Post with pics

Well, we had a rather strange week last week. We got emails from two of A's teachers saying she wasn't doing well in their classes. We think she has remedied that and salvaged what she can. Senioritis? We also got 2 calls and a home visit from J's ESL teacher. Sigh...

We had decided to look at trucks for T and then get a van for me after the two current vehicles sold. We just couldn't find anything we liked for the money we had to spend. Then we decided to look at vans and just keep the expedition. Again, we couldn't find anything or they would tell us it had "quad seating" and it was benches or they'd make the vehicles out to be much more than they were. It was frustrating.

On Tuesday the Jeep wouldn't shift right and it appeared to be the transmission. T was going to Nashville for a conference on Wed. and Thur. On Tues. night I called about another van and left a message. The owner called me back on Wed morning and I called my dad to see if he could go with me since T was in Nashville. He said he could so I called the owner back and said it was 60 miles and told him about the time I thought we'd be there.

As we pulled into his place of business the van was pulling out. His secretary (I think) met us and asked if we were there to look at the van. I said yes and she said the owner wasn't there but we could take a seat and these other people were looking at it right now. I was ticked. All that way to have someone else get there just before us. When they returned I asked them if they were going to buy the van and they said yes. I was really ticked. I was just going to leave but finally decided to call the owner who still wasn't there. He said I had called first and that we set up the first appointment and the other people called about 10 minutes after I did. He told the other people that we were looking at it but they got there first. The owner said he would honor his word with me and that I had first dibs at it if I wanted to look at it. I said I did so dad and I took it for a drive.

The owner was there when we got back and the other people met us outside and asked if I was going to buy it. I said, "I believe so." And he said it was a yes or no question, which was it? Yes or no? I said yes. He said he'd get into a price war with me 'cause he was willing to pay more for that van but he didn't think "Mr. Righteous" inside would let him. I said I'd go talk to the owner.

As soon as I walked into his office I knew I had met a kindred spirit. There was a pic on the wall of him with an asian girl with a cleft lip. I asked if that was his daughter and he said yes. I told him about J and it turns out they have two bio children and three adopted from China, all with special needs. Wow! We swapped blogs and swapped money for the title and key and we now have a van. T will drive Big Mama for now.

T started working on the Jeep Sat. morning after I spent some time Thur. trying to locate a transmission. As he worked on it, he discovered that the clutch master cylinder was leaking. He bought a new one and put it on. It helped but still wasn't quite right. A friend who works at the local auto parts store called and mentioned that T had left his frequent buyer card down there and told him to bleed the slave cylinder too. That worked but the screw was stripped in the process so he had to order that part. He picked it up today but it's the wrong part. We will try again tomorrow. Sigh...

Currently, the dishwasher washes correctly about 75% of the time and that's good compared to what it's been. The water dispenser on the fridge only works when it's good and feels like which isn't very often and now it's melting things in the top of the freezer. The dryer is taking longer and longer to dry things. Sigh...

Last night I was trying to balance the checkbook and do some creative bill paying when I came across a receipt from the other day and the last item on it was "LARGE DUST PAN ASS". Yes, it really says that! It struck me as so funny and I've had the best time with this crazy receipt. I'm going to laminate it and put it on the fridge with my other favorite comics. How funny is that?! I tried to take a pic of it but it's too blurry to see.

So, other than kids' schoolwork and broken vehicles and weird appliances, we're good. :) Oh, and the cat knocking over the Christmas tree.

I decided to do something about my male cactus again. This time I'm trying another actual cactus and not just a "succulent". What do you think? Does it help?
Here is Dexter with his front legs crossed.
This is J with a turkey leg the Wed. eve before Thanksgiving. Our neighbor offered to smoke a turkey for us so we took him up on it. That boy loves "big meat". And the leftover smoked turkey made an awesome soup!

While T and I were on one of our vehicle wild goose chases, A and J went for a walk in the woods and picked out a tree. They cut it down and hauled it home and then A decorated it. Some of our ornaments are missing. We've looked and looked but can't find them. Oh well, we made some new salt dough ornaments the other day but they are not up yet. Here's the tree before Misty knocked it down.

Front door.

Steps. J did all of this and he loves to have all the Christmas lights on in the house.

Wed. evening while T was in Nashville and A was at youth group J and I had the first fire of the season in the fireplace. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores and all was right in the world.

I snapped this pic of Misty in the chair with A the other night. Isn't that a look of pure bliss on her face? Love it.

That's all for now.