How am I...

...supposed to read my book with a cat sitting on it? Huh, Mason?




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Utterly Exhausted

I am spent.  done.  finished.  exhausted. 

Jay's car is officially totaled - crazy and unexpected!  It's weird to think we won't ride to Kathy and Dennis' in it again.  It won't take another road trip to Cinncinnati with us.  It's leather seats hot in the summer heat and frigid cold in the winter.  The sunroof open to the breeze.  Hunter curled up in the backseat completely content to have a seat to curl up in.  It was a sporty car that zipped around corners...a silver streak (hahaha!)  It's in the salvage yard in Fredericksburg right now where Melissa and I will go visit one more time to gain our last of the personal items left behind, not thinking it was going to be a total loss when the tow truck came.  The remainder of the loan is paid and eventually (two weeks or so) we should get our loss check.  The snazzy VW Jetta rental has to be returned on Tuesday, so essentially we have to buy a car this weekend - talk about pressure!  

What about Betty, some of you might ask?  Well, she can make the drive - Jay took her last Friday - but she's loud and not the best on gas mileage.  Plus, we found out this past weekend that she needs a new altenator if she will hit the open road on a daily basis.  

So we will see where we stand after Saturday's road trip from dealership to dealership window shopping for cars and hopefully test driving one or two...

Right this minute, people are banging around in our garage...  A while back at the Home and Garden Show, we signed up for dirt cheap installation on SafeRacks and just because life tests you at times - some more than others - our appointment fell into this week and the evening hours.  Our appt was at 5pm and they called just before 4:30 saying they were around the corner (!) while I was stuck on 66 in some lovely traffic courtesy of the sleet storm (!!) so it'd be another 30 mins before I could get there and 'yes, you will have to wait because no one is home.'  Home I arrive and there are two gentleman (more strength to move stuff out of the way as needed) waiting on me.  He is asking where I want them and I tell him some thoughts with the original 8x4 racks (two of them) we ordered.  I call Jay to make sure we are on the same page and I don't have the energy to explain or answer his questions so I had the phone over to the Rack Guy.  They decide one 8x4 and one 6x4 is legit to cover the entire back wall.  Yep, sounds great (why hadn't I thought of that?).  As they bang and drill, me and the Zoo are all sitting in the office not making a sound, just listening while I type.  

Here's to hoping the remainder of the week pans out easily and quickly...

Comfort and Warmth

Chase the Cat cozy, warm and fast asleep on my lap... He's the most lovable (out of them all) and enjoys a good vege!





And now there are two... Parker the Cat has joined us.



Getting a bit warm under here Ladies and Gentleman! :)


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Happy Spring

Brought some flowers from the outside today...









...to the inside to enjoy!

Relaxing Saturday

So there's A LOT going on right now...a relaxing Saturday is a welcomed change of pace. We woke up around 8am and have been lounging in bed all morning jamming out to the old classic songs using my Rdio app. Peter Frampton Is cranking while I type this :) The husband has been throwing back his coffee and just brought me a bowl of Cinnamon Cheerios for breakfast (had a coupon, not bad but Honey Nut is still the best!).

What's so crazy right now? Well Thursday night when The Husband came home, he pulled in the driveway and his car broke - literally! His driver side wheel and axle came apart with the tire falling off and jamming into his fender and door.



It's pretty wild to think about. I am so incredibly thankful he made it home safely and it didn't break while going 60mph on the highway! So we called and its possibly covered under insurance - great news! But it could easily be deemed totaled so that means we'd need a new car - ugh! Luckily he was able to drive Betty yesterday and will be given a rental car to use. So the tow truck is coming to pick up the Honda today... It's a waiting game now.


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Betty

She is his pride and joy.  She is LOUD and beautiful.  She is now legal in Virginia.  Being 36 years old, she needs some work, so just like everything else it's slowly but surely getting done. 

Without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to Betty :)  Isn't she a beauty?

 

To celebrate and welcome her to Virginia, I got the Husband a surprise (sshh! keep it a secret...).  Betty looks gorgeous in blue and Go Blue! just happens to be one of the Husband's teams so...

I hope he likes it!  I can't wait to show her off around town...

.

I have a love/hate relationship...

...with the rain!

We spent all our time, money and energy to fix the front yard last summer...  What happens with the first big storm that hits?  Water in the basement!  FLIPPING WATER!

There's nothing to damage down there now, thanks to our time and effort spent this past fall.  It's not a ton of water, but enough that it's standing water on the concrete floor.  It's enough that I'm going to go use multiple towels to clean it up and then more still to shove in the corner where it's slowly seeping in.  It's enough that I'll check it again before I go to bed to see if more water has tried to join our indoor swimming pool.

I dreaded possible water in the basement while driving home in the hard rain and lightening.  With the rain steady all day and the flood warnings we received, I hoped the basement would be dry when I opened the door.  No such luck.


I have neglected the blog big time, so there's much to write but I'm going to first let Hunter outside to potty, make a grilled cheese sandwich (sorry gym efforts) and then mop up the basement with towels...  Then I'll come back here and start typing what's been happening in our world.


UPDATE (w/ pictures):

This is the second time I am typing this because my computer timed out trying to draw you a explanatory picture of the multiple places where water is slowly seeping in, so you get the less wordy version...

View from top of the stairs of standing water...it goes fully under the stairs too.

Seeping in from the corner, which is below where the driveway, garage and new grass meet -- hello puddle!

Over by the laundry sink at the other end of the basement...pretty sure water is coming from the back corner and follows the crack in the concrete...

...to this spot, unless it's coming from along the wall somewhere...

...and then finally this spot where the insulation has soaked up majority of puddle; think it's coming from the far back corner at top of the picture and following wall then crack to puddle up.

My head hurts...am going to bed.