The Countdown Starts

First: Benji is trying to count.  If I get him started with "One," he'll follow (occasionally) with "ooo (2)," "eee (3)," "oar (4)," and "fff (5)".  I'm not sure why five is just "fff," but at least he's consistent.  He tries to use his fingers, but can't really articulate one at a time.  It's pretty cute, if I do say so myself.  And I do.

Second: The Consignment sale starts tomorrow!  Yay!  It's the best place to get clothes for the little man.  My problem is I have kept them all, and I'm rapidly running out of closet space.  Time to start selling!

Third:  America's Got Talent is done for the season.  I usually don't get into reality shows like this, but I pretty much watched every week.  It's cool to see such amazingly talented people gain recognition.  I'm glad Michael Grimm won.  He's an average, down-to-earth guy with an awesome voice.  I was cheering for Prince Poppycock, though.  He's just too fabulous for words.

Fourth:  Next month is my last "big bucks" payment.  I have been paying down my credit cards using a consumer credit service, and they have taken $670 every month for the past four years.  No, don't count--I owed a lot of money, due to tuition and car repairs and a study-abroad and a wedding and honeymoon. . . and poor money management.  I'm the first to admit that I'm not very good with money.  I love to spend it, but only if I get a good deal, and unfortunately I'm always on the lookout for a good deal.  Actually, I got two boxes of Mulitgrain Cheerios for $2 today . . . but I digress.  Anyway, I paid off Capital One a few months ago, and I paid off Bank of America this month, and next month I will finish off with Discover.  It feels pretty good.  I still have a few other things to pay off (like student loans), but this is a big step.  And that $670 will come in pretty handy.  I'm hoping I can work part-time sooner than later, but I carry the insurance and it just isn't worth it to work part-time and pay twice as much for the same thing.  Here's hoping Allen can figure out how to support us without me having to work all the time.  And here's hoping we can stay away from those seductively evil credit cards in the future.

Cars

So I have been borrowing my Mom's car for the summer.  When Rachael and Seuao bought their new vehicle (an as-yet-unnamed gorgeous Mazda CX-9), they turned over Frank to my Mom.  Frank is the name I gave Rachael's Honda CR-V.  It got the name Frank because Frankenstein's monster is green, and he is almost human, just like the green CR-V is almost an SUV.  Gigi, our '93 Toyota Corolla is a decent car and gets terrific gas mileage, but she has no air conditioning.  I overheat very easily, so we decided to switch out Gigi for Little Blue for the summer.  BTW, I can't come up with a different name for John's old Taurus, though technically she is Little Blue #2, with the Tempo being the original Little Blue.

 voilà Gigi

What's sad is that the '95 Taurus was an upgrade compared to Gigi in almost every aspect: Little Blue has half the miles Gigi does (she hit 200,000 in July).

Yes, I pulled over on the freeway to take a picture of the 200,000.  It was a little scary, but I had been working for it for a long time!  We purchased Gigi with about 172,000. 

Anyway, Little Blue has a/c, a working dome light, a clock and radio where you can see the numbers, automatic windows and locks, and she allegedly has cruise control, though I was never able to get it to work.  Gigi has none of those.  However, Gigi gets 32 mpg in the city and about 38 on the freeway, while Little Blue gets between 23-25 mpg.  I'm doing so much driving these days, and the hottest days of the year are most likely over, so I think it's time to switch back.

Well, last week we got a mailer for a big used car sale, and they offered free movie tickets for those who came to check it out.  I did go (and I didn't get suckered into a test drive) and I got the movie passes and went to drive home in Little Blue when the key broke off in the ignition.  Now, this is not her first offense; there are several broken keys on the ring already.  Even so, I messed with it for a few minutes and was able to get it started and drive it home.  I didn't drive for the rest of the weekend, so I forgot about it.

Enter Tuesday morning, 6am.  I have Benji buckled in the car and I'm ready to go to work.  I go to start the car and . . . oh, yeah.  I can't.  I must have messed with it for at least 15 minutes, all to no avail.  So I called AAA, and they sent out a locksmith.  He had to pull out the ignition, and even then he couldn't get the broken key out.  So he ended up replacing the ignition and giving me two new keys.  And he didn't charge me anything; he said my membership would cover it.  *whew*  Thank you, Granny.  You saved the day.  I ended up getting to work about an hour late, so it wasn't too catastrophic.

In any case, I have enjoyed driving Little Blue, but I'll look forward to filling up less-often.  So we are going to Logan on Friday to switch back . . . just in time to get Gigi inspected and registered.  Yipee.

Walking Along

I have been taking Benji on some walks recently.  Here are some cute pics of my favorite boy.

Extremely Stubborn and Suspicious

So cute!

I love those eyes.

The Backhand.  Little man's got skills.

How can you not love that face!?

Hey, Soul Sister

This is a bit overdue, but in celebration of birthday month, I wanted to give a shout-out to my sisters.  Rachael's birthday was July 14, and Sarah's birthday was July 28th.  I love July, but it can be a little crazy with all the fêtes.  Even so, here are some things I love about Sarah:

1.  Sarah is so girly, but she won't wear pink.  I don't get it, but that's just her.
2.  She's not afraid to share her opinion, but she manages to do it tactfully.  I envy that.
3.  She has fabulous hair, and she's willing to work hard to get it.
4.  Sarah is an amazing listener.  She has a Master's in Social Work (okay, one book report away from the MSW, but close enough!) and she always has others' best interests at heart.
5.  Sarah is the favorite auntie.  All the kiddos love her, and she's a fantastic babysitter.
6.  She kept pestering me to listen to the fantastic Train song "Hey, Soul Sister."  The first time I heard it, I totally fell in love with it.  And it will always remind me of her.
7.  Sarah is the most dedicated journal writer I have ever met.  She is always having to purchase new ones.  Uh, I'm still working on the one I purchased before I got married (our 5 year anniversary is next week).
8.  For a long time, Sarah thought the phrase was, "Happy as a Clown."  Love it.
9.  She almost always has four pair of sunglasses on her dashboard.  Girlfriend loves her accessories!
10.  Sarah is smart, beautiful, photogenic, outgoing and just all-around fabulous. 

 Happy Birthday, Sarah.  You are amazing.

Then there's Rachael, a.k.a. Mach.  I'm not entirely sure where the nickname "Mach" came from, but it certainly has stuck.  Good thing she doesn't mind it (just like I don't mind Mary Chewy . . . it's almost automatic).

Here are some things I love about Rachael.

1.  Mach is very organized.  She really appreciates when there is a plan.  And it makes her happy when everyone else is aware of and complicit with that plan.  But she's not a control-freak.

2.  Even though she has had a lot of internet problems at home and droids at work who won't let her access blogger, Rachael has planned and written several blog entries.  She's got them all saved somewhere, just waiting for her to have a free minute.
3.  Mach really shines at Christmas.  She has well over a hundred people she sends Christmas cards to every year, plus she does gifts for people at work and in the neighborhood and in her ward and at Bunco...sometimes I can't believe the effort she puts into it.  Every year, I stand in awe.
4.  Rachael does incredible birthday parties for her girls.  I actually didn't bring my camera to Lily's 3rd birthday (shocking, I know!  I didn't know what to do with myself!), but Sarah got some great shots.  For example :

Yes, she made the fabulous Little Mermaid cake by herself. Rock on.
6.  Rachael is the care-taker of the family.  She is also the peace-keeper and everybody's best friend.  She would do anything for anybody, and she often does.
7.  Mach is an awesome mother.  She makes sure her girls are happy and learning and active and properly disciplined. ;o)
8.  She is pretty low-maintenance.  Of the sisters, she and I are together on this one.  We are on one level of the beauty routine, while Bex and Sarah are on a totally different plane.  Neither is better than the other, it's just the amount of time and effort put into it; Mach and I just can't be bothered to do anything requiring more than 20 minutes.
9.  Mach is a calming influence.  She doesn't let things get to her (or, at least she doesn't show it).  I can be an emotional wreck, and when I talk to her (any time of the day or night), she can make things better.  She's not a miracle worker, but she has a good, level head on her shoulders.  I need that.
10.  Mach is a confidante in every sense of the word.  She is an incredible secret-keeper (and yes, I'm still a little bitter about the pregnancy secrets) and a very dear friend.  I don't know what I would do without her.

I love you, ladies.  You are the best.

*I haven't forgotten about you, Bex.  Your turn is coming, but it's not your birthday yet. ;o)

Reunited, And It Feels So Good

It has been a while. I need to catch up, though I need to go to bed more. Here are a few highlights from the reunion @ Bryce Canyon.

This is a typical Benji face, when he gets excited about something. I took this at Sunrise Point.

Not the greatest picture of Dave & Lex, but Noah's pout is just too funny.

I don't remember exactly what Dad was saying, but I thought it was funny.

I like this little picture. Benji might have my face, but he has Allen's body. Like father, like son.

Cute Sarah. I loved that setting--nice choice, babe.

This is a good one of Mach & Family. Lily and Tess look so much alike anymore. . . it's hard to believe that they are 15 months apart. If I hadn't seen them from their respective birthdays up to now, I would think they were twins. I have a feeling they will be getting that a lot (i.e., for the rest of their lives).

This is most of the group; there were some meltdowns from Gen 4, so I don't think we got everyone at the same time, but I'll try to photoshop everyone into a group pic eventually. Until then . . .

My family rocks.