This-n-That

Thanks for the well-wishes regarding my coccyx. It hurts like crap this morning, but I'm pretty sure it's not broken because while it's painful, I can still move around. I had already decided to take today off of work, which turned out to be a good thing even better than it normally would have been. I couldn't imagine having to spend all day in a desk chair. I haven't gotten any rest, though, since this morning we had to take the van in for some work and also run some errands. This afternoon will be at least physically more restful, as I'm planning to listen to some hematology lectures online. I might have to have Uncle Rico come over & take care of things for a while.

So yeah, we took the van in this morning for that oil-change-and-27-point-check deal that GM has been offering. We were afraid the brake lines were leaking fluid, so wanted them to look at that as well. So we took it down there (as the driver of the getaway car, let me tell you that driving a stick shift was not fun this morning) and they told us it would be ready in an hour. We ran to Wal-Mart & Kohl's and it was probably more like 2 hours when we got back there. They told us that in fact, the brake lines were not leaking, but the brake pads were bad, the tie rods were bad, and the water pump was bad. Sheesh. So by the end of today and eleven hundred bucks later, our van will be good as new. Oh wait, that's not entirely true. They gave us a whole list of things that really need to be done, but can wait a while. Sure, I'll get right on that. Good thing this is a 3-paycheck month (I get paid every 2 weeks so 2 months out of the year I end up with three paychecks. It feels like a nice bonus and seems to always be very timely).

We did our periodic Sam's Club shopping today as well. We've decided that we're going back on the South Beach Diet starting either Sunday or Monday, so we stocked up on things we can eat in Phase 1 - the no-carb phase. It's going to be hard - I think harder than it was last time. I'm not as motivated, plus I've been so carb-dependent with all the junk food I've eaten to get me through the spring semester. It was so bad. I've put on somewhere between 5 and 10 lbs but it feels like a lot more since I haven't exercised regularly since February and I'm losing muscle tone - especially noticeable in those trouble spots. So just to warn you, I'll probably be blogging about my diet again - it helps me stay focused, even if no one reads it.

I guess the big news of the day in our house is this:

BEFORE

Nice fake smile

The classic Joey pout

It was so long in back

AFTER

Another fake smile

P6120166

He looks like a different kid! Maybe it's just because I haven't gotten used to it yet, but I'm missing the long hair. But at least he'll be able to get his baseball cap on.

Check out the place where he got it cut: http://www.thebarbershops.net/ I only wish they did women's hair.

One other interesting thing....a week or so ago we accidentally got a package delivered to our house. It had the right address, but the name of the daughter of the family that lived here two owners ago. So we called them and when they came to get it, I asked if they'd like to see the house. It seems like kind of a weird thing to do, but I know in the places we've lived in, I would LOVE to see what has been done to them since we left. I thought they might get a kick out of it, and they did. A few things were the same as when they lived here, and many things had changed. (They sold the house in 2000, we bought it in 2003.) They had a lot of memories here, and they liked being able to come back through - I could tell they were feeling reminiscent. They were so nice.

All right, well, it's off to work I go! Schoolwork, that is.