My Car

Some of you know we're thinking that we're going to get rid of my car this fall and get something newer, or new for us. We originally were going to dump both cars at the same time, but I think we're going to wait another year on the van.... not sure yet.

Anyway, I'm trying no to put much money into my car for the remaining months, but sometimes it's just unavoidable. I had taken the car in to have a noise diagnosed last month. I swore it was a wheel bearing (again!! don't get me started on that...), but they didn't think so, but noticed the front brakes were seized and wearing the rotors. So that had to be replaced. The "wheel bearing" noise is still present, so I'm thinking that is still a problem that they missed, but "got me" for unexpected brake work.

Yesterday morning on my way to work behind a garbage truck, a big rock came bouncing my way and took a big chunk out of the windshield - scared the crap out of me from the noise. I thought, great, ANOTHER chip to get repaired. Yes, there was one already there from this summer, but this new one was much bigger and just by looking at it, I knew it would need to be repaired quick. That makes three chips on that windshield, the first was repaired and happened in the first summer that I owned the car.
Not 5 minutes later while going over a bumpy part of the road I hear a loud crack, crack, crack -- Great! The chip cracked right across the whole windshield, and now has to be completely replaced. Probably a good thing at this point as there would be 3 repairs, and 1000's of "micro pits" in it. I'm actually looking forward to some new glass - it can be hard to see at night with headlight glare, that I think is because of the "pitting". But I could have put up with it for another few months.

So that's getting repaired this morning - the company has a mobile unit that comes to you, so they'll be coming to work and repairing it here. Nice! I also decided to put this through insurance after having them assure me that it's not a "charge inducing claim". He assured me that ONLY at-fault accidents cause rates to go up at renewal time. (I thought Ontario did away with at-fault accidents? I guess not according to insurance companies...) So I probably save about $50 by paying my $300 deducible. It actually will cost me $200 as the glass company pays the first $100. whatever, all I know is I pay $200 for a new windshield, which I think is pretty good considering.

So, please car Gods, no more expenses on that car until I dump it onto some sucker 18 year old!! I am fully expecting to have to do a wheel bearing before then, however. Cars suck.

Spring B.C. Visit

I think this makes 3 years in a row. Maybe 4? That we've decided to go out to BC for another visit given all the news out there recently. We also want the kids and Den to meet Violet before she gets too big!
We had been tossing around the idea of going out after Den's surgery and before we heard Adrienne's news, but weren't sure we could swing it. For those who haven't heard, she's been diagnosed with an Acoustic Neuroma that will require (brain) surgery to remove. What better way way to lift spirits than a visit from us! Ok, well, I'm sure Violet might actually be the source of spirit-lifting in this case....

We leave on Friday the 13th and come back 1 week later on the first day of Spring. So, we'll be there during the kid's March break. This was on purpose to maximize the visit with the kids and Violet. It's actually a little bit of a shorter visit than "normal" as we'll only get one weekend in instead of both, but these flights were the cheapest I could find, and even cheaper than going through Buffalo this time (due to the March Break, I'm sure). It will be nice to have a weekend at home before the usual going back to work the next day that coming home Sunday posses.

Our Collingwood visit was nice - short, but really nice little get-away. Violet was an absolutely awesome baby again. Smiles for everyone, even strangers. I don't know how many times strangers came up to us and commented on how well she was behaved, or how cute she was.
Dinner at Azzurra was really nice. Marn commented that it was one of the best meals that she had in a very, very long time, and the best broccoli soup ever. Teresa, Branko and I shared a really nice bottle of wine that could have easily turned into another, but didn't. Near the end of the night, a girl came up and said, she just had to stop and tell us how great our baby was all night - that she didn't hear a peep out of her all night and loved how she was just sitting there smiling at everyone. It's kind of turning into a joke, but honestly, she is SO GOOD!


My friend Andrea loved her as well and got a few photos and compliments in. It was great to see her again. It's been 10-12 years since we last saw each other. 2nd year university! She's now married with a daughter (18 months) as well. She said that Violet gave her baby fever (because of the cuteness and behaviour). She also comp'ed all of our desserts as a birthday gift/friend perk! Nice!


The weather wasn't great. Driving up on Wednesday night was nearly cancelled due to heavy fog, but as the night wore on and got cooler, it lifted and wasn't too bad after all. I'm glad we stuck it out, though, because the next morning was crappy! Snow, rain, sleet. Yuck. I doubt we would have come at all if we had waiting and awoke to that. We trekked into town on Thursday in the slushy, sleety weather and shopped around after breakfast for a bit. Cute town - I've never really been to downtown Collingwood before. We never did get out to the "village", but I don't feel like I missed much as we were there 2 years ago.


The weather on Friday was gorgeous, and on the way home we stopped in Aurthur at Sussman's, a well known Mens clothing store and picked up a few shirts and things for me/my birthday, and then stopped at a little restaurant in the one-block town Alma for the best club sandwich anywhere.

Collingwood

We're off to Collingwood tonight to meet up and stay with Teresa and Branko for a day at their time share. We leave tonight and come home Friday morning - a nice little break with still the weekend to spare! We're going to dinner at Azzurra, a nice little Italian restaurant that I just found out a friend from University owns! She actually grew up in Baden and went to the same residence as Bryan and I in our first year. I hadn't seen or talked to her since then, but recently "met up" through facebook, so we're also going to meet and catch up with her and her family.

We also bought a new lens for our camera. We've decided that it's not worth selling. Used SLR's are SO inexpensive that I almost wish we bought a used body and put the money towards lenses. The camera pro's all say that taking a nice photo is all in the lens anyway. We ended up getting an 18-55mm. The same as we had, except that this new model is the "VR" type, which mean's Vibration Reduction (if you're wobbling while shooting, the lens attempts to correct the blurry image). We bought it through Sarah's sister, so the price was the same as a new 18-55mm non-VR without the discount, so well worth it! We saved $40-50, I'd say. Maybe next year we'll look at getting a new Canon. We can't stomach paying that much for another new one right now, especially with Marn's maternity top-up from the hospital about to run dry.... boo!

Giggles!

I am in love with my daughters giggling. She is so darn cute. This morning I was snuggling her in bed while Andrew was getting her an outfit. When he came in, he snuggled/zurberted her belly again and again. She was giggling like crazy, I wish I could get it on tape because it almost sounds like a cry. Anyways, she was watching him move around the room, waiting for him to come and do it again. So cute. It's the first time she has anticipated anything. She was smiling waiting for him.
I love my little family.

Shots - Round 2

Well, it was better this time. At least mom shed less tears. This time, the doctor let me hold Vi for the shots. Vi was fine for the first one, then about 5-10 seconds of tears for the second. I only shed a few. Only one or two. Honestly.
On a happier note, Vi is weighing in at 15 lbs 1 oz ! It was a relief to see the scales going up as for the past few days Vi has been picky with her nursing. She only goes on for about 5 minutes at a time. BOO. Unless that is all the time she needs, then YEAH! How do you know?