The End is Nigh?

Could this FINALLY be the death of the car?
This morning I was collecting Margot from school, and as I was waiting for her, suddenly a few warning lights came on the dashboard. I didn't take much notice of them, as there ALWAYS seems to be warning lights on, but one said 'STOP' and the other was the battery light. There wasn't anything I could do anyway, and Margot arrived. But as I was pulling the car out, the steering wheel was so stiff and heavy, and I was worried the car would suddenly stop. I kept on going though, as the weather was crap and I couldn't really leave the car stranded, so I struggled home. Halfway home another light came on (all of them red) of an outline of the engine and the word 'stop' in the centre - I had this in my Fiat in England for a while and so knew that the symbol could mean a range of things - from simply being a faulty light to a serious life-threatening car-exploding consequence. I made it home, despite the awful steering, and fortunately there weren't many cars on the road, so I was able to take the tight corners a little wider than usual - the steering made corners so difficult.

I was very relieved to be back home safely, without having been catapulted from the car from school to the house in a huge explosion, and after speaking to my Dad he said that the red warning lights were all very serious and not to drive the car. I was pretty grateful at that part, seeing as I hate playing taxi each Wednesday, and also it's started to snow MAJORLY, and although I'm very capable of driving in the snow, I'd much rather stay indoors!

Batch 1 of Betty Crocker Cookie Mix finally came in use this afternoon - Caroline wouldn't give me money for the shopping on Monday because she wanted to use up what we had in the kitchen. I'm not complaining as I don't think anyone would particularly want to give up 2 hours of their day pushing a tiny-but-overflowing trolley around an insufficient store. So I've had to really scrape the barrel when it comes to meals - and obviously Wednesday is the hardest as I have to prepare two big meals, both different and varied (lunch and dinner). Fortunately I've kept the cupboards stocked on grains - rice and pasta etc which make good meals for the girls, and plenty of tins and pestos, but the meat stores are depleting, and lunch was rice and three quid rings each for the girls (that is literally all we have)! They then expected me to provide desert (I'm not Mary Berry you'know!), and because it was snowing, and the morning had actually been very calm and pleasant (despite the car) - quite possibly because we were without any flappy parents, and the girls are so much better when neither parent is here, so I made the cookies and suggested the idea of dunking them in milk which they liked. Good bonding times! :)

Also, yesterday I saw the laptop I'm hoping to get for Christmas, and it is 'even better than the pictures' (Parent Trap quote for you, Catie!) - it's hot pink (but completely not Barbie-esque), and so amazing. :) I'll be getting it from PC World as it's MUCH cheaper in England, and I'll get a much better warranty on it (it is apparent my family have a history of punching their computer screens in frustration...). I'm so excited to be actually getting a laptop with a SCREEN! It feels like I've had a box monitor attached to my laptop for AGES.