I’ve lived in my little town now for about 25 years and I love it.   It’s really grown a lot in the last few years and is starting to lose that small town feel.  We now have many chain restaurants and departments stores as well as several new subdivisions springing up.  It wasn’t too many years ago that if someone told you what street they lived on, you knew exactly where it was and probably a few of their neighbors.  If you went shopping or out to eat, you would see someone you knew at every turn.  That’s not so much the case anymore.

I’m okay with all the changes.  It’s nice to have more places to choose from and it brings valuable tax dollars to us.  Sometimes when I’m out and about I’m amazed at how much we’ve grown and changed.  What is that saying though, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”?  Here is a direct quote from our newspaper today. 

“I credit the people of Ellis County for using common sense in not burning or apparently not throwing out cigarettes,” Hudgins said. “We have had a lot of moisture lately, but these winds will dry the ground out quick as a lamb’s tail.”

I’m pretty sure you won’t read the phrase “quick as a lamb’s tail” in most newspapers.  LOL!!!!!  That’s why I love my town

I haven’t done one of these in forever so here you go!

10 Things I will do today

1.  Work on getting my tax stuff together

2.  Call the school and tell them that two of my kids are staying home.  They’re not sick, they are just using up their one skip day that I allow them a year.  Of course, I won’t be sharing that fact with the school though

3.  Take my fingernail polish off and think about repainting them.

4.  Cook dinner

5.  Take Haley to her Driver’s Ed class tonight

6.  Do some research online for computers since we are probably going to buy a new one in the next couple of months.

7.  Sew the borders onto the quilt I am working on.

8.  Make a trip to Wal-Mart

9.  Think about dusting the living room (notice how much I committed to that lol)

10.  Make some strawberry daiquiris this evening

As I’m driving home from picking one of my kids up from a sleep over the other day, I look up and notice a new sign company that’s gone into business in my town.   Their slogan is “no sign to big or to small”.   I’m thinking if you are in the business of making signs, you probably  need to know the difference between “to” and “too”, don’t you?  LOLOLOL!

I’ll try to make this short and not too technical boring because it’s definitely worth telling.

Several months ago my check engine light came on in the van.  We had it checked out at an auto parts store, they hook it up for free and give you a code that tells you what the problem is.  We discovered it was something to do with the car’s computer system.  There is a more technical name but basically it’s the computer.  It’s ok to drive but something that eventually will need to be fixed.  In the mean time, we start to hear a slight knocking noise in the front end, usually when driving over the speed bumps at school.

We take it in to the dealership, explain our concerns and wait for their call, which we never got, we had to go down and find out what was going on.  The mechanic gives this big dramatic breakdown of $1700 because we need a new rack and pinion steering and something done to the computer.  They also began giving us a list of things that we should get done that would also be included in that price.  Ok thanks, we’ll get back with you.  We don’t like this dealership anyway so we decided to go with someone else.

The new rack and pinion steering that would have cost us $700 was not needed.  Another mechanic put some new bushing or bearings, not sure of the name, but am sure that those parts were $20 and with the labor we paid around $100 to fix the problem with the knocking noise.  So we’ve gone from needing to spend $700 to spending around $100.  Not bad huh?

It gets better.

My hubby gets on the computer yesterday just doing a little research on this code and guess what?  The replacement of the computer is actually under an extended emmisions warranty through the dealership.  We call another dealership and ask them and they confirm this.  They tell us to bring the van in so they can have a look.  They say yes, we need to have it replaced which would normally cost $3000 but would be free of charge. 

Now, if this dealership knew this, don’t you think the original dealership also knew this?  You bet they did!  Getting informed, especially when you have access to a computer, is free and it’s so important because there are so many businesses out there that are not honest and are looking to make a quick buck off of you.  I know there are also many, many good, honest businesses out there too but the sucky ones make it harder for them.  I’ll never set foot in our local dealership again and I’ll tell everyone I know about my experience with them.  On the same token, I am going to tell everyone about the great experience I had with the other dealership and will remember them when it’s time for my next car

First of all, sorry I haven’t been around much in the last week.  I had set a goal to finish the quilt I was working on and that’s what I’ve been doing.  Actually my goal was by the end of last year and that came and went so I had to buckle down and get serious.  So that’s what my week has been filled with and I’m glad to announce

da da da dum………

It’s done!!!!

I will upload some pictures in a just a little bit.  I just wanted to share my excitement

Going to the mall is really starting to bug me.  You can no longer walk through at your lesiure; you are constantly harassed by the kiosk people!  It’s so annoying!  It really makes you think you are at a carnival rather than the mall.  Mall management needs to get a clue because it’s a real turn off.

Today is Heather and Holly’s 16th birthday!!!!!  I can’t believe I am the Mom of a 17 year old and two 16 year olds!  LOL!  But I wouldn’t change it for the world.  I am truly blessed and thankful for my family.  Happy birthday little Twinsies