I have blogged about my Uncle Mike before, he has been fighting lung cancer for about 3 years now. He has a group of super awesome doctors who are doing their best to help him lick the darn cancer, but it keeps coming back.  As it keeps coming back in the same are of the same lung, they have opted to remove his lung and will be doing this on Wednesday, the 21st.  The 21st is also the Feast of The Presentation of Our Lady. I will be offer many Hail Mary’s up for him that day, will you join me?

 

 

Joshua has been home from work since mid-Morning Thursday. We’ve all been struck with a horrible stomach bug. (I’ll spare you the details). I didn’t get out bed on Friday and moved to the couch on Saturday, only because Margaret threw up on our bed. I am thankful that was the only big mess we had to deal with though. Today involved cleaning every surface in the house, doing loads of laundry and opening the windows to air things out. (Would you believe it’s been so cold here we’ve had to turn the heat on. I think when the highs are no more than 55, it’s okay to do so.)

Joshua went to Mass with Karol last night and I went by myself this morning.  I usually enjoy the occasional Mass by myself, but today I really missed my family. Maybe because we aren’t “settled” at our new parish and I only know the pastor, not really anyone else, maybe because I have no idea what to do with my hands during Mass now, or maybe because my kids give me an excuse not to have to open the hymnal when a bad hymn is sung. Or maybe because it was just strange to not have them there.

We’ve been trying to prepare for Thanksgiving in the mean time. I am glad we did a bulk of the prep a few weeks ago and just needed to pick up some fresh item. We are going to brine the bird this year, then cook it on the grill.  I am going to make this and am going to attempt a Cranberry Apple Pecan Pie.  We will of course, have sweet potatoes, rolls, and homemade cranberry sauce. I even bought special, European Soda to drink with dinner on Thanksgiving. (Thank you Publix for stocking a nice selection of food and beverages!)

So there you have it, our long, boring, sick weekend. And guess what? We get another long weekend in just a few days! 🙂 Woot. Let’s hope no one is sick for this one.

 

After we received word that our old van was totaled and the amount of the payout, we started looking around for replacement vans. We already decided that we did not want (or need) a car payment, so we started looking at mini-vans in our price range.  Jacksonville seemed like our best bet for options and price, so we headed that way yesterday. (Thanks to Cassandra for watching the kids!)

Our list was made up of the same year, make, and model that was totaled. We liked the van, it was dependable and we’ve never had any major problems with it.  We headed to the first dealership and looked at, then test drove one that might fit the bill. First we noticed the A/C didn’t work, then I turned on the blower. At one or 2, it was fine, at 3 it was loud, and at 4 it was horrible (and shot dirt at us). That plus a few cosmetic issues, like torn seat pockets, the decision was, no.  We returned to the lot and told the guy the issues we had. He would not budge on the price at all. $5995 (plus a $700 dealer add on??!!). And he wasn’t letting us off the lot. I finally said “let’s go to lunch and talk it over, dear.” and we left. We did not return.

(Lunch was Chipotle, my favorite Mexican place!)

The second place we went to the van was a bit more expensive, but we figured we could work them down a bit. Sadly, they had just “wholesaled” the car that morning, because it had major issues. So, feeling dejected, we drove to the final place. That one had the same year, make, and model, with just about 1000 miles more for $2000 less than our insurance payout. The pictures looked decent, so we decided to look at it. We didn’t even leave the lot. It creaked, the doors sounded horrible, and the final straw, the ashtray didn’t close once I opened it.

Leaving that lot, it was 4:00 and we needed to get home. Joshua said he saw a dealership with a newer model of the van we had on the way to the last one, so we headed back to it. We pulled in and looked at it. Well, I didn’t get out of the car. The salesman came over and immediately asked how much we could pay. Joshua named a price and well, let’s say he met us half way. 🙂 We drove it and it was nice. The newer model year had roll down back windows and is a bit bigger, plus has stow and go seating. (plus side airbags and a shoulder harness seat belt for the middle seat in the very back, something the old one doesn’t have. (Safety, y’all)

So in the end, we ended up with a new, nicer model, same make, for just a bit over what  our insurance check was. Driving it home last night, and then this morning, I really like it. It is very roomy and I think will be much better for future trips.

When we were getting the kids ready this morning (we needed to return the rental) Benedict found the Ron Paul magnet and took it to Joshua to place on the car. Yes, the election is over, yes Ron Paul will probably never be president, but until I get the “I love the Constitution” or “Liberty!!” sticker, Ron Paul will rock the back of the van .

We’ve purchased a new (to us) Sedona, a year newer and for just over the insurance payout for this one. God provides.

This was the only picture I
managed to get that day! Benedict was St. Thomas Aquinas, Margaret was St. Kateri, and Caecilia was Bl. Mother Teresa.

On Friday nights, our parish has a 5:30 Mass in the evening and we try to make it. Tonight we  were originally going to not go because there was a Cub Scout camp out, then Joshua talked about leaving after Mass for the camp out, then I decided to just take the little kids while Joshua and Karol went to camp.

Joshua woke up not feeling well this morning, and went to the office for a little bit. He realized he wasn’t going to make it the day and came home before lunch. He decided that he was not going to be able to do camp as well. (Something they were both looking forward to doing :()  We all dozed away the afternoon and woke up around 415, and decided to get up and go to mass, for the Feast of All Souls.

We got out the door with time to spare and had a nice ride up 75, talking and discussing some items that were listed in the Williams-Sonoma catalogue that came in the mail. Karol also opened the gift he got from his godmother for his First Communion. It was uneventful, until we got off the freeway.

About a mile from the church, a woman pulled out from a side street, and though Joshua tried to avoid it, she hit the passenger side of the van, the passenger door taking most of the brunt of the hit. I am thankful for that, because though my arm hurts, I’m the only one who was hurt.

 

 

Corn Maze today. They did  a great job. And yes, corn is still green in Georgia, isn’t it where you live?

**I thought this posted yesterday, I guess I failed at clicking the publish button!**

 

This morning I opened the windows and have been able to leave them opened all day. I even washed the curtains on all the downstairs windows and they got to dry in the breeze, when I hung them back up.

 

 

The kids played outside and Karol was thrilled that there were no bugs out today. (I’d really like a hard freeze two nights in row, to kill off bugs, but that won’t happen until December at the earliest.)

It is amazing what a little bit of fresh air can do for the soul. Here we are cooped up in the house all summer long (from about the end of May to the end of September.) With the windows opened and chilly toes (that I did not pay for via the electric bill.) I felt inspired to make some chili for dinner, with corn bread. The house is mostly* clean, dishes are all done, laundry cleaned and ready to be taken upstairs for folding.

Joshua is coming home a bit late, as he is stopping to get an estimate on new cabinets, a new bathtub, and new flooring for our upstairs bathroom. The current cabinets are junk (and ugly.), the tub is not sealed well, so it is stained and leaks, and the flooring was not laid well, and there is a seam coming apart in the middle of the floor.  It is pretty much the tub the main reason for looking to remodel, but we figured if the tub will be replaced, why not do a few other things.

I gave him a budget and hopefully we will be able to do the work for under the amount I said. We should as we aren’t going with marble counter tops or a spa tub, but you know how projects go. 🙂 The fear is more what will the wall and floor look like behind/under the tub.**

Speaking of projects, back in July we stopped by the hardware store for paint, to paint the toy room, and well, after much patching and many long breaks, one of the walls is painted. It is now my favorite room! It is so pretty and bright. I cannot wait to see what it will look like with all four walls painted. This has also inspired me to paint the dining room, which is currently brown (with white trim) to something a bit brighter. In due time.

*The mostly comes from the fact that I do have four kids and well, the two year old is kind of a tornado, just bringing toys from the play room to the living room.

**And in the time that this sat in my draft, we have decided to hold off on the bathroom redo. The cost of cabinets was more than what we could spend on the whole project! Off to look at other options 🙂

 

 

“Mama, it is cold outside!” Indeed it is. Windows are open and kids are wearing coats to do chickens.