep last night and after the long day I had yesterday, I was looking forward to a full night's sleep! If only things worked out the way we want them to.
I will be taking a trip to the pediatric urgent care to get a prescription for Callie today. Chad's planning on cutting down some of the other tree in our yard (I think he's also planning on me helping him). So I'm hoping today will be a better day than yesterday--maybe even a nap!!