Suzanne Calling

Here I am, at the dealership. Love the WiFi access, makes the wait tolerable. So, when last I reported, the appointment was made to bring the car in this morning. I went out to the car, loaded the kids and my junk in and turned the key. clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick. Oh, crud. Call the dealer, then call Roadside Assistance-the towing company was the weak link here. They were called at 10:15, VW called me back to say 1.5 hours. Fifteen minutes past the appointed time, VW calls back. They call the tow company, who says 15 more minutes. VW calls me back at 15 minutes-more like 30. The driver told me he'd only had one tow all morning. Scratch them off the thank you card list. Now I know it's gotta be a warranty repair! Phew!

I though I'd blogged about the car. Two weeks ago, I went into the store on my day off to do some organizing. Ed and I walked out to get lunch and we discovered a SCREW (no, a nail's not enough) in one of my tires. Off to VW to get it replaced. If you live in these parts, you *MUST* get the tire warranty with a new car, it is sooooo worth it. This is the third time a nail/screw has been in a tire in two years. Weeeeeellll, I decided it was time for a tune up, so I told our intrepid service advisor to go ahead. Not cheap, but it's especially important in times of high gas prices to not suck up more of the liquid gold than neccessary. Alas, I got a call that the rest of my tires were at 3/32" and I should replace them, too. (See above about tire warranty-this is the tire shredding part of the state). Total spent on the car was almost a grand. So I got myself tires for my birthday. Apparently, the car likes attention from the dealer. The check engine light came...

Hello, from the decade that starts with 4. Everyone makes such a big deal about it, but I still feel like I'm in my 20's. Without the drama. The milestone birthdays usually incite a person to take stock of their life. I suppose that's why this one isn't a big deal. It's because I've got two reasonably healthy kids, a good husband (good at driving me crazy most of the time-but I knew that going in, lol), a job I enjoy, a nice house and a car to drive. I live far away from the annoying relations, but too far away from the sister and her family that I'd prefer live in the next town. I guess that means I'm in good shape for the next milestone birthday. I need to get some traveling in before then!

Saw a woman wearing a black t-shirt today with that date across it. Knowing that Tampa will be hosting the Super Bowl in '09, I asked if the shirt is to recognize that event. Nope, she said. It's to remind herself that the world will be free of George Bush on that day. Too funny!

Well, I thought that we'd be giving day care two weeks notice yesterday. Once the kids start school, we'd be able to juggle the work schedules such that care was no longer needed. However, an event occurred that brought her to the decision to surrender her license. While I understand the reason, it still is sad to see her no longer in the business. She revolved herself, her homes and her free time around making sure she had everything for 'her kids'. Mom's been on my mind a lot lately. Some days, the hurt is really fresh (and a comment on the DIS today just drove it home, but in a good way). Others, I just can smile at something that reminds me of her. She's making her presence known here and there-what I would love for a private audience with John Edward. I know that she'd be telling him lots of stuff! Little man's had the extended birthday. He got his present on the actual day (Thursday), Carvel cake tonight and spending the day at Sea World ...

A friend IMed yesterday and commented that I haven't updated lately, so here's the quick version of the past two weeks: The weekend of the 4th was spent in the company of Donna (yay!) and she is now graced with a laptop. We just need to head up to her neck of the woods sometime soon to finesse some stuff. It was great having three days in a row off, but I spent the next four working 56 hours, including two 16 1/2 hour days. TIRED does not even begin to cover it. Boss lady says no more stretches, so after this week's schedule, they're over, woohoo! This past Sunday marked the anniversary of Nancy's passing. The clan spent the day together at the zoo-felt right to do something together. Little man's b'day is today. This is the first year he's really going on the countdown. Other news: probability that he's got an issue with colorblindness. Same as my dad, trouble with brown. We'll get that evaluated soon. New meds for bigger kid. Cross yo...

For the first time, I witnessed a shuttle launch without watching it on TV. Kennedy Space Center is 120 miles northeast of us. We stood in the back yard and watched the speck on the perfectly blue sky until it disappeared into the blue. All that could be seen within 15 seconds was the contrail marking where it had been. Wow.

Who is Bob Pucci? He was the marketing teacher in my high school. He also is/was extremely short-shorter than me. The man wore shoes with 4" lifts every day (and polyester disco type shirts, long after disco died). Well, I picked up my orthotics Thursday and put them in my shoes. Instantly, I was more than an inch taller and thought to myself "this must be what Bob Pucci felt like". You know, you're in the kichen, getting something out of a drawer, and things are lower than you remember. Can you imagine being a guy who is shorter than me?