Did I mention...

Did I mention we bought a new car? Oh, well, we bought a new car.

We were at a sad little crossroads in our car life. Joe's truck was old. My trusty black Civic from college, Rufus, was getting there. So, we made the decision and sold off Joe's beloved truck.

We are lucky enough that we get to borrow Joe's grandma's SUV, so we had that and Rufus. We have come to dislike Rufus. Not that he was a bad car, but it was awful getting Owen in and out. Joe would hit his head, I would hit Owen's head, I'd wrench my shoulder...it wasn't good.

After taking Rufus to get an oil change and other things, we were told he needed about $1300 worth of work for a busted rod and pinion. What? Well, when work needed amounts to as much as the car, it's time to go in my book. I loved you Rufus, but our journey together ends here.

So, we sent to looking and looking and looking. I decided I wanted a third row vehicle if we were going to keep adding to our family and carting our kid's friends around. We went to car max one dark, cold night and test drove at least 9 different models of third row. Joe and I decided we liked the GMC Acadia or Chevy Traverse in what we wanted to spend.

A few days later, we lucked into finding a pretty good deal on a purple Acadia. We drove across town to check it out, only to discover we were not the VIPs that requested a test drive and were in the midst of buying it. So, being me and not having driven the Acadia myself yet, asked if we could still take it out on a spin. While driving through Richardson, we got the call that it was sold. And, back to the dealership we went.

Boo. Guess we'll keep looking...

But wait...on the ride home we got a call from the sales guy we talked to. The other couple balked. It was ours for the taking if we wanted it. Well, as we were 5 minutes away from home at this point and had a baby boy needing to go to bed, we said we'd be back tomorrow.

And we were...and now that purple Acadia is mine - in all it's parent/adult car glory!

What the Hail?

Seriously, what the hail??

Last night was crazy. We didn't even know anything was rolling into town before the low, super-sonic thunder started rumbling. So, we turn on the weather and see a squall line is moving in and it should be a quick shower over in about 15 minutes.

And here it comes...the rain came. The lightening started flashing, and the loudest, scariest thunder started sounding. Poor Owie awoke with a cry, so I went in to get him and that's when the hail started.

It was CRAZY!! I had NEVER heard it that loud. I do NOT like hail. I started freaking out for poor Rufus, our trusty Civic. He does not like the elements, but the garage was a little full. We were just going to let him be, but it was getting worse...and that's when we heard the window break.

The stinkin' hail broke a window!!!! WHAA???

So, Joe rushed in the garage and started making room, I went to help and Owen got to see one heck of a storm. When I raised the garage door for Joe to bring Rufus around, Owen could hardly believe his little eyes and ears; it was pretty cute!

We waited it out to put Owen back to bed, about 45 mins in total, playing Peek-a-boo and such. Feed him, put him back down, and listened to him babble for a bit.

What a night.

So far all I've found are the broken window and several dings on Rufus. I DO NOT like this side of DFW.

You can take your hail and shove it!

Your biggest non-fan,

Leanna

**Update**

Rufus (aka my civic) now has both his side mirrors again!

We are happy. And we are even happier Joe found the part the next day and it did NOT cost a fortune! Thank you Honda for generic parts!

Happy Birthday Weekends Abound!

We started on our parental birthday-polooza last weekend. You see, My dad's is the 1st, then 8 days later is Joe's dad, then 8 days later is Joe's mom.

So this year, we switched and celebrated Jim's on the 1st as we were in town for our church's annual Water is Basic Run (a GREAT cause if your church/group/whatever is looking to give.)
We had a great meal at Pappasito's with very poor and strange service and followed it up with a movie watching of The Express. This was a great film about football and adversity, but more than that, pursuing what God put in you to do and to wholly.

In the insuing week period that we must all suffer through to get to the next weekend, we had a few bumps. Ryker the wonder dog, who finds no man, woman or dog a stranger, decided to dart away from me as we were going to the car and greet an on-coming walker. Now, Ryker being the speed demon that he is, doesn't just trot up to said walker and dog...he RUNS as fast as he can startling walker and 95lb boxer who does NOT like Ryker. Tussle insues and lady decides to tell me all about what a depraved and horrible human being I am, as well as Ryker.

Me not one to enjoy a good barating, appologizes and slings Ryker into the car and drives off shaking! I finally pull over and check Ryker to make sure he's ok where I find his neck thoroughly wet, but nothing else. MEANWILE, lovely neighbor lady storms into backyard where Joe is working and begins again on her tirade agaist dog and owner saying her dog is bleeding and he can't defend himself because he was on a leash....on and on...

UGH! Ok, let me get a few things straight. I think this is NOT good that her dog is bleeding. I feel horrible when I hear this, but her dog is more than 2 times the size of mine and has bulldog jaws that could snap his neck in a matter of seconds. Her defense that the boxer couldn't defend himself because he was on a leash is null since Ryker's neck was wet - he just has more hair thankfully! We apologized several times, offered to pay for anything and so on.

I guess the problem I had was that she attacked ME for an animal acting to defend itself. She made me feel like a horrible person who has no regard for anyone else and doesn't try to be a good pet parent, when all I've ever done with any neighbor is say hi and try to be nice and raise a good, friendly dog. Really just made me want to move right then, and I still feel this way. I am sad.

(I may take most of this down later, but I just needed to rant right now...I'm sure I could tell you more, but it still makes me sad.)

THEN ON FRIDAY...I scooped up Joe from work and headed to Kingwood to visit the folks for my dad's delayed birthday. Jennifer and Jamie were also in town for Jamie's 14th wedding he's participated in, so we had a LOT of fun together. We really had a great time and I greatly appreciated the time I got to spend with my parents.

HOWEVER, on the way home, ughhh...
We were driving for about an hour and a half when all of the sudden I saw this THING coming...a 3 INCH diameter rock or something like it. Like a flash, Joe and I had our arms over our head when a big BOOOMMMMM struck the windshield (mind you we're traveling at about 70 mph).
And now we have a LARGE 5 in diameter ripple-effect crack with about an 18 in arch on the last ripple extending across the windshield.
There were no big trucks, there was no one slinging mud or hauling anything. It was a fluke and now we have to shell out to get a new windshield.

Can't wait to see what this week holds and then we'll get to wish Holly a happy birthday.

Moral of this post: Watch your dog, be kind to your neighbors and remember they have feelings too, and AVOID LARGE SWIFT-MOVING ROCKS!!!!!!!!