Sneaky Sticker Shock

After an oil change this morning, I had to stop and gas up and... I must not have paying attention lately because gas prices have jumped sky high.

Also why I was putting gas in my mileage-friendly Honda vs hubby's truck for an evening trip to Green Bay for a friend's retirement.

I looked it up – on my trusty, historical-record-type blog, of course – and the last time gas prices were of concern or of note was in June of 2022 when we hit $4.87 per gallon of the regular unleaded variety. God bless you diesel people. Ouch.

We did have fun at our friend Scott's retirement party. We both worked with him at Rapids newspaper and then again at the publishing house in Iola. He and his wife Sandy are the ones from Green Bay that we meet up with each summer for at least one golf round on a nice course somewhere!

On the way home, we had to keep a sharp eye out for deer and orange construction barrels. It's that time of year.

You'd think this would be a nice sunset reflection on a lake. But nope its a flooded farm field near Shiocton. Nearly half of the 400 homes in the village were evacuated two weeks ago as the Wolf River reached record levels with that constant rain. The road was dry today. But there is going to be quite the agricultural impact on that area of Wisconsin, I'm sure.

Got home in time for me to get 8 hours of sleep before I sing in church in the morning. Then BINGO. I gotta play for gas money now!!

Whoa, Black Betty

I've been watching my odometer this week because I knew at some point Black Betty – my Honda HRV – was about to reach 6 figures. Wish my paycheck would!

This morning when I got to work, she was officially at 99,999. I had to get gas on the way home and that was exactly one mile away apparently, so I could take a picture.

In my mind she's still a new car. Because when I hit a deer on the interstate and totaled my Honda Accord in June of 2020, the 2019 was still "new" since people were concentrating on surviving a pandemic, not going anywhere, and not buying cars.

It was the "newest" vehicle I ever had in my life. And the HRV is totally a Robyn-sized SUV.

A 2019 model but less than 3,000 off the lot. I remember hubby saying, "Well this should last you 'til retirement." Now I'm like, dang reliable Hondas. 100K miles is nothing. I'll have to work forever! Grr.

I treated her to a car wash on her special day. I mean we almost hit 50 degrees today. I know with the massive meltdown, she'll get all splashed up and dirty again, but it was the least I could do. She's got my back and keeps me going places!

Who's got your back today? Maybe give them a special nod of thanks!

TGIF (Thank God In Faith)

Sometimes we casually talk about the power of prayer, but I firmly believe it works! 

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks since my sister's horrific accident. As I've previously mentioned, she seems to make progress but is not out of the woods yet. 

If you follow her Caring Bridges site, you know the doctors have discovered a couple of blood clots that were concerning. They couldn't operate until other blood numbers (I'm not smart enough to understand) are at the correct levels. But today they couldn't wait and she had surgery number 5, I believe. And even though I reported 2 days ago that she was out of ICU, this means she's going back.

Any prayers upward are soooo appreciated.

Of course, life never hands you just one challenge at a time, so please pray for another person we love who is having a few issues. Thanks.

On the upside, after many crossed fingers and possibly prayers upward, our boy did a very adult thing today and purchased his first car! Of course it's another Honda. We swear by them!

He quickly learned adulting is not as easy as it looks. So glad at the end of the day, he could buy it, insure it, and take those keys and run! 

It's just a tiny reminder things can work out if you have a little faith. And perhaps a lot of prayers.

Thank you for your prayerful support!

The Car Park

I may be watching too much British television. A parking lot can also be called a "car park." Taking your car to the mechanic for new tires and finding something is broken also means your car's gonna be parked. For a day.

Isn't that the way it goes? Go in for one simple thing and find out there's all kinds of things happening out of sight.

So yes, thanks to some broken knuckle – not caused by a fight – we've got our boy here an extra day. The mechanic hopes to get the knuckle – one preferably not attached to fingers – in the morning so they can fix up Carter's vehicle and he'll head back to Platteville.

In the meantime, he did ask if he could borrow my car to go get ice cream. "That's the only place it goes," I said. And smiled at how well I have him trained!

These are few of my favorite things!

Of course, I realized after the fact that King Cone opens tomorrow. But I suppose there's no law against having ice cream two days in a row. By the time they open, though, I won't have a willing errand boy around – if all goes on schedule.

Kind of think my car could drive there itself! My car might not share, though!

Hurray Winter Solstice Santa

Our non-Christmas holidays are becoming pretty big around here. First St. Lucia (with help from neighbors) delivered a pretty purple tree to our deck. And today, Winter Solstice Santa (with the help of hubby and me) delivered a pretty big gift to Mr. College.

It went something like this...

And what to Carter's wondering eyes did appear...

A new sleigh with 4 wheels and automatic gears!

For this Crasher and Dasher, it was a wonderful sight!

And we heard him exclaim as he drove out of sight: "Merry Christmas, Mom and Dad. You got this right!"

We hope so! It's a 2011 Accord with plenty of life left in it. Handle with care. Santa is still watching!!

Mileage High Club

Don't get the wrong idea. I am definitely talking about high mileage on the ground today. Not the oft-talked about fun a mile high in the sky.

We played a bit of musical cars today. Sort of like the musical chairs, but the sound and seat quality definitely got worse as the day went on.

Since my car was in for an oil change today, I had to take the old Civic – most often driven by College Boy when he is home. I just call it the Ghetto-Mobile. It's a black car with the rims painted black to match (that was done without parental consent, obviously). Only the back speakers work and the bass is pumped way up. The seat, on the other hand, is reclined way back. Thank goodness it was still adjustable so I could reach the gas pedal and see over the dash.

I shouldn't complain. Despite having 190,000-plus miles on it, it did get me to work OK.

Toward the end of the day, hubby texted me that our nephew Tony needed to borrow the Civic tomorrow so could I please drop it off at his place on the way home – then drive Tony's Jeep to our house?

Oh boy. Not a big deal to drop of the 2006 car. But getting into a vehicle that is another decade older and has another 100k on it was a bit unnerving. Never mind that you have a push-button door handle to get in, an actual window crank, and the lights are just pulled on and pushed off on the left side of the dash.

You know, Old School.

I didn't exactly get too far up to speed on the drive home. Wasn't sure if the radio worked either. But at least I could reach the gas and brake. And I did figure out how to put the lights on bright. About a half mile from home. Oh well.

I made my round trip today safely. That's all that counts. I will definitely appreciate my low-mileage, luxurious Honda Accord tomorrow. Well, it will see like it, anyway.

Guess we need "jalopies" now and then so we appreciate how good we've got it.

Love Triangle

As much as I enjoy doing things for others, if I am going to get up at 4:30 on a Saturday morning, there better be something in it for me.

And today there was.

A year ago, hubby and I were casually looking for a replacement vehicle for me. My Honda Insight is a great commuter car but now that I am driving 6 miles to work instead of 100 round-trip per day, I was ready to upgrade to a "grownup car" as I termed it. And I guess, any car with cruise would qualify. Yep, commuting 500 miles a week and no cruise. That was no fun. At least it wasn't bad in the new, shorter commute, but it got me looking around.

Enter Bonus Boy #1, my stepson Casey, who started wheeling and dealing cars last year in the Twin Cities. And guided a recent search.

Through a series of endless texts and communications this week with this charming car salesman, I had word late yesterday that a certain Honda I had my eye on was still in the lot – and mine for the taking if I got over to the Walser Toyota lot in Bloomington, Minnesota. I just happened to sort of be going that way today anyway for a bridal shower for my nephew's fiance.

And by sort of going that way, you can see in the triangle, I hit the road at 5:30 a.m. and headed straight west to Minnesota. Thanks to road construction and rain delays, I got there a little later than I hoped, but Casey was ready for me.

Despite the constant rain, it was a great day for car shopping ... when you know what you want. We test drove my Honda Accord and I loved it. Turns out it had more bells and whistles than I expected. I was drawn to it because it had cruise, backup camera, a moon roof and heated leather seats.

I was excited it also had bluetooth phone connection, navigation/GPS screen and a handful of other surprise options. The deal was sealed.

Even with the rain, we just HAD to get a picture! I had to borrow the dealership umbrella because I emptied everything – including 2 umbrellas – out of the Insight so it was ready for trade-in.

I hit the road around 12:30 for the second leg of the triangle from Bloomington to the Luck area. A slow, traffic-jammed, rainy drive. But there was still cake left when I got there so that was a bonus!

Had a very nice bridal shower (organized by my sister Rayna) for Zach's soon-to-be bride Liana.

Here she is with my sister Rachel, mother of the groom.

And with the grandmother of the groom!

It rained the whole time we were there and the whole drive back to Wisconsin Rapids, the third leg of the triangle. But it was a nice, comfortable cruise home.

Why is it a love triangle? Because I love my new car (and that salesman). And I love my family. And I love being back home to a full house!

No Foolin'

Pretty sure Mother Nature played the best April Fools joke of all time, surprising us all on April 2nd with a snow storm. Well played, Mother Nature.

We knew there might be flurries overnight but did not expect to wake up to several inches of you know what. This is not the type of April Showers we have in mind to bring May flowers.

I had to go into the office today to finish a project. My little Honda Hybrid was dragging through the snow because plows tend not to come out in April. I did meet one on the main road after I dragged bottom through the subdivision to get out. Later, of course, it was sunny and the snow melted off of paved surfaces.

The wind stayed all day, though, and it was too chilly to try to get out for a walk. Had a busy day of chores and errands anyway. After my short time at work, I had to run over to the florist and order a corsage for next weekend's prom. Then jetted across town to support our girls soccer brat fry. Went home but had to run into town later to get some goods for a house warming potty.

Or make that party for a new potty, aka nice new laundry room and bathroom at our neighbors'. Not really a party, just nosey neighbors like us and the ones next door bearing food and drink to check out the completion of a renovation project across the street. Had a fun evening sitting around eating, drinking, laughing and sort of watching hoops. Not that any of us cared too much about that.

If Mother Nature wasn't in her psycho mood, we could have done all that around a camp fire!

This weather is getting old!

But not has old as us or me, at least, yawning at 10 o'clock and ready to come home. Apparently 4 cups of coffee do not equal energy and youth. I may have to up my dosage on Saturdays so I am not the neighborhood potty party pooper.

Now if we could just convince Mother Nature and Old Man Winter to take their party elsewhere! No foolin'.

Whirlwind Tour Continues

Just had to share some great "selfies" of Carter and the latest on life in Germany.

Here is the latest update from Frau T, emailed to us lonely parents on Sunday:

We are back from our whirlwind tour of the Alps and the castle region. Fortunately, we left the rainy weather behind for the most part when we left Landshut on Wednesday. We had a lovely afternoon visiting the castle at Herrenchiemsee and then pulled into the youth hostel in Berchtesgaden right in time for dinner. The view from the rooms was fantastic. They did renovations since two years ago and all the rooms (very large) had their own showers.  

We then had a very packed day on Thursday touring the salt mine, going up to Hitlers Eagles Nest, and then the boat ride on the Koenigssee. The weather couldn't have been better. The kids were real troopers considering this was a marathon day of touring. They were on time to everything and were very polite and attentive listeners. 

On Friday we drove to the monastery in Ettal for a short visit and then it was on to castle Linderhof. We toured not only the castle, but the grotto, the tee house and the hunting lodge. We definitely got in our 10,000 steps and then some that day. We pulled into the youth hostel right in time for check in time. After a spaghetti dinner many headed into town to check out the closed stores. (Tourist shops were open and the restaurants). 

Yesterday [Saturday] we toned our thighs and calves hiking up to castle Newschanstein, over the Marienbruecke and then back down and up to castle Hohenschwangau. Unfortunately, rainstorms came about the time of our Hohenschwangau tour which didn't allow us to go paddle boating on the Alpsee. The rain stopped in time for shopping in the late afternoon in Fuessen. 

Today [Sunday] we went to the famous Wieskirche for mass. Much to our surprise and great honor [two of Carter's classmates] were asked to serve mass. Needless to say, I was quite nervous about this, but at the same time immensely proud of them. The church was FULL for 11 a.m. mass. We got to take pictures afterwards with them in their serving robes (not sure if this is the right expression) along with the head server. The pictures were taken on the altar of the Wieskirche. Because we had plenty of time, the bus driver drove us to Oberammergau to see where the Passion Play takes place. 

We arrived just after 4:30 p.m. here in Landshut to the waiting families. There were hugs all around.

Some interesting observations from the students: there are so many Japanese at the castles that we thought we were in a different country. It was a good idea for Frau T to get a roll of 50 cent pieces to use at the bathrooms. They came in very handy. Even the bus driver needed one.

The youth hostels now have wireless Internet access in the commons areas - aw shucks. However, the kids had very little time to be stuck on their phones since Mr. O and I walked them around and up and down a lot. The weather is supposed to be quite summer like this upcoming week. Tomorrow we head to the BMW plant in the afternoon and on Wednesday we will spend the day at Dachau.

Even though I would love to include pictures, I have not yet downloaded them from my camera.

Thankfully Carter has shared a few. This one may be a poster somewhere in our house!

We texted back and forth today and he enjoyed the BMW plant but wasn't allowed to take pictures. I imagine when he gets back, his Honda won't be good enough for him anymore!

Hump Day Headlinez

Double Date:  Hubby and I had a double-date tonight with our friends Gregg and Lori. Gregg and Jim graduated from AHS together a few years back. Sure, we all live in Rapids, but do we see each other? No. Last year, when they buried a classmate, they vowed the class of '81 and their spouses would get together more often. Better late than never, I guess. It was a very nice evening with longtime friends. And, as a bonus, they have excellent thin-crust pizza!

License to Drive: I can't believe it's been a year today since Carter got his driver's license. Who knew he'd be starting out with my well-used Honda Civic and upgrade to a Camaro by prom time? Good thing that was short-lived. He still has a second speaker to install on his Civic (now that the weather is nice). At least we know the gas pedal works since he's gotten caught for speeding (at least once). I will say it sure has been convenient not to have to chauffeur him around everywhere. Not that he doesn't deserve that!

Speaking of Prom: Got the official prom portrait this week. Dang. Those two look so grown-up and beautiful, don't they? I tell you, between photos like this and college campus visits, I am starting to realize there is another man living under my roof. Attempting to stay in denial, but that's not changing anything. So glad Carter and his friend Gracie had as much fun as the photo portrays. They're good KIDS.

We be Jammin': Got my "Seascape" Jams on today. Just sharing the photo now so that when I invite you to my June Jamberry Nails party, you say, "Why yes! I want what she has!" They are really fun and easy to do. I mean, seriously, even a tomboy like me can put on her princess pants and do this myself. Don't worry, we'll teach you. Just mark your calendar for 5 weeks from tonight. With more pretty details to come...

Wheel-y Nice

Leave it to my good friend and co-worker Angelo to make his wedding day a classic.

You might suspect these 3 cars are the actual wedding party – he dotes on them like loved ones  – but they were just there to transport the party.

And look wheel-y nice!

Yup, I am the odd ball out at work in my "old cars" department. My Hondas get too many miles on them before they actually get "old." But our editor Angelo has his collection of Caddys and Caprices (weird mix, yes, but they looked sharp today!).

Weather was gorgeous, too, as he and his new Robyn tied the knot over in the Fox Cities. Wedding was in Neenah and the reception was in Appleton.

Very nice time seeing a few co-workers out of the office and old friends we hadn't seen in awhile. All three of us were able to get off this afternoon to enjoy the festivities. That was very nice.

Just so happy to see the once confirmed bachelor find a wonderful new best friend to share the rest of his life with. Hearing their vows and toasts and seeing their happiness was refreshing. And a good reminder of how good I have it, too!

Wheel-y good!

Signs of Spring

Today's signs of spring...

I felt like there should have been little green leaves sprouting up along my commute today as I drove my new hybrid to work. Ended up with 47 mpg -- and didn't even go 47 miles! So if I can use less than a gallon each way, we really will see the green!

Saw a long-legged wasp or something crawling outside my window at work. I was thinking the winged pests certainly don't waste time coming around. I mean the snow hasn't even melted away yet. There's just no break between seasons!

And today's final sign of spring.... the infamous tape measure for sizing up Carter for his prom tuxedo! Nothing makes a mom feel old like seeing her son getting measured for a major suit! Who is Carter going with? It's complicated. Our German boy is going with an Assumption girl while Carter is supposedly going with the German girl staying with her. Sort of an opposite double date. I don't know. We'll see what happens over the course of the next few weeks!!

One other sign of spring. It gets dark out later so I am realizing now that it is bedtime for Bonzo! G'night!

Leave it to the Professionals

I had one of my most productive days working at home today. Mainly because I was "locked" in my office. Sort of.

While I love using my Dyson, today we decided to call in the professionals to clean our most-used rug -- the carpet covering our livingroom, the main hallway and well-traveled steps leading down to the basement. We wanted to make sure they were nice for our new tenant and to make sure all cat hair was removed just in case he develops allergies he didn't know about.

I was sort of land-locked in my office, which was good. I had a lot to get done before my next professional appointment.

For my lunch hour fun, I went to the dentist, got my temporary removed and got my permanent crown installed. Now I can place this sign in my new car, right?

Or maybe not. I kind of feel like I deserve to with what it cost to get a crown. Which sadly looks nothing like a tiara, by the way.

My lunch hour wrapped up with one more professional cleaning. I took the Civic to the car wash where they vacuum and clean the inside, too. Want it to look halfway decent when we present it to the birthday boy in a few weeks.

Came home and did more work until Carter was done with baseball practice (today's game was postponed). Then had him help me take items and unload them for his old babysitter's garage sale this coming weekend. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather and eager buyers. I will be "on duty" there on Saturday.

Need to have a few more productive work days between now and then. Would love to leave it to the professionals, but in this case, that would be me.

Lucky me. I hope I do as good a job as the pros today.

Maybe with this new crown I can get some loyal subjects to help me!

Over-Drive

I think our Saturday was in over-drive with everything we packed in between sun-up and midnight!

We left the house at 7 a.m., not because it takes 5 1/2 hours to get to Mom's 12:30 birthday luncheon, but because it takes 4 hours to get there plus 90 minutes to look over a few Hondas on the way in Eau Claire.

Since they got ice and then snow, showing up at the dealership at 9 a.m. did not mean we could immediately test drive the two we had our eye on (via the Internet). They had to get dug out a little and hubby had to help scrape the ice and snow off!

After driving a Civic (like we have but newer) and a hybrid Insight, we could have gone either way. Both had low miles around 30K and both were priced similarly. In the end, we went with the hybrid to save on gas money when it comes to that long, daily commute of mine.

Yup, we test drove two cars, closed the deal on one and were out the door and back on the road within two hours! They had to do some "detailing" and fill it up with gas, so we said we'd pick it up on our way back through town at the end of the day.

The problem then was that we were leaving Eau Claire at 11. So we were about 2 hours away from the party, which was to begin in 1 1/2 hours. I texted all my siblings and told them to "stall lunch" -- I was coming late with all the plates and utensils, but I would be there!

That worked out fine. It just made everyone nice and hungry when it was time to eat!

It was a nice party with all of us kids there (except Texas sister) and many grandkids and cousins on Mom and Melvina's side of the family. Good food, nice visiting and some fun games. Outside, the 10 inches of snow they got yesterday was melting like crazy in the warm sunshine. It sure was appropriate Mom wanted to celebrate spring!

We left the party after it had dwindled and got to Eau Claire to pick up the Honda. Carter rode with me in the "new to me" car. That helped. We needed two of us watching for deer. Nothing like driving a "new" car and having to brake for deer plus hope the other two dozen we saw stayed put in the fields and ditches. Uff da.

The fun part of the car is all the eco-gauges. Could see from my trip that I got about 47 mpg. I'm liking that!

Got home in time to dump stuff off and head over to a friend's to watch the Badgers in the Final Four game. So close. Losing by 1 point was major bummer. We could have won that! Oh well, onto baseball, right?

When the game got done we headed into town to see son #2 perform at a DJ/night club/dance event. Major sound and light show with the sound being quite the mix of dance music and head-banging beats. Clay did a great job with his set. Wow. I felt like a grandma there, but can see why the young folks like it!

Got home before the stroke of midnight. So we won't turn into pumpkins, just tired ol' prunes by morning. All worth it, though!

Mission Impossible

While Carter slept soundly in bed this morning, hubby and I were out of the house by 8 a.m. on a secret shopping mission.

After some recent discussion, we decided that perhaps I could use a "new to me" vehicle to beat in the ground on my 90-mile round-trip commute each day. And, consequently, "my" current Honda Civic would become custody of one new 16-year-old.

It was just a thought. We really hadn't planned on giving anyone a car for his birthday. And as beginner's luck would have it, we may not.

After some Internet research, we found a vehicle to suit my needs (yes, another Honda Civic). Unfortunately, when we got to the lot in Green Bay this morning, it had been sold. There's really no way we could have gotten over there any sooner in the week, so that is how things go.

We also looked at some other used cars on our route home, including a "very used" vehicle as old as Carter. Carter seems to be holding up better, though, and we passed on the idea of him driving something we didn't feel 100% comfortable in.

So we're back to square one and thankful we have time on our side. And Carter is none the wiser.

Oh wait, the secret's out?

Apparently so. Because when he drove me to Plover later, Carter mentioned the morning shopping-less spree. Great. He assured me that if he does get wheels for his birthday, though, he "will still act surprised." Whatever. I suppose it's better than his original birthday request he mentioned last week.

"If I just get a car and Eminem tickets for my birthday, that will cover the next few years of birthdays." Oh, OK, we'll get right on that. And certainly let you drive 9 hours to a rapper / rock concert in Detroit this summer.

You bet. Happy birthday.

You Break It, You Buy It

It never fails that when hubby is out of town on an extended work trip, I fall victim to some sort of crisis.

During his January/February trips, there's always some sort of blizzard or ice storm to shake things up. And last fall, our old Honda Civic went to hell in a "need new head gasket" hand basket and I suffered that traumatic "overheated" drive to and from work. The end result was that I allegedly "broke" the car and we had to buy a new one upon hubby's return.

So why should this time be any different?

Jim left around 3:30 a.m. for the Appleton airport to catch a direct flight to Atlanta. For the next 7 days, he and I are sort of on vacation... from each other, that is. He's gone 'til late Thursday night and I leave midday Friday for Crop-toberfest (scrapbooking, not harvesting).

So we will both be doing the single-parenting role. I just get the football chauffeur and homework dictator duties!

Tonight I went to pick Carter up at football practice and arrived 5 minutes early. I thought I'd sit and listen to the radio. After a few minutes, I remembered that I should probably not run the battery down because 2 or 3 weeks ago, we had a dead battery at practice when Jim accidentally left the lights on for half an hour. Well, tonight it didn't take much.

Carter got in the car. I try to start it and click, click, click. Shhhooot.

Now last time we just called Uncle Joe a few blocks away but I do not know his phone number by heart. Thankfully my son is not the only putzer so there was still about 3 parents left at the practice field. The woman next to me had jumper cables and neither of us knew what to do with them. (No comment.) But 2 coaches were left so they figured it out and jumped me.

I really didn't like facing an hour drive to work tomorrow plus another hour drive to Carter's football game up in Wausau tomorrow afternoon with a battery on its last legs. Since it was after 6 p.m. nothing was open except, you guessed it, my second home: Wal-Mart.

Now you know I'm a gearhead. I can change headlight bulbs and windshield wipers with the best of them. But I draw the line at dealing with anything that could explode or cause my car to explode if I do it incorrectly.

So I pled my case. I was supposed to have to wait 90 minutes or so but I can be charmingly pathetic when I need to be so we got the car in in 20 minutes. An hour later than we should have, we arrive home with my bank account $76 lighter.

I just hope this means the drama and trauma for the week are over early. Please, God?

Thank you.

sMiles Per Hour

It dawned on me today that it was exactly 8 years ago when I waved goodbye to the daily grind of newspaper land and embarked on my first 45-mile commute to Iola.

Now, some 200,000 miles later, I'm wondering where the time went... How we managed to go through an entire car (a gas-friendly Honda, no less)... How many learning opportunities (read: changes) I've experienced on the job... How many wonderful people have touched my life... and How empty my life would be without them.

I'm also wondering how we managed to stay in Rapids for the boys -- first the big boys, now Carter -- and not move any closer, especially the first time (a few years ago) gas was up to 4 bucks a gallon. Now it's gone up to that critical level again and we are staying put.

You might think it's because we have the coolest neighbors on the planet... or that our jobs are so great, any mileage is worth it.

That may all be true, but I'll let you in on a little secret...

There's this really cute guy in my carpool... And I wouldn't want to do anything to short-change my 2 hours a day with that one!

Green Bay Day

The only bad thing about having to back to the dealership where we bought our Civic this fall is that we had to go Green Bay. At the climax of their football season.

Thankfully we were in the safety of our unmarked car today.

And just so you know, we were kind enough to point out Lambeau Field to Carter since he has never seen it in person. He thought is was neat to see the actual stadium but when we asked him if it gave him goose bumps, he said, "No." So that's a good sign anyway.

The real bad news about the trip was that they could not fix my lock/unlock remote on my key fob. That has not worked since we got the car but it's not every day we're in Green Bay or even close to it, so we have not had the opportunity to "swing by" until today. I guess they'll have to order a new one and we'll have to return in the next few weeks (preferably after football season).

The good news was that we made dinner plans to coincide with our trip. We went over to our friends Scott and Sandy's house in Wrightstown. We've worked with Scott for years (at the newspaper and our current employer) but usually the 4 of us only get together for golf outings. As a result, Sandy hadn't had the opportunity to meet Carter yet. We walk in and she immediately says he looks just like his dad. Hmmm... not the first time we've heard that!

Had a nice visit, good pizza and a fun time playing Family Feud and Price is Right on their PS3. No surprise that Carter could handle the remote the quickest. This old lady was out of her element (but I could yell answers pretty good from the "audience").

Got home pretty late but we were blessed with clear roads. A little foggy but no sleet or snow or anything treacherous. So that's good.

We just feel fortunate that we have been able to get together with so many friends and relatives during the holidays this year. What a treat that has been! And it's not over yet. We've got a few more days of vacation left and a few more people to see. It's another reason for the season and we like it!

Wheel Done

I am pleased to report we are back to being a two-car family again!

After our failures in Wausau yesterday, we widened our search on the Internet and found ourselves in Green Bay this morning at a Honda dealer. We had one in mind from our search last night and, after looking at several similar ones on the lot, came home with it.

So we have a new car -- new to us, anyway. It's a 2006 Civic with low enough miles we think it can get us to Iola and back for the next 6 or 7 years. (And we hope our jobs last that long, too!)

Carter likes it because of all the little interior lights and digital displays. He got to ride shotgun on the way to a birthday party at the YMCA in Port Edwards. He does this sweeping "Vanna" motion of the dashboard and says, "I just love all this technology!" It's no KITT car, that's for sure.

After we dropped him off, we had about 2 hours before we had to return. Rather than drive all the way home, we hopped down the road to Goodfella's in Nekoosa and met our friends Mike and Christine for pizza. Hadn't seen them in awhile so that was fun.

When we were done eating and still had time to kill, we thought, "Why don't we go to the casino and blow some of our hard-earned money?" Well, we weren't thinking that exactly, but you all know that's how it almost always turns out. Unless you're my father-in-law who always "breaks even." (So he says.)

Did have fun there and picked Carter up by 8:45 p.m. It was a very long day with minimal time at home. But who can complain about a new car, old friends and good pizza?

Not me.

Shop 'Til You Drop? I Don't Think So!

Carter is laying on the carpeted floor of the computer room as I type this. He claims it's because he's waiting for his blanket to warm up. I think he wants to make sure I don't write about any girls he may "know." So I'll save that for another time...

Today was our first day of shopping for a new (well, different) car. You know, some people love shopping. We're suddenly not fans.

We had a Honda sort of picked out from various Internet searches. It seemed the best deal for the price versus mileage. So we trekked up to Wausau after work to check it out. We tried not to appear "too interested" so we actually ignored the Honda for awhile and test-drove 2 other vehicles.

When we got to the Honda, it became immediately clear why it was priced so reasonably low. We're talking "basic model" here, folks. Here is this 2005 model with a missing radio (but a spot for one) and, get this, roll-up windows! Oh no sir, we are not traveling back in time and having "manual" crank windows! And yes sir, we need a radio when we're in the car for 2 hours a day. Yikes.

So, since that was the last vehicle we looked at, we headed home and will have to embark on Day 2 tomorrow. There is no school and hubby and I both took the day off. So maybe all 3 of us can join in the fun! Hmm.

Actually, we don't have any other cars in mind right now so we need to think up a game plan. All I know is I do not want to spend our whole day off shopping.

Unless it's for new shoes or something. But those can only get me so far...