Now for that tune up, maybe

As planned I got my Onstar updated today so I am covered again. The great part is that I only had to wait at the garage for about forty minutes as Mike took pity on me and took vacation hours to meet me there and take me to lunch. The technicians also took pity on me and expedited the installation process which ended up being done so quick that once Mike arrived, we only had time for the Arby's next door for lunch. It all turned out OK though as we spent the extra time car shopping for Cindy. We are looking for a mechanically sound, American made car that we can afford to pay cash for so that there is no financing to require full insurance coverage. ( she is on our insurance but full coverage at her age will cause our insurance to jump significantly in price ) Yes it is a tall order but there are cars out there that fit the bill as we seem to call about them just after they are sold. I know that there is a car out there for us but just have to remain patient until we find it. As soon as we do, the brain tune up I need is next on the list. At least I think it may be. I can't be sure without having the tune up. Oh how confused I am !

Tomorrow I get to spend the day at the Garage

Back in November I got a letter from Onstar informing me that my Aztec is old. OK more to the point informing me that since my Aztec is a 2004, it has analog Onstar. On January thirty first, Onstar switched to digital making my Onstar obsolete. Since Onstar values my monthly service fee, Ummm I mean my business, they agreed to update my oldie for fifteen dollars ( the price of the new chip)if I paid a years service up front. This of course sounded fair to me since I don't plan on getting rid of this old car that just happens to be paid for anytime soon. I made the appointment and went in back in November for the technician to get my numbers and order the chip ( each chip has to be custom ordered for the vehicle it will be installed in ) I was told that they would call in about a week when the chip came in and I would be asked to make an appointment to come back for installation. January came and went and my chip never came in .(I called so many times to check on it that I almost remember the number) My Onstar was turned off on February first and nobody seemed to care,until today that is. Today I got the call. My chip is in. Perfect, just when I don't have the time to sit at the garage for three plus hours, it is here. Because Mike and I both like having the security of Onstar, I agreed to tomorrow being the day,before the twenty some other chips ,that are back ordered,

come in and I have to wait behind those people to get my chip

installed. So family and friends, if you need me tomorrow, that is where I will be. Please say a prayer for my sanity !

My little mess up.

Saturday was Cindy's next to last driving lesson from the driving school . She is doing great and hopes to finish up her driving portion tonight and schedule a driving test sometime soon when the weather is good and she doesn't have anything else on the calendar. ( realistically this could take a couple weeks) As she drives with these instructors from this school they grade her on the same things that the State trooper will grade her on during her actual test. Saturday Cindy came home with a pretty good report( she easily would have passed if this were an actual test ) but the instructor said that Cindy was slow at maneuverability indicating that she was not confident enough in herself. The instructor reminded us that she was allowed to use the cones that are set up at the driving school ( a couple blocks from our house) to practice and make her more confident even though she had never bumped or ran over a cone. This is the first that I have heard of us being able to practice there so I told Mike and the boys ( who were playing video games) that we would be back. Cindy drove to the site and proceeded to practice. I stepped out of the car so I could make sure she was where she needed to be and see if she was ever dangerously close to any cones. Cindy did well and for a half an hour she drove up and back , up and back. As I watched the car I noticed something, the licence plate, it was starting to peel. Then my eyes wandered to the yearly tag. Oh no, I remembered, I was supposed to renew it on my Birthday. As Cindy backed out of the cones, I stopped her and told her to get in the passenger seat and I would drive home. She asked if she did something wrong, which of course she didn't. Finally when we got the car home I told her I messed up. Now if you are looking for a humbling experience try admitting to your kid that she could have been fined for driving your car with expired plates. Anyway, there was nothing I could do then since the BMV had closed and would not be open till Monday. I parked the car. This morning Mike signed the POA so I can buy tags without him being present and took the car, I usually drive, to work. Thank you God that I got there and purchased the tags without a problem. I really am going to need to get my brain tuned up.

I love Big Lots friends and family sales !

Though I am just a friend of Big Lots, I am a good one. I try to shop at at least the closest one to me ( sometimes the three closest ) at least once a week. They have great prices every day not to mention when they mark down products that will be expiring within the next thirty days. I have gotten many food items for a dollar or less. As a matter of fact in the summer time I like to buy boxes of cereal at a quarter to fifty cents a box to take to the lake and let the kids feed the fish and ducks. A box of cereal each provides them with a wonderful time and the wildlife are most thankful too.Today however was a bit different than my usual visit. Today was their Friends and Family sale.The employees pass out coupons to friends and family and after the store would usually be closed Sunday evening anyone with a coupon can shop and get twenty percent off everything. Now twenty percent isn't really that much except when your neighborhood Big Lots gets a Broyhill buyout which includes an awesome huge ( Big like the one at the last supper according to certain child )dining room table with matching chairs which retailed at the Broyhill's showcase shop for between two thousand five hundred and three thousand dollars .( depending on whether the set includes two arm chairs or none) Big Lots had already taken forty percent off just because they are Big lots and thanks to the invitations I received from Eboni, Michelle, Tony ,and Stephanie. ( It is good to have lots of Big Lots friends) I got the table and six chairs for quite a discount. Of course I would like to say Thank You to all my Big Lots friends but In addition I need to thank Mike and my Dad. Dad was called to provide a truck for the table which wouldn't fit in the Aztec ( even making a third trip ) but also got trapped into helping carry the table in the house as it was at least five hundred pounds ( that is Mike and Dad's estimation. All I know is that it is way too heavy for me to even lift a corner of it off the floor). So, thank you all . I truly appreciate it !

Here is a picture though the table is minus one extension leaf

Grandma update

First I would like to thank all who are praying for my Grandmother and other family members who are in need .I would also like to ask that you keep doing so. As I type, Grandma's health continues to decline. The doctor's as well as most of us are baffled that she is still with us. She is doing better at accepting her coming death but still seems very fearful. We think that her Dementia has her mentally going back to when her eleven children were small and not wanting to leave them when they need her. Since I updated most, Grandma now has an intestinal disease ( Nobody seems to remember what the doctor said the name of it was. C Diff ,I asked ? they didn't know) Six of her eleven children were called in to a meeting with doctors and declined an insertion of a feeding tube( Grandma is eating by mouth but not enough to sustain her) The same six also agreed to a DNR status. We all know that death is inevitable but it is so tough to watch with your hands tied. Thanks for the prayers, we all appreciate them.

Update on Michael's feet

We had Michael's six month from the second foot post op visit yesterday. All is looking well but it looks like he will have to have two more surgeries within the next few years to close the growth plates in his feet. Generally they would do this during the surgeries themselves but since Michael is so young they couldn't . Don't get me wrong everything is looking great and we knew this would probably need done but still we always put it in the back of our minds. To put this off another three or four years until he is fully grown, he will have orthotics made.God willing, these may even make other surgeries unnecessary.

Thank's Mike

When Mike asked me a couple weeks ago where I wanted to go out to eat for my Birthday and Valentine's day, I had no idea. We usually go to Red Lobster once for the two days combined but the last couple years Red Lobster's prices had gone up and the serving size and quality of the food had gone down. I think it must be me as this seems to be happing at a few restaurants that we go to. When Mike was on second shift a few years ago, he and I had a few places that we would go for lunch from time to time. Then suddenly we decided to stop going to place after place one at a time. There was the Chinese place,the pizza place, the Mexican place, and a few others. Then one by one they were off of our list. The Mexican place went bankrupt after the produce that they got from China spread Hepatitis to many. The Chinese place's ( the only Chinese place that I have ever eaten at where the food was good at once) food turned from good to terrible when the original cooks went back to China ( they were able to work for only a few years here and go back to China and have their families live a better life than they ever imagined as one server told me.) and other cooks came from China with an admiration for onions( yuck !) Anyway, I could not think of one place that I would like to go to. For what it would cost for the two of us to go out( let alone the whole family ) I could cook two or three meals for the family at home. For this reason and so many more we ate Valentine's Day dinner and my Birthday take out at home. The kids were off on Monday so Mike decided to take a vacation Day yesterday and take me out. I was sort of miffed when the alarm went off and he told me that he wasn't going to work but I went with it and boy was I glad that I did. Turned out that Mike had remembered that we ate at Bennigan's on the first night of our Honeymoon. We had the Monte Cristo sandwich and loved it. Not too long ago we were talking about how good they were and Mike found that Bennigan's had opened a few restaurants in Ohio. We had to travel a little over an hour but we had lunch there. What a wonderful surprise. We even tried their new desert, fried brownie, fried Twinkie, and fried Zinger,all with ice cream and whipped cream. We had a wonderful time and will probably go back in the not too distant future.
Only problem is that since I now have had my Birthday/ Valentine's day lunch out, My Birthday is now over and I have to stay thirty nine. Sniff sniff, sob, sob !