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September 26, 2006
Good news, bad news! (Depends on how you look at it!)
I lose a Jeep and Brian gains a car.
Well, we had looked at new vehicles, but the monthly payments were a bit beyond our budget. I liked the Jeep Liberty, and Brian liked a truck. Sanity prevailed, however, and we had decided to keep the vehicles we had for awhile longer, as they were all paid off already.
Then Brian decided to look at Saturns. He fell in love with one. He wanted to purchase it. The payments were much less than the other cars we had looked at. Unfortunately, for him to buy the car meant trading in one of my Jeeps.
I did not get enough time to say goodby to my Jeep. I had many happy hours of riding around in the Jeep before I met Brian and also before I had Derek. (After Derek arrived, it was somewhat harder for me to drive the Jeep. It's difficult to get a kid in and out of a car seat when it's in the back of a Wrangler.)
Brian eventually ended up driving the Wrangler. This made me kind of jealous, because it was such a fun vehicle to drive. But Brian had sold his car after we got married, as we didn't need three cars. This meant that we had to trade in the Wrangler for Brian to get his new car.
When he first started driving the Wrangler, he was kind of freaked out by the "Jeep wave." He would ask me, "Why are complete strangers waving at me when I'm driving?" I said, "That's the Jeep wave. People in Wranglers wave at each other, it's just one of those things you do when you're in a Wrangler. It means that you're a member of the club."
Well, Brian told me last night that one of the hardest things he had to get used to with his new car was to stop waving at Jeeps.
Goodbye, Princess Jeep! I will always remember you and be a little bit sad that we had to part so soon.
Posted by Jessica at 10:05 AM | Comments (2)
September 19, 2006
I am learning new skills at my office!
This is Don's Japanese sword, which he brought back from his recent travels there. This photo is by Ryan Mahoney! Thanks, Ryan, for letting me use it in my blog!
Don uses the sword in his martial arts training. He went over to Japan with Amy and some friends of theirs. One friend, Nick, knew just where to get the swords. Nick had lived in Japan for a few years, so could speak the language.
Apparently, swords are very regulated over there, and only certified master swordcrafters can make them. The swordcrafters can only make their allotted number of swords per year, the rest of their time they make things like amazing ginsu knives and such.
Anyway, when Nick had lived in Japan before, he wanted a sword. He was moving back to the U.S., so he called the sword company right before he left, saying," I would like to buy a sword." The sword company guy said, "Oh, verry difficult. Special order. Take six months!" Nick said, "My plane leaves tomorrow, and I have cash." The sword guy said, "You come back in one hour!"
Nick got his sword!
Anyway, they repeated this process this time around, except that this time, they were buying swords for 13 people!
Don was kind enough to allow me to pose with his sword. Thanks, Dewd! It's a really nifty practice sword.
Don says he was allowed to hold a 400-year-old Japanese sword at one sword store, but he didn't buy it as it was $16,000! At least they let him hold it!
Posted by Jessica at 11:02 AM | Comments (1)
September 14, 2006
Vehicle Woes
My trusty Jeep Cherokee broke down on Tuesday night as I was driving home from work. Big sigh!
It happened as I approached a 90 degree turn on the last leg of my journey homeward. The power steering went out, as well as the engine fan. My car could hardly be steered and was overheating at the same time.
I was able to pull off the road at the only safe spot for me to go...a large barn, which had been converted into a "Dollar Store," the only commercial establishment for miles around. It had a large parking lot, so I was able to safely park the car in a position that made it easy to tow away.
Brian came to pick me up, and while we waited for the tow truck, Derek played outside the store, or went with Brian and I through the store looking at toys and other knick-knacks.
It took two hours for the tow truck to arrive. It was drizzly and wet outside. The owner of the dollar store was very nice, and gave Derek some hard candies and a cookie (just what he needed, tons of sugar!)
We had been planning to have spaghetti for dinner, but it became so late that we just picked up some fast food on the way home.
The dealer could not look at the Jeep the following day, as they had so many other vehicles scheduled, but I received the news today that it needs a new power steering pump (I knew that) at $260, and was told it needed "routine maintenance" at a whopping $715. Holy cow!
To top it off, Brian took the other Jeep in for some routine adjustments (an alignment of the wheels.) He got the alignment done, but found out that the Wrangler needed $2000 worth of work done on it to make it completely healthy again.
Argh, just what we need. I was so grateful not to have had a car payment for the past few months, as I had paid the Cherokee off in January. Now, it seems like we have a choice: to continue to put large sums of money at random intervals into a couple of aging Jeeps, or to start making payments again.
Because I have gone back to work, I had to rent a vehicle just to get back and forth while my Jeep is getting fixed. That's probably going to cost about $200, although they have already debited my bank account by $400 just to cover the security deposit. I have to pay the child care fees tomorrow ($215 for the next week) and will have to buy some groceries sometime soon.
This going back to work is costing me a lot of money!
Posted by Jessica at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)
September 11, 2006
The Weekend
Our weekend was fun, but it seemed very short, and we didn't get much sleep. Sigh!
On Saturday, Brian went to a Warhammer event to celebrate the release of the New Rules and box set. Unfortunately, nobody else showed up with a Warhammer army! Fortunately, though, there was a 40k tournament going on, and Brian had had the foresight to pack along a 40k army. He was delighted to play in the tournament (though he lost...bloody worthless orks!)
I ran around performing chores until Doodah was scheduled to arrive, bringing my Boo back from an overnight visit. I went to my booth at the antique mall and put some more Breyers in my booth. That's about all I had to put in the booth this week. I have been stopping at garage sales when I have the money and time, but have been striking out in the "finds" department. If anyone is selling anything even remotely antique, then they have too hefty a price tag on it for me to even consider buying it. Sigh! I have no more furniture, so if anything sells out of my booth, I don't have anything to replace it with except an old rocking chair.
Saturday night Brian, Derek and I went out for pizza and went for a walk.
Sunday, Derek and I went to the park, while Brian mowed the lawn (hopefully the last mow of the season!) Then, Brian and Derek watched football on TV while I went (finally!) to ride my horse!
When I arrived at the farm, the trainer was giving Gambler a ride. (I forgot to mention that on Friday, Cheryl's daughter, Shannon, had her first fall off of her horse during her riding lesson. Unfortunately, Shannon broke her arm. She is now wearing a cast for several weeks. Hopefully, she will not need surgery! Gambler was not at fault, so Shannon is not afraid to ride him again...but it will have to wait until her arm heals! We wish her speedy healing!)
I waited until the trainer rode Gambler and another gelding and then a mare before I went and got Kai out to ride. By this time, everyone had left except Cheryl, who was in a hurry, but wanted to see me mounted up safely before heading home. (Thanks, Cheryl!)
My ride was very relaxing and fun, with no unusual incidents. Kai was a very good boy! I gave him lots of hugs and horse cookies.
I always keep in mind how dangerous riding can be, and even in the seemingly safest conditions things can go wrong quickly. I always wear my helmet! I don't want to break my head-or anything else! It would be dreadful. I have known several people who have been seriously injured while riding, so I am overly cautious now.
Posted by Jessica at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)
September 08, 2006
Back to work and other stuff
Today is the last day of my first full week back in the office...that is, if you don't count Monday being a holiday!
Oh, my goodness. Well, there is getting awakened at 5:30 a.m. by the alarm clock...then, getting Derek up by 6:15. He likes to watch a bit of Thomas the Tank Engine or Bob the Builder while I make his breakfast (usually a tasty waffle. Derek calls them "wapples!") While I'm waiting for his "wapple" to toast, I make him some lunch. Usually a peanut butter sandwich, some fruit or veggies, and a small cracker snack. The lunch gets packed up into Derek's official Thomas & Friends lunchbox for transport to his day care.
After I get Derek all dressed, it's time for me to get out of my pajamas and into some work clothes. When this task is finished, it is time to load Derek and his lunch into the Jeep and take the dogs out for a final morning "pit stop."
Then I drop Derek off at his day care (usually he cries when I leave him, but only until I'm gone!)
Then, I have an hour's drive to the office. I've tried a few routes. The one I like best travels mostly through the countryside and not on the expressway.
After a full day of work, it is time to make the hour's drive home...and to whatever I have time for in the evening before bedtime.
Last night, Doodah came to visit, and Derek announced that he was going to visit Doodah. Doodah took Derek home with her for an overnight stay!
I had a looong night, as a JC meeting was scheduled. They handed out awards for Melonfest. They gave me a small thank-you gift. Cheryl had come to the meeting, as well, as she had volunteered at Melonfest.
As soon as we could get away, we went for dessert.
I had forgotten that I was supposed to go grocery shopping with Brian after the meeting! Oh, no! He went by himself, and got most of the things we need, but we still need diapers. None of the stores seem to be well-stocked with them, and one store appears to have stopped carrying the brand we use in the size that we need. Oh, well-it will be potty training for Derek soon!
I didn't have any time to play with my new Julip Jumping Horse, but I did get to look at the whole herd of them this morning before I left for work again. The Jumping Horse (his name is Flying Dutchman) has the prettiest and kindest eye of all of my Julips, save Rosemund, my chestnut cob mare. I think Dutch and Rosemund are about tied for the prettiest eyes award.
Maybe tonight I will get to visit Kai! Although I am still not certain when exactly Doodah is bringing my little Boo back! So I might not be able to see Kai until tomorrow.
Big sigh! There has been a lot of trouble out at the farm recently. Anyone who has ever boarded a horse will probably know what I've been talking about when I say that sometimes it can be difficult to deal with other people. Especially people who have different ideas about how they want the stable to be run (usually, this type of person wants the stable to be set up in such a way that it benefits them the most, hang everyone else's needs.)
We have one person out at the barn who is consistently rude to everyone, and who doesn't want to share the stable's facilites, even though they don't belong to her and she is just a boarder like everyone else.
She got so bad that the stable's owner was about ready to evict all of her boarders because she couldn't take dealing with the rude woman any more.
I am almost ready to call it a day there, myself!
I love Kai, though. I just had fogotten how much trouble boarding a horse out really is.
Posted by Jessica at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)