Ahh, the joys of home and car ownership

On Thursday I took my car to the dealership to have the environment protection package applied. They discovered I have a nail in my tire. sideways. and the tire can't be repaired it has to be replaced. and these tires are hard to find. and cost $300 each. of course.

Luckily! Kevin reminded me they threw in the road hazard package when I bought the environment package (like a sucker). So it should all be covered. They have to order the tire from Chicago and it will be here in five days. Is all that shit really true? who knows. bet they wished they'd said they would just repair it after they found out they get to buy me a new tire. now who's the sucker?

Yesterday we also had the heating & cooling people come to replace the part on the furnace that they ordered a few weeks ago. A few hours after they left we noticed it was set to 68 but only 65. So we called and they came back this morning. Apparently the part they replaced was a piece of electronics that got wet when they put it in (because it was raining) and doesn't work. Sooo they get to order another one and come back again next week to replace it. Meanwhile they said the gas heat should kick back on and be fine. I went to work. Fast forward to end of day Kevin gets home and calls me and said it's 62 in the house. So he called and they told him how to fix a setting on the thermostat to tell it to flip over to gas. This is an ongoing saga for what seems like an eternity and honestly they need to FIX IT (said like SNL skit on the housing crisis and failing economy).

I was going to paint Carter's room yesterday but after removing all the pictures, wall plates, curtains and shelves I realized there were a lot of big holes in the walls. So I just taped and Kevin spackled and we let it all dry. Carter freaked out cause his room is a mess but he's at my parents tonight and I'm planning to paint tomorrow.

It's supposed to be cold and raining for my first outdoor run tomorrow. awesome. maybe I will run a little faster. It ends at a Starbucks so I've got that going for me.

And if you were thinking about renting Serve and Protect (aka The Other Mall Cop) go ahead and skip it. I'll save you those 90 minutes of your life.

Eh

The best news I got today: My new car is coming next week!

I had kind of a crappy day. I just want this week to be over. I'm going to bed.

Carter had his Xmas progam tonight and we made it just in time. I'll post video this weekend.

New Car Coming!

After driving the GMC Terrain, Ford Edge and Mazda CX7 I have decided on the Terrain and we made a deposit today.

We custom ordered one a few weeks ago and it's officially mine now. Unfortunately it's scheduled to be made on November 23rd so it won't be here until December. I'm very excited. It's loaded up - the SLT2 and we got the DVD players which come in the back of the seats, not the headrests so the screens are bigger. Black and lots of chrome so it's got some bling bling.

The best part is the gas mileage - because I got the 4 cylindar as long as I push the Eco button I can get the same or better gas mileage as I get with my Volvo S40. The back seat slides forwards and backwards 8 inches so when the kids are in the car I can have it forward and slide it back for leg room when we have another couple with us.

A day with my hubby and the ongoing kidney stone saga

On Thursday Kevin and I spent the day together. While we both have Thursdays off it is actually pretty unusual that we spend the day together. I am usually running errands of some sort and Kevin is usually working on the house of some sort.

I got a new pair of glasses since I lost mine a few years ago and they have never turned up. We exchanged a cable box that wasn't working. We had my car valued for trade in at car max. They didn't want to give me as much as I'd hoped. I test drove the new 2010 GMC Terrain. And liked it. While we waited for them to run numbers and value my car for trade-in we sat and listened to the God music station they had piped in. I asked Kevin if he thought God wanted me to buy this car. It was so blaring it was weird. Then when they wanted to give us the EXACT same amount for my trade-in as car max we realized we are morons because we'd left the car max report in the car and they took it for a drive and probably read it.

I did two conference calls for work remotely. And I got a KUB x-ray because some days I feel like I still have a kidney stone.

The Dr. called and said I don't have anymore stones so it could be scar tissue from the lithotripsy procedures. So I will need to get an ultrasound to see if the scarring is mild (expected) or moderate to severe. The time frame for developing this is apparently two-three months post-procedure so I'm right in the window for that. I hope to have this done this week and get results. It hasn't bothered me the last two days so maybe it's getting better.

The year of unexpected expenses

This has definitely been the year of unexpected expenses for us. First the air conditioner then the kidney stone then the lightening strike then my car. Luckily they miraculously didn't charge me anything for my car. Probably because they didn't do anything. They tightened a wire on my battery and gave it back to me.

I felt like they might as well have said, "good luck, see you next time."

whatever. If you were going to get a new car what would you get? I was hoping to drive this one more year and then get rid of it but it might not make it that long. So far I'm looking at the Mazda CX7 which seems to be less than my current car even fully loaded, or the Ford Edge.

Anna starts kindergarten in one week. OMG! Every morning she asks how many more days until kindergarten. The countdown is on.

Brake Failure Stop Safely - Volvo S40 2004/2005

On Tuesday the 28th I went out to my car and didn't quite turn the key for long enough to start the car and it set off the error codes it sometimes throws up. "Immobilizer See Manual" and something about the ABS brake system. It wouldn't accelerate more than 5 miles an hour around the parking lot. It also did the usual "System Engine Service Required" and "Reduced Engine Performance" and "Brake Failure Stop Safely." It seems to do this about once a year but it's highly annoying. I did get it to restart but then the air conditioning, electronic windows and wipers wouldn't work. Then after running for a few minutes all of those kicked in.

Kevin came to meet me at the office and it became driveable and I followed him home in his car. The next morning it didn't have any error codes and I figured it would be fine for another year. Then as soon as I pulled into the office parking lot it said Brake Failure Stop Safely again but it was accelerating so I just drove it to the dealership. They didn't start looking at it until 4pm and didn't have enough time to figure out what was wrong with it so I ended up picking it up at 5 so I could go get the kids and all they said was "It has a lot of fault codes." No kidding. Brilliant.

Again the error codes were now reset so it was driving fine. Then on Thursday when I had both kids in the car and was trying to get on the highway in a construction zone it said Brake Failure Stop Safely again and wouldn't accelerate so I pulled over as far as I could but it was really scary as semi's are flying by me at 65 mph in a construction zone where people are trying to get on and merge and could easily just run into the back of me. Again I called Kevin and he came over and I had had it turned off the entire time (which by the way made the hazards NOT work so even more dangerous).

When he arrived the car of course restarted and just said Engine System Service Required but was driveable and fine so I went on. I've made an appointment to take it in tomorrow morning and I told them....

Keep it for awhile so you can figure this out. Tell me how much it's going to be to fix it. I will then decide if I am fixing it or getting rid of it.

This has happened at least four times before, so now a total of six times. I don't think I should have to pay to fix this since it has clearly been an issue for a long time and started while it was still under warranty.
21 January 2009
04 June 2008
11 October 2007
13 September 2007

At this point I'm not really thinking about getting another Volvo. Although I must say we have not had any problems with Kevin's XC90. Hopefully I didn't just jinx us.

Life

We had my work holiday party last night at Dave and Busters. We always do this in January since December is always so crazy. I have been there 5 years as of this month. I think most people get a clock after they've faithfully worked at their company for 5 years. I wasn't exepecting anything.

I got two roundtrip tickets anywhere in the continental US. And some very kind words from Neal. Very surprised. And thankful.

Yesterday during the day my car did that dreaded thing it occasionally does. It says Brake Failure and you push the accelerator to the floor and it doesn't go and then it says Reduced Engine Performance. Then I turn on my hazards, try not to freak out, put the car in park, turn it off, wait, turn it back on. Then it says Engine System Service Required and a bunch of other crap and still says Brake Failure. I then call someone to come meet me. This time I turned the car off for about 5 minutes and when I turned it back on it was fine. This was Kevin's idea which was a good idea since every time this has happened before I tow it in to the dealership and they can't figure out what's wrong with it. So annoying. It happens like once a year.

Today I took Anna to the dentist for a filling. It was also between two teeth so she needed two fillings. And he said the first one was pretty deep so that tooth may still go bad. Great. I didn't ask what happens at that point. I'm not sure I want to know. She did great.

Plan B

Plan B (instead of the movies) turned out to be a trip to Paradise Park (which I learned - from a client who is new to me - is considered a Family Education Center or FEC). We've been there several times before. Her favorite part is the cooking class where today they made "Fruit Turnovers" which consisted of a biscuit from a can, three blueberries and some cinnamon and sugar, baked for 15 minutes. She also dug in the sand for dinosaur bones - and found one! - pretended to make pizzas and grocery shopped a lot. I can only imagine how cool this place is when you're 4.

Carter's food allergy tests came back negative. Good and bad. Good that I don't have to change his diet, bad that I still don't know what is causing these horrible rashes and red areas mostly in his diaper area. It is really bothering him the last few days. Next step is to see a dermatologist. We're getting referred by our dr to someone at Childrens Mercy South I think.

Think good car karma thoughts tomorrow morning!

Brake Failure

This is the message my car alerted me to as I pulled into the parking lot at work this morning. Followed by Reduced System Performance. System Requires Engine. I have seen these message before, twice. But it is currently not under warranty so 60 bucks for them to even tell me what's wrong with it. A google search tells me I'm not the only one with this problem but there doesn't seem to be a consistent resolution.

Plus they have overbooked tomorrow so I'm going to attempt to drive it on my day off (I made it home from work today) and will take it in on Friday morning. Sure hope they fix it Friday. I'm driving to Oklahoma for Molly's baby shower on Saturday morning. And I definitely don't want to miss that!

Tomorrow the Dickinson summer movies start. These are $1 a piece and show at 10 and 12 M-TH. Since I'm off on Thursdays this works out great. So it's a Mommy-Anna day tomorrow. Shrek 3 is playing which she has been dying to see. If the car is working we'll run errands after that.

Happy Thursday to You

Big day off tomorrow (Thursday). Kevin is having 7 cubic yards of dirt delivered. I'm taking my car to Volvo for a recall fix. Woo hoo.

What's new?

I have a new Account Coordinator at the office. She is helping me tremendously.

Started Prednisone tonight to begin to get rid of this cough. It sucks when you can't breathe. Sort of a necessity.

Today was picture day at daycare. Today Anna also fell off the playground equipment and landed on her back. They called me an hour after it happened to let me know she was still crying about it. I decided since she wasn't having trouble breathing and they had waited an hour to call me that it couldn't be that bad. I think it is just bruised, although you can't see anything on her back.

Anna's job this week is the flag holder. I really need to get her version of the pledge of allegience on video. It's hystercal. "I pledge allegent to the flag of the united states of comerica."

Oh Carter has a new tooth - a big one on the top right. And three more coming in. No wonder he's been such a grump. Did you know they make Orajel in Q-Tip swab form? You break one end of the QTip to get the medicine to run into the other cotton end and then rub it on their teeth. Genius. This is so much better than putting it on your finger and putting your finger in their mouth so that they bite you.

I celebrated reaching 130 pounds by enjoying a Brownie Bling Pothole Concrete from Sheridan's Frozen Custard. Yum.

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Goal Update

Today: 130
Goal: 125
Pounds Lost: 8
Pounds To Go: 5

What I've Been Up To

While running errands last Thursday on my day off, my car said "Brake Failure" again followed by "Reduced Engine Performance" followed by "Service Required." I called thinking I would take it in on Friday around lunch but found out they couldn't guarantee a loaner vehicle then, but they could now. So we (me and Anna - it was girls day) drove to the dealership to drop it off. This was after we had been running our errands.

Which included

• A trip to Once Upon a Child
  The mission was a coat for Carter and ballet shoes for Anna.
  Great success. Down Gap coat, can't tell it was ever worn for him for $15. Ballet shoes a size too big but she'll grow into them for $5.
  
  This store is awesome. I resisted a Tommy Hilfiger blue velour zip up jacket for Carter for $7 and some Kenneth Cole jeans for him for $8. I did get some Gymboree corduroys and a sweater with a dog on it, I think about $6 or $7 bucks each. I wish there was one closer to us. There is a Children's Orchard near me but they don't seem to have the name brands and the clothes aren't in as good of condition. However, I did get Anna's winter coat there for $8 (Old Navy hot pink) and snow pants (purple look never worn) for $7.
  
  
• A trip to Crate and Barrel to get these for my mom for her birthday
  
  
• A trip to pick up our packets for the Pumpkin Run. Unfortunately we had to cancel the race on Saturday morning due to lightening. It was the first time we've ever had to cancel and was such a let down since this is the first year for the race since Jayne passed away. We had a record 2513 registrants and 1500 actually showed up on race day despite the down pouring.

Soooo, when I had to go to the dealership to drop off my car I had to unload all of this stuff. plus two car seats. plus my diaper bag. plus the coats I had been carrying around for each of us (the weather is hot then cold then hot then cold).

The service guy asked if we were moving in.
Sorry, we weren't planning on coming by.

I just picked my car up today. After having an XC90 for the weekend. We looked like we had his and hers in our driveway. And you should have seen me try to park that thing in my side of the garage.

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I got some scrapbooking done this weekend. After the kids go to bed I will see if I can post pics of the layouts. So inspired by all the scrapbooking - and that Lisa at work asked about one - I am planning another scraptacular party. Details to come.

Bad Carma

I had a small fender bender in the parking lot at work as I was leaving today. Apparently I am having bad car karma.

Busy People

Today was my day off, and as usual, lots of plans and most of them actually got done today.

Started off taking the car to the dealership for them to fix a handle on my car while it is still under warranty.

Got a speeding ticket on the way. Oops. Will have to get that taken care of.

While they fixed the car we met my mom for breakfast.


Then Anna and I had a girls afternoon with my friend Candi and we got pedicures. Took Sonar to get a vaccination so he can be boarded next week. My parents came over for dinner. I made fajitas. Then we went up to the Festival in the Park to see if the kids won anything from the baby contest.

We just missed Carter's age division. He won second place!

Anna won Best Play Outfit.


Then we walked around the carnival...


...and Anna rode a ride.


Then they had a cake and ice cream social.


Good day off. Except for that damn speeding ticket.

Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear

I read this quote today and wanted to share it with you. I think it is appropriate, since my blog is titled "The Little Things In Life."

"Consider the lilies of the field. Look at the fuzz on a baby's ear. Read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a terminal illness because if you do you will live it with joy and passion, as it ought to be lived. " - Anna Quindlen

Yesterday Carter ate macaroni cheese for lunch and pulled pork for dinner. He is loving "real food" and doing surprisingly well considering he barely has two teeth in the front.

Today there is a "baby contest" in our city. The judging is today and the winners are announced on Thursday night which is part of the kick off for the fall festival. I don't even know what the prizes are, it doesn't even say on the entry forms, but that's ok. It is really more for fun and they have fun awards for things like "Best Smile" "Best Playoutfit" "Prettiest Eyes" etc. I've always wanted to check this out since we moved here but this will be the first year we've ever gone (to either the contest or the festival). Should be fun!

P.S. Car turned out to be an electrical thing. And that is my loose interpretation of what they told me.

One of Those Days

So today was my day off. And as usual I had many possibilities of what to do swirling in my head and thinking "I'm overly optimistic I will get to all of these, but what the hell."

First up, pick up house for maids to come.

Next, shower and ready to go out the door. Planning to head to a coffee shop to drink warm coffee, sit outside and enjoy the 70 degree no humid weather and work on a website my dad volunteered me to do that is beyond his expected completion date.

Pulling out of garage, call mom to see what she is doing for lunch since I realize it is 11 and I am starving since I haven't eated. She's taking lunch to a friend who's hosting a garage sale, would I want to meet her? Sure, sounds good. What? It's hard to get to her house? Ok, let's meet at XYZ. Ok good. I go to XYZ and arrive before her so I sit in the parking lot and make a few phone calls. Mom pulls up and I pull behind her. Sit at stop sign. Mom goes. I pull ahead. I hit the gas. Nothing.

Message in the display reads "Brake Failure" and the ABS! light comes on (I swear it had an exclamation point). This is weird. I try to put it in park. It won't go. The car dies. Uh, start to panic slightly. Turn on hazards. Car will now go into park. Ok. Try to restart car.

Message in the display reads something about an "Immobilizer." Car dies again. Crap. Call mom, come back to get me, my car is dead.

Try to call Volvo Roadside Assistance. Wait on hold for 10 minutes. Hang up. Call Volvo dealership, get number for towing service. 45 minutes later car towed. Visited mom's friend with garage sale, etc. go to dealership.

Yea, still under warranty (I think I have 800 miles left or so) whew. This means I get a loaner. Yea! But still a pain in the ass. What in the world is wrong with my car? Hope to find out tomorrow.

Stopped by the house around 4:30 and notice the maids have done a HORRIBLE job. Oh wait, they haven't even come. Weird message on the machine says they couldn't get in with the key. I call and leave a message that the locks haven't changed. Try again tomorrow.

And guess what. All those things I hoped to do today. I did maybe one or two. But I did get to enjoy lunch AND dinner with my parents.

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Today Tassie went hunting for the first time this season.