Your Mind = Blown

I broke up with scrapbooking.  And I gotta tell you - - I actually feel good about it.  I had a ton of crap.  A. Ton.  I only have a few things left to sell.  I kept my Cricut, Gypsy, colored cardstock, paper trimmer, a few adhesives and my scissors for school projects.  As far as scrapbooking 12 x 12 layouts?  I'm done.  Unless I do digital stuff.  Which I may or may not dabble in.  I canceled my subscription to the Trends magazines today.

I've been making photobooks with Shutterfly and I really like those.

A lot changed when the scrapbook store closed.  At the time, I still had Shannon.  And that was an awesome outlet for me.  Then we lost Shannon.  And frankly, it just hasn't been fun since then.

So.  End of an era?  I think so.

I can tell you this:  It has felt GREAT to de-crapify all of the clutter in this house.  I'm becoming a serious minimalist.  I like my life to be crisp and clean.  No clutter.

I'm proud.  I didn't even cry when I said good-bye to the last load hauled out of here this morning.  It just felt right.  And I'm totally okay with that.  As Shannon would say, "Calm = Happy."  I'm calm.  And I'm happy.  I called her my Yoda for a reason.

Here's to new adventures.  And I raise my glass to toast the good old days.  Good memories.  Good friends.  Time to move on.

Cheers.

Honda and Bewbies

I can't remember what all I've told you about here.  The details don't really matter at this point.  The long story condensed into one sentence is this:  The windshield trim piece to Penny is STILL not fixed.

Both sides were supposed to be.  Honda was invoiced by the glass shop to fix both pieces.  But one was either not fixed or they did it wrong.  It matters not.  It's not right.  And it needs to be. I discovered it yesterday afternoon.  I saw the customer survey e-mail and was going to fill it out.  I thought I'd better check the work first.  Glad I did.

I made a call.

The van is now back at the shop and I am in a rental this time.

I give props to the Service Manager for trying real hard to make sure I'm happy.  But come on Man.  He should have thoroughly checked that thing out before sending it back to us.

Ay yi yi.

On top of all of that - - I have to go get my bewbies squished today.  That's right.  Pancakes are on the menu today.  I can't wear deodorant either.  And if you are familiar with these parts, it's supposed to be well over 100 today.

Good times.

I'm gonna blog later about the squishing.  I've documented a colonoscopy prep before.  I think it's only fair to give my boobs equal time.

Home Sweet Home!

We made it safely home.

Did I mention that I was dreading the heat?  Uh, yeah.  About that.  It's supposed to be 107 here today.  Blech.  I don't even want to leave the house.

I'm already unpacked.  (Because that's how I try to roll.)  Chaos drives me crazy.  I even had the kids put their things away.  We did laundry before we left, so I brought home a suitcase full of clean clothes.  That makes today such a happier day.

Here's a couple of pics from the drive back home.

Can you find the real Winnie?

Mamaw was hot, so the air was cranked up.  Justin stayed warm with his fleece blanket.

Cameron watching a movie.  With the "real" Winnie.  I don't know how this kid is ever comfortable.

And behold - - the most gorgeous site when I got home:

I missed him SO much.  This was pretty close to the longest we've been apart.  The kids were with me, so he was all alone.  He said it got pretty lonely around here.

Like his shirt?  I had ordered it last week.  He saw one at Sea World while we were there.  He thought it was funny.  I hope he'll actually wear it outside of the house.  He said he won't wear it to work.  Imagine that?  The cool thing is - - it's SO not him.  He would never talk to me or treat me that way.  But it's still good for some chuckles.  I love it.

Okay.  Back to life.  I have a super busy week next week.  Like insane.  Today, I'm going to get a few things done around here.

I promise to work harder on blogging more.  I've enjoyed it again.  It's a nice outlet.

Have an AWESOME day!

Day Five at the Cabin

Our last full day.

We got up this morning and drove down the mountain to White Sands.  We've been before.  It's pretty awesome there. We didn't stay too long because it was HOT!

We rinsed off the extra sand with a couple of gallons of water.  We went back into town to eat lunch and then we headed over to a car wash to vacuum the sand out.  Lots and lots of sand.

Then we headed back up the mountain to the cabin.  First we stopped at the opposite side of the train trestle that I hiked to the other day.  I took the boys picture.

We're going to head out in the morning.  We'll stop for breakfast at a local cafe and then the long drive home begins.  I dread re-entering the heat.  Thank goodness for the pool.

It's been a fun little vacay.  I'm ready to see Mr. B's smiling face in person.  Doing Face Time has been nice.  But you can't beat the real thing.  I may even smooch on him a little.  *giggle*

Time for bed.  Long day tomorrow.  The good news is that I'm mostly packed.  Just gotta load up.

Day Four at the Cabin

Today was a touch lazier.

I was right.  I woke up pretty sore from that hike.  If I'd been smart, I would have gone and done it again.  Instead, I was lazy.  I played three games of Candyland with Cameron.  He beat me two out of three games.

I sat out on the deck for a while trying to get a good picture of the hummingbirds feeding.  This was about the best one I got.  Keep in mind, I only have my little point and shoot with me.

We finished the evening off with watching The Bourne Supremacy.  I think Mom and Dad are hooked now.  One more to go.

I was getting ready for bed when my nose started running.  I went to wipe it only to realize that it wasn't snot.  It was blood.  I had a gusher coming out of my right nostril.  A common occurance for me at this altitude.  Got it under control, the kids are close to asleep and I am not far behind them.  Tomorrow we are going to White Sands National Monument.

The time away has been relaxing and peaceful.

I won't lie though - - I sure miss Mr. B.  And I'm not the only one.

Check back tomorrow for more adventures.

Day Three at the Cabin

This daily blogging thing is fun.  I think I like it.

So today - - fun.

I went hiking.  *pause for dramatic response*  Yes.  I hiked.  I've talked about doing this one for a while.

It was only about a 2.5 mile trek, round trip.  But the elevation was around 8600 ft.  Several joke that the hike is truly uphill both ways.

Both my dad and Mr. B have done it before and they both said that I couldn't do it.  Oh really?  Why not just catapult me right back to high school and tell me I can't do something?

I will tell you this.  I can.  And I did.  It was hard work because I'm uber-out of shape.  Here I am at the beginning of the hike:

And here is some of the "along the path" stuff.

You really can't get a good feel for the incline here.  But I assure you, there was one.

Noah and I saw this huge tree that had been cut down.  It was ginormous!  He posed on top of the stump.

I pretended to try to pick up the trunk of the tree.  Ha!  SO not happening.

Here is a pic of what we hiked to:

It is the Mexican Canyon Trestle.  You can read a good account of it by someone else here.

This is me smiling when it was all said and done.  I won't lie - - it kicked my butt.  I had to stop several times on my way back.  I told you I was out of shape.  My lungs were burning and I was struggling to breathe.  But I was gonna do it y'all.  And I did.  At this point, my legs began to feel like jello.  I rode quietly in the van back to the cabin. I took a shower because Cam said I smelled bad.  Who would have thought?  I really didn't sweat a lot.  It was a cool 66 degrees for the hike and it even rained on us some on our way back.  But I guess funk is funk and I needed to wash it off.

I ate a quick sandwich and then crashed for a few hours.  I slept hard.  The window was open and the cool breeze was blowing through my room.

I am proud of me.  I did it.  It was SO worth it.  We'll see if I still feel that way in the morning.  Mr. B said he was proud of me.  That makes me smile.  I love to make the mister proud.

Day Two at the Cabin

Not a lot happened today.  It rained a couple of times.  I was digging that.  I tried to take a nap this afternoon.  The window was open and I had to cover up with my fleece blanket.  *snicker*

I got this picture of a mule deer this afternoon.

Dad threw some deer corn out this afternoon.  We'll see if the deer come any closer.

We watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics this evening.  I'm looking forward to swimming and gymnastics.

Having a blast.  Check back again tomorrow!

Vacation Inspiration

My brother inspired me.  He is blogging every day from their family vacation and I thought I'd do the same thing.  

We already did the Sea World thing as a whole family.  That was a lot of fun.  Here are my two favorite photos from that adventure:

Cameron had just finished feeding the dolphins when this one popped up right in front of him.  We pet them and had a blast.  Well, Justin wouldn't touch them.  Actually, he was pretty unimpressed with most of the sea life part.  He was there for the water park.  And the food.  Typical Justin.  Cam was quite the sport though.  He also fed the sting rays.

Here is my other favorite.

I just love how "telling" it is.  Boys will be boys.

And today - - we traveled with my parents and youngest brother (minus Mr. B) to the cabin in New Mexico.  Here is our photo of the day.

It's actually cooler back home tonight than it is here right now.  But not by much.  This picture was taken just before sunset out on the deck.  You can tell that Justin was beyond thrilled to pose for another picture.  You'd think he'd be used to this by now and at least humor me.

Not sure what is in store for tomorrow.  Good chance for rain.  I LOVE the rain up here.  And the thunder rumbling through the canyon below?  Awesomeness.  Sheer awesomeness.  Stay tuned.  I'll post a single photo of the day tomorrow.

Our New Family

What a blessing. Seriously.  These young ladies are amazing.  We have met with them three times now.  And - - wow.  Yujin and Hyeonyeong have been an incredible addition to our family.  I am amazed at the amount of English they know.  I think there are a few things lost in translation.  But ultimately - - the language of love triumphs.

They are the most gracious and sweet girls.  We are lucky to have them.

Here they are on their first night with us.  I picked them up at their dorm and brought them over to our house for dinner.  We had spaghetti.  Justin was pretty shy this night.  We were lucky to get him in any of the pictures.

Then a couple of days later, we invited them to swim with us over at my parents' house.

Seriously, how cute are they?  I know!!!

Then last night, they went with Cameron and me to a Colts baseball game.

We have had a lot of fun together.  They are learning a lot about American culture.  We look forward to learning more about their culture as well.

So blessed.

Host Family

A couple of weeks ago, we signed up to be a host family for a foreign exchange student.  They don't live with us, they live on campus.  We're just their home away from home.

We were accepted and given the opportunity to start right away.  There are a group of students that got here around the first of July.  They are in an English language course this summer and then they will spend the next two semesters at Angelo State.

When sent the list - - I felt like we ought to go ahead and take two.  So we did.

We meet them tonight and I am SO STINKIN' EXCITED!  We chose girls.  Well, I chose girls.  Because, there's enough testosterone around here already.  They are from Korea.  I'm a little nervous about the language thing.  We'll get there though.

They chose spaghetti for dinner.  They sound so cute.  I can hardly wait.

I'll post more about it tomorrow.  Gotta get some housework done first.  Squeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Good Saturday Morning To Ya!

Well, it's actually closer to noon.  It matters not.  I am in a much better mood today than I was yesterday.  I FB'd about it a little.  Here's the deets:

When we bought the van, just before I pulled it off the lot, I noticed a crack in the windshield.  I don't know how we missed it during our looking over before we bought process.  But it was there nonetheless.  So - - the dealer agreed to replace it.

Here's where things went "sour."  Although we didn't know that at the time.  The molding/trim pieces are one time install things.  When they come out, no matter how carefully, the clips will break.  Let me repeat.  They WILL break.  They lasted a while when replaced before.  Then a few months ago, Mr. B mentioned to me that they appeared loose and I really ought to get Honda to take a look at them.

Okay.

I called and explained the problem.  They wanted to send the van back over to the glass place that put the windshield in.  I had one other warranty thing that needed fixing, so I was told to expect to go without the van for a day.  School had just ended and I had a crazy-busy schedule for about the first three weeks of the summer and going without wasn't going to work.

Basically - - I let it slide.

Fast forward to about two weeks ago.  One of the trim pieces came off during a car wash.  Crap.  My hand was forced.

I went straight to the dealership and showed them.  They ordered the part and we scheduled the work.

Very long story short - - they have ordered the wrong part.  Twice now.  Twice.  I spent an hour and fifteen minutes in there yesterday, with my unwilling kids, and got NOTHING done.  (The other warranty thing got fixed during the first appointment where I went without the van for the whole day.  Thank goodness.)  Five minute fix for the trim pieces?  That's what I was told.  I'd be in and out.  Right.

I seldom lose my cool in these type of service situations.  I'm kind.  I was raised that way.  Kill them with kindness.  You attract more flies with honey.  *insert about a thousand other cliches here*  But this was the last straw.  I lost my mind.  I went off.  I'm not proud of the fact that I did this.  But I did.  It's not my intention to operate this way ever again.  With that said - - I got things done.  The necessary parts have been ordered.  All of them.  I have a promise to get a notification phone call as soon as the parts are in.  I've been promised a full detail and a tank of gas.  They were more than accommodating.  I'm sure they were like, "Holy crap!  Soccer mom has lost her dang mind."  It was that bad, 'yall.

So.  I will get to drop off Penny for a third time regarding this trim thing.  I will have to go without her for at least half the day.  Probably the whole day.  I will have to make arrangements to have someone to pick me up and and take me back to get it.  It's a pain.  So if they want to do some extras for me to make up for their craptastic service in the past - - fine.  I'll let them.  I am giving them the opportunity to make this right.

Now, if you're still here with me and listening to this nonsense about my van - - wow.  You are a good friend/fan.  Because I believe in paying it forward and not into sour grapes - - I'm going to do a give-a-way.  Yep.  You read that right.  I will give away a $5 gift card to either Sonic or Starbucks.  You get to choose.  All you have to do is tell me (in a comment below) that you read that whole lame story and now you'd like your gift card.  You have until Tuesday at noon to do this. You can comment as often as you want.  But your name only goes into the drawing one time.  Friends, family, fans - - have at it.  I'll post the results when I draw.

By the way - - a margarita and a visit with a very good friend cured all that ailed me last night.  Thanks, Shawna!!!