Tims Ford Blueway

Headed up Thursday to check out a couple of the camping islands on the Tims Ford Blueway.

The AC in the van went out while I was still in the driveway.  I have a HEAVY chest cough and Ben is just getting over a similar funk.  My energy level is about 3 out of 10.  Then Matt called from the doctor's office to say they figured out why his back hurts-he's fractured it.  There's a meeting Monday to discuss what to do about it and how much it will cost.

We parked at the Devils Step Boat Launch/Day Use Area.

We arrived and Ben got sunscreen in his eyes.  Then he tried really hard to pull off his toenail on a rock.  Alex had a paddle that looked like squirrels had eaten 1/3 of one blade.  He had a splinter in his foot that my tweezers were useless against.  There were terrified feral kittens in the weeds that we could not catch.  It was a REALLY WEIRD, really off feeling day.  It was hot, too.  Heat index in the triple digits.

There was an info kiosk, but no way to sign in, as it states is required to use the blueway.

So, we launched our boats.  We went over to Devil's Step Island and paddled around it then back to the van to get first aid, then back to the island to try to find the cemetery.  It's very easy to find, it's right next to the campsite.  The campsite smelled like someone had used diesel fuel to try to get wood burning and the smaller trees all around the site were chopped about belly-button high.  It looked awful between the piles of partially melted trash in the fire pit and the hacked up trees.  Not where I would want to set up even if it is next to a cemetery.

The cemetery was pretty beaten up.  The fence around it had been hit by trees over the years and at least 2 graves had collapsed.  There were 3-4 stones that were still readable.

After we got back in the boats, we headed across toward Maple Bend island.  It was rough going in the heat and we pulled off to have a snack and drink.  We discussed going for a swim, but the water is VERY warm, it was not refreshing.  We made the last push to the island and checked out that campsite.  It was in the sun, slanted red clay tent platform, just as trashed as the first site and it smelled like everyone who had ever camped there had peed in the same spot.  The smell was overwhelming!  It was like goat pee.

We got back in the boats and went over to Goose Island, but none of us even wanted to see the campsite, we just wanted to get back to the parking area.

As the day went on, more and more boats were on the water.  The wakes from them made for HARD paddling, there was lots of stopping to swing our boats into the waves to keep from tipping, then paddling hard to get some distance before the next boat.  One guy was just doing circles, coming back over and over to turn at the last minute before hitting one of us.  I BET HE DRIVES A TRUCK.

So, keeping in mind it was not the best day to begin with to head out to melt in a plastic tub on some bathwater, I still have to say the blueway is was not worth it.  The total disregard from the other boaters, the damage and disgusting state of the campsites we did see plus the fact that the water is likely teeming with all kinds of horrors because it's basically a giant, overheated pond all combine to keep this off my list for the summer.

First, Ben has some confusion about how to kayak.

Then he realizes he has no paddle and starts looking around for it.

Cypress!

The launch is clearly visible from the island.

All of the banks are badly eroded and nearly all are mostly rock ledge.  There's not much shore, at least in this part of the lake.  It drops off quickly.

You can't paddle right smack next to each other.

I'd apologize for the bright lighting, but that's what it looked like.

Back across, it's Maple on the right and Goose to the left.  Maple Bend is a HUGE island.

There are 3 more islands with camping to check out.  They are closer to the state park, so maybe a little less manky?  There are also two "non-motorized boats only" launches near Estill Springs, so I want to check those out in hopes that there is at least a small section of the lake that isn't overrun with fast boats.

For now, the van is at the shop.  We had hoped Matt's $150 battery Monday was it for the month, but no. My van is unwilling to let another vehicle hog the budget.   My voice is gone, Ben feels so rotten he's actually skipping band.

Update: It was a fuse.  Which might be a fluke or it might be the compressor going out.

I'm going to have a few days of downtime.  I have the house clean and the yard mowed, so I am declaring this a holiday weekend and we are not going to do anything that does not involve being in front of a van or at least neck-deep in cool water.

Reunited!

They finished the van early!  I picked up my van and returned the Jeep to the rental place.  It was a great chance to see that no one in the family, myself most of all, likes a Jeep.

A few things I did not like: it felt flimsy, the passenger seat was nearly in my armpit, the back seat was teeeeeeensy, there was no proper space to put things.  It had 2 cupholders, lots of shallow slots, an open area in front of the passenger seat that things slid back and forth and flew out of and the windshield was so far away that putting my phone on it with the suction cup thing to use as a GPS was impossible.

Shutting the rear hatch made the door feel like it was made from a couple of those disposable turkey pans stapled together.

What I did like-it had good clearance, long a complaint of mine with the van.  It got slightly better gas mileage, though it had a wee little 11 gallon tank.  It does me no good to get more MPG if I have to stop even sooner to refill than I do in the van.  Though I did get my $22 fill up fantasy fulfilled.

Anyway, I have my van back and the Jeep is banished to Planet Enterprise.  I have a LOT of travel decals on the van from places we have gone.  I wasn't going to sticker it up like I did Nettlevan and held off for the better part of a year.  Then I decided it's my freaking van.  STICKERS!  I was doing state flags on the back and that of course was hit.  The body shop was able to take the rear window off the other lift gate and reuse it, so I got to keep half my stickers.  I reordered what I needed to and I realized why the back looked so weird-it wasn't that it was blank, it was that it was BLANK.  No Kia insignia!  I immediately ordered Batman symbols to replace it.  hahaahaha!  When I went by the car shop to pick up the SIX PAGES of what they did to the van (ACK, it was $2500, it was nearly totaled out for a freaking lift gate!)  they had the new SEDONA strip to put on.  I said, "No way!"  They gave it to me and it's on the changing table in the living room now.

The changing table was Matt's dad's when he was a baby.  His dad's mom was freaky tall, so us mere mortals just use it as a cabinet, since the changing surface is about nipple-height.  It's still called the changing table, though it has not seen a baby butt in over 60 years.  I never used a changing table, just the foot of the bed.  Which is another reason to make the bed the minute you get up.  It is the platform for the rest of the day!  Ben and I are bed makers.  Jake and Chan are not.  And who has the most luxurious hair and nails in the whole house?  Nia, but Ben and I are close seconds. Coincidence?  No. Because after you make the bed, you take your hair and nails gummy vitamin. It's called routine and it's lacking in 2/3 of the under-25 set around here.

Speaking of under 25, Jake will be 22 this year and Ben will be 18.  It SEEMS like it's a long way off, but it's already mid-year already.   I just need to be horrified a bit.  Okay.  Jake had a margarita last weekend.  He didn't like it.  But the fact that he can just go buy one is alarming.

Enjoy this pic of Murphy Jones

And this snake that was under the gate.  

Car Saga

It's still ongoing, but I feel close enough to the end to finally it get out and leave it here.

On December 4th, Matt was rear-ended in a 100% the other guy's fault wreck.  Our insurance company closed out the file immediately.

Enter, Allstate.

The town the wreck happened in (Hanceville) has the vehicles towed themselves, so the first series of calls we had to make were to locate the car for the insurance company and have it towed to the dealership they use (Mitch Smith) for repairs.  Note, they are not an 'authorized' dealership, meaning they can't inspect their own work.  More on that later.

We were told it would be repaired by Dec 30th.  Allstate arranged for a rental car.  A week into the new year, they wanted the rental car returned.  The dealership was not finished with the car, so after 20 calls back and forth to and from Matt to and from the dealership, Allstate and Enterprise, the rental was extended.  After 60 days, the car was ready to pick up, so we returned the rental and the next morning, got the Forte.

It had subsequent damage from being cinched onto the tow truck after the wreck and the front end needed part replaced.  Then there were gauges that needed replaced, half an hour after picking it up, we returned it (never left the parking area in fact) because the airbag light was on, even when I sat in the passenger seat.

They checked it over and a couple of hours later, sent Matt home in a loaner car.

Allstate opted to total the car on Tuesday the 16th of February. We were asked to return the loaner car. Allstate refused any more help, cut a check to Redstone and said they absolutely would not pay for another rental while we looked for a replacement car.  Keep in mind, the rental and loaner cars were during the period of time we were told we'd be getting our car back, so we had not looked anywhere.

That Friday, Kurt offered us his extra car, so Matt had vehicle to get to work and back with.  We started calling, looking online and cruising lots when he was home from work.  Saturday the 27th, we went to Murfreesburo, TN to look at another Forte and ended up buying a 2014 Nissan Versa Note for what we owed on the Forte-so at least we are not in more debt.  It's a 5 speed, very basic (crank-down windows!). The plan is for Matt to drive it for now until he finds just what he wants, then it will be my car. The van is way too much car these days and I freaking LOVE a stick shift.  Plus, it gets nearly 40 MPG and only has 22k miles on it.   In the meantime, it will be paid off in 2 years, so that's a plus.

So, the Forte was scrapped, we looked at buying it and having it recertified as road safe with a salvage title, but the dealership can't actually do that, we'd have to pay someone else to look it over and then repair everything that may have been missed, then pay to have it inspected again.  Ad Nauseam.
We already knew the airbag sensor was bad, $1200.  Bam.

In the meantime, we went to get the new car registered and found out they need a copy of the title and some other forms sent directly to the courthouse, which the dealership could not comprehend.  The guy we bought the car from is out o town for a few days and has not started the paperwork.  The bank they talked us into using has never heard of us, I could not even get past the automated answering system.  I sent an e-mail, to which they have not yet responded.  We are having the loan transferred to Redstone, I can't deal with that. our credit rating is so chewed up by buying a car 6 months ago putting a chunk on the credit card out of the blue with the brake job in December and then again this week and now transferring the loan will ding it another 30 points.  The lady at the courthouse was nice, but she blessed my heart, which pretty much means, "Sucks to be you".

I called the dealership back and said they had until next Tuesday to fix this and woe unto them if I had to drive up there myself on Wednesday.  The other salesman acted like I was being an idiot and making up things, then the bank called him and he clicked back over to say they were sending the forms he needs and he would take care of it right away.  So, maybe it will all work out.  Maybe I will get to have lunch at Omar's again next week after I chew through a small car dealership.  Who knows?

I do know this much-I will not buy out of state again and I really, really hope I never have to buy another car from anyone other than Jeremy at Shaddix in Cullman because he is really nice and does not add fees or play games.  He just could not find what Matt wanted in the short period of time we had to find something.  And I do like the Nissan, I just could really do with it being a much smoother transaction.

UPDATE: They sent the title and all the info we needed in time to get the paperwork done, so yay!

So, fingers crossed that nothing else car-related will crop up for a while.  I just want to get the little car registered by the 15th and go on with life.  The crank down windows pleased Chandler quite a bit.  Now we can escape if the car goes into water!  Ack

Friday...

Ben was feeling a little low about not getting to spend time with friends who were gathering elsewhere today, so we planned lunch with Matt and arranged for him to hang out with Alex this afternoon until Matt was off work.

We headed out on time and were about 15 minutes from town and the front end of the van started shaking, then the brakes locked up all on their own.  I pulled off and called Matt and Katy to let them know we were not going to make it to town and then I called Beth.

This happened last week as well, but Chan was driving and after Beth kept the van for 2 days and they drove it all over the place with no repeat, it was decided that Chan may have been pressing the brake and the gas at the same time.  It's happened before.

I drove it 500 miles in the past week, all over Talledega NF just Wednesday.  No issue.

I had just gotten up to 50 MPH and my foot was no where near the brakes, in the 60 or so seconds it took me to get off the road at a safe spot, the whole front end was engulfed in smoke from the brakes.

I decided I would wait for the brakes to cool so I could drive it back home. 

We sat there a bit and then Ben asked if we could walk down the creek that was nearby, so we did that.

I slipped where Ben is standing and SMACKED my shin, which is now swollen and green.  LOL!!  It had JUST healed from a similar event 4 inches higher.  Don't worry, I put Arnica on it. (Update, one week later, still hurts.  Arnica is useless!)

Tornado damage!

Back at the van an hour later, I cranked it up and the ABS light was off and it was rolling along fine, so I pulled out onto the road and it very quickly-100 yards-shut itself down again.  So, back off the road and now calling AAA.  Last week, even though I had it towed, as soon as the brakes had cooled, it was fine.  So this was crappy.

UPDATE:
It was towed to one place near where I broke down, I did not trust what they told me, so I had it towed all the way to Beth 3 days later.  She replaced the entire braking system-lines, calipers, master cylinder and of course replaced all the fluid, bled the lines.  Over a thousand bucks, so I am hopeful that will fix the problem.

Updates

Goodness!

So May has been QUITE a month!  Our 18th Anniversary kicked things off, then an awesome backpacking overnight followed by a group camping trip.  Matt bought a new car, the new-to-us kind anyway, on the 13th.  We decided to go over our first budget because the car had such low mileage (only 40k!) and gets amazing gas mileage.  Something like 33-34 MPG. He drives 60 miles a day.  And it has AC.  With the incredible interest rate we got from Redstone, we will only pay back what amounts to less than a single payment more than we borrowed if we take the whole term to repay.  So we were okay with that whole thing financially speaking.  8 years ago this month, we paid cash for his Volvo and financed my Sedona-within 2 weeks of each other.  He needed a better commute car, we thought the Volvo would last a couple years (it was $1500) and we could look at our options then. hahaha!  Had we known it would live 8 more years (and it's still running!) we would have gotten the AC fixed.  It turned 20 this year.

On the 20th, I wrecked Nettlevan and while the insurance company is still out on what to do about the other guy because he contributed to the accident, they totalled out the van on the 27th and gave us a check.

Yesterday, the 29th, we sold Poppy.  To a family with young kids and a do it yourselfer dad who seemed very at ease with her quirks.  I think when the dust settles, I will probably have a good cry about that like I have about the van, but right now the timing could NOT have been better.

Between the insurance check and selling her and pulling some from savings AND the guy selling it coming down a chunk AND agreeing to replace the windshield, we can pay cash for the replacement van, which is another 2006 Kia Sedona.  I took it to Beth yesterday to look over before we agreed to buy it and she said, "Well, of COURSE it is (another Sedona)."  SHE, and I am not sure how I feel about this just yet, is the one who cast the deciding vote to total Nettlevan!  It was at a different repair place and everything, but small towns are so damn nosy.  She knew it was wrecked before the insurance company did.  She said it had so much wear, it wasn't worth putting money into bodywork when the engine might go.  Sad, but likely very true.  :(

The van checked out fine, it's in WAY better shape than poor Nettlevan was.  Everything that was going on with her isn't going on with this one.  And it has new tires-much nicer than I would ever have shelled out for. And over 100k miles less on the engine and has never hauled anything.

I drove it over 2 hours yesterday, never had an issue.  Right after the wreck when we were out running an errand, Matt came to a quick stop and I got so scared!  I was worried I was going to be a wimpy driver, but no.  It's exactly like Nettlevan inside, only much, much cleaner, grey instead of beige, and everything works. The power steering (Matt says it's a HUGE difference, but I did not actually notice it was out on Nettlevan unless I was parallel parking).

The middle seats both flip up, the console table extends back to the middle seats (ours DID until Jake climbed on it and broke the extending part the first WEEK after I bought it).  That timing belt tensioner noise does not happen when I crank it, there's no dent where I backed into the light pole at Judy's after mowing the grass.  The front end noise going over bumps does not happen because no one went airborne jumping some railroad tracks in this van and stretched the subframe bushings. So the front passenger tire isn't always out of alignment, either.  Hands off the wheel at 65 and it stayed straight on the road.  There's no long scrape on the side from where I was really sure I'd fit between 2 fences. The front end is not taped from where someone parked up on a rock curb and ripped the plastic shield thing in half backing off of it.  And...though I feel kind of bad about this being a point in its favor...it's not GOLD.  It's a sparkly glacier blue.

Before we dropped it back off to sign the papers, I set all the radio stations just like in Nettlevan and later I combed through that massive pile of things I had in the van and put what I really need in a paper bag to distribute when I pick her up Wednesday!

It's been a very emotional month and 4 Wednesdays in a row with major life changes. Well, for us anyway. We don't swap vehicles every few years or take on debt lightly. I would have kept that clunky van for years more if she'd lasted.  I feel right getting another one and happy that it should be around a long while yet-paid for and everything.

Endings

Got the news last night, Nettlevan has been declared a total loss.  Matt is going at lunch today to get the check for what's left of her value after the deductible.  Then he's going by after work to get the rest of our stuff out.  I will never see her again, or get to thank her for her years of taking us everywhere. Or say goodbye. I feel SO awful, for the van, for myself, for the other guy involved.  For our budget.

What bad timing and selling Poppy is no longer optional-I don't have any way to haul her now.  So she's leaving us.  Even the pasture-the reason I named our homeschool 'Northfield Academy'-is filling in with trees and disappearing.  If something happens to Kat or Jessie soon, I may just lose it altogether. Jake's graduated, Chan is set to in December. This chapter is closing and it was so beautiful, I don't want to turn the page.

I had intended to do a series of photos of the van over the years, but...I would rather just send my thanks out into the Universe, for 8 years of fun and adventures in all kinds of weather, for hauling around us and our friends and our dogs and our camping gear, for never getting stuck someplace scary, for getting us there and back again without fail thousands of times.  (Yes, I have seen the Bill Nye clip about the 'universe' but if I want to believe being grateful for something is worthwhile, I will.)

We went to the Smokies and Tellico Plains several times, the Outer Banks, Florida 6 times (2 of those were Disney trips!), Savannah twice, St, Louis, D.C, Oklahoma, drove the Blue Ridge Parkway end to end, 17 states, zillions of errands, and 19 camping trips with friends plus many, many family trips.

Thank you, old friend.  I loved it all.

The remnants of the van.  LOOK at all the sporks.  I may have a condition.  CD's for a CD player that stopped working 4 years ago, 2 umbrellas that I SWEAR were not actually IN the van-though I was aware of the beach umbrella.  Tape, Disney pins, the gate card for Fort Wilderness, 2 first aid kits, THREE different bundles of paracord, 7 flashlights, 6 containers of floss...it is a good thing I was forced to see my hoarding issues.  Hopefully I can mend my ways.

Nettlevan

We bought Nettlevan in 2007, I named her after a dragon character in Dragon rider called 'Nettlebrand, the Golden One'.

She recently flipped to 200,000 miles, all but 23k of those, I put on her.

On Wednesday the 20th, I was driving the kids and the Lackey kids to the lake for the day.  We were on a 2 lane backroad, I needed to get gas and had decided to wait until the upcoming intersection to fill up.

Up ahead, WAY up ahead, was a Dish network van.  It was slowing down, so I took my foot off the gas. There was a driveway to the right and a longer driveway (turned out to be a single lane County Road) to the left, both gravel.  I saw what I THOUGHT was him signaling right and decided instead of stopping, I would just pull on around him while he turned.  It was a long flat section, dashed line, no one coming.

At the last second, he turned left, too.  I smacked into the side panel doing about 15-20.  Barely dented his vehicle on the side panel, crushed the front passenger crumple zone on Nettlevan.  Quarter panel, headlight, wheel well, hood, bumper.

No one was hurt.

It did not deploy the airbags, no windows broke, no doors were damaged, it runs, AC works, nothing leaking.  The hood was too bent on the front corner to look at the engine, but it has breakaway engine mounts that in an impact are designed to drop the engine so it does not get pushed back into your lap.  That was not activated.  The check engine light did not even come on.

Amanda came and got the kids, so they got to play at the lake.  Dy brought them back, that was really nice how that part worked out at least.  I found myself thankful for so many things-not being far from home being up there.

I am SO hopeful they will fix her, but I expect since she's got 200k and she's nearing 10 years old that they will total her instead.  I think new body parts will be more than the three or four thousand she's likely only worth.  We JUST got Matt a newer car, I needed her around 2 more years before I can think about undertaking another car payment.  I can't get a decent family van for $4k.

I also hope, since the damage was minimal to their van and no equipment was damaged, that the Dish network does not go after me for anything more and the guy is as nice as he seemed and doesn't develop some spinal injury all of a sudden. They made him go right to the doctor for drug testing, so hopefully that will quickly rule out anything else.

So what happened was that his left rear light was totally out.  What I had seen as a right signal was him hesitating, unsure if he was at the right place or not. He had tapped the brake a couple of times, lighting up the whole right light housing and since the left light was out, I thought it was the turn signal.

I should have just stopped, but we were off for an adventure and I needed gas and I thought I could just scoot around and go on with our day.  No problem.

The adjuster should be in touch Friday and the car shop was pretty cheerful about their ability to fix her.  So, fingers crossed...

CRASHED!

It's so weird, both the lightbulbs from the turn signal were intact and on the ground.
I told the body shop guy to reuse them AND that headlight I could clearly see in there.  Those things are 20 bucks!

Pretty minimal damage, I hope.  One of those side panels could cost 10 million dollars for all I know.

It's just so ugly!  I scratched myself up pretty good digging out broken chunks so nothing would blow out going down the road.
Just yesterday I was looking at my hood and put 'having hood repainted' at number 500 on my list of things to get paid for somehow.  I guess the Universe wanted those 3 rusty nicks gone sooner.

The girls played and sang a song about the horrific event.
It was mostly about the rain that seemed to be coming our way, but still.

My artsy endeavor, Nettlevan Towed.  :(

I am so sad, I love my van and I am so bummed a momentary bad decision and some bad luck ended up so so crappy.    

But tomorrow a good friend goes in for a bone marrow biopsy.  She's looking at things like chemo options and possible outcomes-not for a 10 year old van but for her 40 year old body and her husband and children.  I know it's small potatoes, this wreck, and that we were all unharmed and are well is something I could spend a little more time being grateful for.

 The unknown has so much power. 

I will update when I know more. 

Rack and Tweak and Shoot

Guess what 2 things happened this week!  If you guessed, "The van went up on a rack and one or more children had their teeth looked at" not ONLY have you been reading this blog BUT you are right!  The 2 most frequent reasons for leaving the house happened IN THE SAME WEEK.

On Tuesday, Chandler went in for her final records appointment and lo and behold a chorus of angels sang because he cleared her from needing oral surgery for now, recheck in 2 years.  When she's EIGHTEEN. Holy crow.  I asked him to look at Jake's teeth too and he's going back in next month to see what can be done about that one tooth...

On Tuesday night, I dropped the van and the chainsaw off and left the keys in the drop box.  The mechanic walked the chainsaw next door to her brother's shop while Nettlevan got some fresh oil and a little safety check and a new o-ring.  He got the chainsaw going again and walked it back over and put it back in the van.  No charge on that and only $40 on the latest AC repair.  woot woot.  A few more breaks like that and we might just break even!

Also between Monday and Tuesday night, I got most of the head shots done for the theater.  Let me just say that while there were a few surprising stunners in the batch, a few of the kids in the play are not attractive. Yet.  It's a phase.  I forget how scary a snaggle-toothed child can be, which is likely super mean of me, but GAH.  I loved mine through that awful time, I don't have to extend that to cover anyone else's kid. Combined with the gappy teeth, kids of that age often 'smile' as if they are being poked in the back-that look of pained shock crossing their faces as the shutter snaps.  Or as if they are in the midst of falling off something, awaiting impact.  I have a list of kids I WILL be retaking photos for, every kid should have a nice head shot to take home.

awwwww

Tuesday night (are you getting the feeling that everything all week happened on Tuesday and nothing since?) we messed with make-up ideas.  Unlike some other areas of potential creative input that were kiboshed, The Powers That Be are open to make-up ideas.  To a degree.

seriously

Matt took this one of me painting our baddie.
See her badass hair?
We tried yellow eyes the first round, but agreed white would be better for the next time.

Emilbastian is SO adorable, she does an amazing job as Head Crab.

Don't be jealous, you can print out a headcrab of your own here.

Tonight is More Theater and tomorrow is Cutting More Wood,
then from Saturday on it's daily theater until the very end.
We have no other plans until after next week, so be prepared to see and hear all about the play for a while.

Summer Day El: Hotter 'n Hell

Okay, eleven is hard to rhyme and all I want to do is complain about the AC in the van again, so I went with that Schoolhouse Rock song about 12 that imagined new words for 10, 11 and 12 to make counting by 12's as easy as counting by 10's.  If you actually needed that explanation, you obviously never watched Saturday morning cartoons in the early 80's and I am sad for you.  SAD.

The AC in the van is out again, this time it's the condenser and will be $350 and 3 hours of labor.  Super Suck.  I feel like I am buying a new AC system on the installment plan, she did say today that if the rest of the system has failed and not just the condenser, that it's less than $700 to finish replacing it all.  So, I guess there's THAT anyway. Poor Nettlevan! 

So, I have cancelled my plans for the rest of the week, as driving anywhere with no cooling system has proven to be misery the times I have done it recently and I am not into being miserable on top of this stomach funk.  Hopefully Ben's teeth won't suffer from not being tweaked for another week and we can find something worthwhile and summery to do right here at home. 

To start things off, you can watch my nephews and brother at our favorite Florida springs just last week.  Note the other people around, that does not happen in the off season.  We have gone 3 times and no one else was there.

De Land of De Springs from Adam Stuart on Vimeo.

GF Update

Today has been 6 weeks of being totally gluten free and 11 weeks of being gluten-light, which is what I call only eating a single meal with gluten each day.

I can report a couple of things, one, it was much easier than I thought.  Two, that the rash I was hoping to eradicate is indeed gone on me, Ben and Chan.  Jake, who ate gluten every chance he got, still has his full rash and his was the worst to begin with.  But, it's his body, he knows how to get rid of it if he's willing to change his diet. 

I can also report that as of today, I am not longer toeing the line on the GF lifestyle.  I realized this after driving 80 miles in a van with no air conditioning to pay $22 for 2 loaves of bread and a box of 4 gluten free veggie burgers to take camping for the 5 of us  Because I refused to pay $16 for 8 burgers, so I guess someone is eating grilled cheese.  This was my THIRD stop to look for the bread, it was freezer burned and about 25% ice crystals at both Kroger's so I ended up at Earth Fare where I bought shelf-stable bread that was exactly the same texture as Styrofoam. 12 slices for SIX dollars. 

i don't plan to run out and buy Ramen and have that 5 days out of the week, but I am done with the special driving and effort and hassle.  We were nearly GF on the pasta just buying rice pasta at the Asian market, I rarely eat bread anyway, GF cornbread mix is affordable (and easy to get), so I can keep getting that.  But I am not going to stress and buy $8 veggie burgers to avoid wheat when it's the LAST ingredient in the $3 box we like more anyway.

So, GF experiment is over after next week, I won't go off the wagon until we are through the $$$ stock I have on hand.  If we lived in a town where running around was not as big a deal or if someone was really allergic, it would be different.  But I feel like I am making a huge effort and spending too much time and money for a minor sensitivity.  I am not sleeping better, did not lose any weight, I don't feel less depressed or moody, my stomach hurts just as much and as often as usual, so it did not 'fix' any of the prime issues I was hopeful about.

I bought more freon for the van, I will juice her back up next week.  Since we are not going anywhere for a few days, there was no need to mess with it now.  It's going to pour rain and then turn cold.  If there is a leak and it's not just still low (though I had it checked and he said it held pressure fine so I think it's still just low) then there's no need to let it sit out there in the yard and fritter away.

SOOOooooo many posts.

I am way behind because what do I like to do?  Bathe, read, sit in a hammock and take photos of flowers.  OMG!  WHAT IF I HAD A BATHTUB IN A HAMMOCK IN A FLOWER BED WITH A BOOK THAT TOOK PICTURES?

This past weekend, there were many flowers to photograph and I only knew a handful of them, so I had to spend some time looking them up, then yesterday we were out most of the day and then this morning the van was back at the shop (if we don't have our teeth looked at or the van on a rack at LEAST once every 6 weeks, the world will stop spinning, it's my duty).  So now, I am tackling the last of the photos and ID's and can start posting.  As soon as I get the kitchen clean and the laundry done and the living room vacuumed and the marshmallows packaged to go out.   The kids are helping.  In fact, Jake has nearly taken over the gathering, washing and drying of laundry-though I still do all the folding.  I like to lay out my plans and start on everything, then go back and forth until it's all done.  I am very much not a single-task person.

Matt and I are low-carbing this week, which made the marshmallow orders that much harder, but I am down 6 pounds (day 4) and while I know that's mostly my water balance correcting itself, the lower numbers on the scale are really motivating to not eat that coconut and chocolate coated marshmallowy goodness.  Just 4 pounds to my next goal and then it's maintain for a few weeks and do it again.  Planning on 30 pounds total this year, I seem to do better with losing in a chunk and then keeping that off by adjusting my food and exercise levels to maintain.  Kept 35 of the original 40 I lost off, so something in my wobbly plan is working.  Of course that 5 pounds has come and gone like a yoyo on crack, I am anxious to get under that and not see the same range on the scale day after day!

It's the end of the day now, Matt is on his way home.  Since I started this, I have indeed gotten the house cleaned back up to my needed level and I also went and had a nail pulled out of a tire and priced 2 newer tires, which I will get Friday morning because Mr. Holmes can not resist giving me a great deal.  I put a can of freon in the van myself instead of dicking around with stupid mechanics who won't listen to me any more.  It's blowing icy cold to medium cold-colder when the van is moving than when it sits still.  My general consensus when I asked me about it was to wait a few days and add another can if I felt the calling.  Since I was in the 'use a can to fix it' mood, I got some drain blaster and poured it in the hall tub.  I don't ever use stuff like that because we have a septic tank and I like to think I am keeping it active and healthy, I even flush yeast down the toilet a few times a year.  But by gum, that drain was SLOW and I know it's all hair.  It was to the point that to have a bath, flipping the thingy was not really necessary.  The water drained out so slowly, it was a moot point.  It's slicker n'snot now, though.  I will sacrifice a cat to appease the septic tank bacterium.  I know just the one, too.


Hopefully I can start posting our weekend and all my new wildflowers soon, it depends on what I come up with to distract me with.  I don't think I have eaten at all today...what's up with that?

Week-end

Another week whisked by, it's amazing to me sometimes how quickly a series of days can pass.  One more whoosh and it will be another year!

This week went well, on Monday, I went in and had lunch with Matt, then went to have the van looked at by someone who can fix the actuator motor in the AC, which I will need before long!   After that, I went to walk the labyrinth, which I really enjoyed.  It's the first time I went alone.  I need to do more stuff like that by myself....

After work, we met back up and walked the Greenway as part of a fitness event for our insurance.  It IS super annoying to have to have a points system in place, but it's all things we SHOULD be doing anyway.  Keeping a closer eye on nutrition and exercise, being aware of our cholesterol and blood sugar levels...

On Tuesday, everyone came over for lunch and Dirty Santa.  I was worried it was going to just be semi-polite Santa, but there was some action before the end.  Poor Cody, before his number, everyone picked a present and there were only a couple of swipes.  He was dying to go and I was just ahead of him.  I stole a present, that person stole one, who stole one and the last person picked, so he had to wait through 4 moves!  Zachary got a couple bags of candy, which he tucked out of sight behind his back, eyes twinkling with visions of sugar rushes, no doubt.  Then a Nerf gun emerged and he SLAMMED that candy in front of himself and started advertising heavily.  There were some scratch-off lottery tickets that enthralled the younger boys.  The older boys just wanted some meat sticks!

On Wednesday, we had lunch at Karen's, finally.  We have been trying for at least 5 weeks.
It was a great visit, lots of chatting and the kids played and played and played.  I did not even think about doing a group pic!  Oops!

Red Rover!

Back home on Thursday, we watched the sky get brighter and brighter instead of the actual sunrise.   Then, we experienced a Solstice Miracle in the form of Crabby Kat snuggling with Muta!  Well, snuggle may be too much...more like shared butt warmth.  : )

Today, Matt is home early, with pizza!  He is off until the 3rd!