Thrice as Bad

This week has been a rough one! Beside the other drama, my 16 year old car has finally decided to give us a little bit of trouble. In all fairness, I drive that car hard. Tonight was the THIRD time this week that my car messed up. Luckily, Phillip was driving (and off work). It was about 9:30 PM. Definitely not safe for me to be broken down on the side of the road alone. We made a pit stop by Auto Zone for some new spark plugs.

The new one definitely shines brighter than the old.

Phillip worked on the car while I kept him company. I asked him why he had a car size battery strapped to the front of his four wheeler. He said his battery had died, so he improvised. I found this wildly amusing and told him it was ghetto. He disagreed, and simply told me that it was "redneck rigged." All he's missing is the Kentucky chrome (aka: duct tape).

This officially sabotaged our weekend. We had planned on traveling to Florence for the long weekend. Our plans were to go down tomorrow specifically to celebrate our niece's 10th birthday...sorry Logan! We hope you have a terrific birthday!

Looks like we're stuck in the garage. Prayers please! We need this car to last through my student teaching next semester. Since I won't be getting paid, we don't want to stretch our income to include another car payment. I know it can make it! (Have to brag on Phillip for a second. He's worked on my car three times already this week. Super hubs!)

Mason's the Leader

The past 24 hours have been a bit rough around here. Last night, I ran some errands after Phillip left for work. My car broke down. Dad came to the rescue. Phillip took my car apart this morning around 5 AM. Now my starter is being rebuilt. (Trying to make it last one more year.) Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are letting me use one of the florist vans to drive back and forth. This is far from ideal since most of the parking at school is in very low clearance parking decks and built primarily for compact cars. However, it's free. Praise the Lord!

The internet has been sporadic at best over the past few weeks, so this evening during one of it's fits I decided to take Mason out one last time. Little did I know that it was Mason's intention to take me out. I opened the back door to our porch with him on his retractable leash, and like a bullet he was out of here. So was my arm. With my free hand, I quickly grabbed the closest door frame to brace. Bad idea.


So if you see me, no I haven't taken up cutting. I took out a dog. A beast of a dog. Thank you Mason!

Heads Carolina!

Sandra and Steven came back to NC for a visit. This happened to be the first visit since our wedding at the end of 2007. When your best friend lives 3000 miles away, that's a LONG time. Phillip and I completely enjoyed our weekend with them (although it admittedly felt way too short). Sandra and Steven moved out to California (where she's from) after their wedding in June of 2006 so she could attend graduate school in-state. We made up for lost time though.

Friday night they got to catch up with my parents. Sandra spent quite a few holidays and weekends with my family during college since flying back and forth was pricey. My parents are a lot like her East Coast parents. When Steven came along my mom fell in love with his willingness to help in the kitchen. :-)

Saturday, Phillip had to work until 5 AM (therefore he came home and slept) and I believe the Caulders were quite fine with this because I don't know that they ever got off of West Coast time. Sandra and I ran some errands and went shopping, thereby leaving the boys to their own devices. They both have a strong love for Ford vehicles, so they spent the rest of the afternoon drooling in the Dale Jarrett dealership. We cooked out and baked together that night.

Sunday we all went to church together, and then had a quick bite to eat afterward. I think we tried to find every reason in the world to extend their allotted time here. I even offered to let Steven take Mason back (he'd fit in Sandra's seat nicely and they got along very well all weekend). Sadly, I found myself waving goodbye with a tear in my eye that afternoon. :-(

Phillip and I are hoping to make a trip out West during his company's Christmas shut down next year. They close for two weeks, he has mandatory leave and I will probably be in school. Why not take two weeks to play and reunite again!?

Thanks for coming you guys! We miss you lots! (Also, I hope you were able to thicken your accents before you returned home. Love!)