What Shall We Do Now, Mother?

While I was fixing supper and the boys were doing projects in the dining room, our four year old, John, came to me and said, "Mom, Jacob has a mea culpa." This translates roughly to, "Jacob dumped something in the dining room and the mess is definitely his fault, not ours." Not bad for a first attempt at using a foreign language in daily discourse.

Today we did double duty on the house, hoping to recover from the mess that *other* family left in our foyer. For the first time in over a week, I am not twitchy over the condition of the house. The boys came first, and I'm not sorry for putting the house second in this case, but I am so Very Happy to have a tidy home once again.

The boys played and played. The weather was gorgeous (still is! This is sleeping-on-the-porch weather!) They rode bikes with the Wonderful Neighbors. They had ever so much fun. John is getting more comfortable getting on and off his bike. James may never get off training wheels, as he now rides at a slight angle, always leaning on one wheel. The image brings to mind the old Benny Hill sketches. Smidge was so happy to run and frolic like the little puppy he is at heart! Other Wonderful Neighbor came by with her little 9month old. Neighborly visiting, kids laughing, fresh coffee and nice weather. Today was downright Rockwellian.

The Suburban has been returned to us with a nifty, tight tranny. The Aamco guy solved the Mystery of the Vanishing Water for us. The water pump is on its way out. Naturally, the Aamco guy told Zorak he'd hook us up and "cut you a deal". Yeah, don't take it. $300 to replace the water pump, which may be the going rate, I don't know. What got us was his sales pitch: "That includes both the upper and lower radiator hoses. Yours need replacing." Do they, now? Funny, since one is less than a month old and the other one is less than a week old. It has a shiny, clean shield on it. It has sparkly new clamps. Yeah, we'll replace the water pump ourselves, thanks! The gall of some people is just stunning sometimes.

So, that's what Zorak did this afternoon, and now he's out zipping around town, "test driving". (He's actually getting Chinese food from Jerry's, but we can call it a test drive, right?)

This weekend we'll cruise town, trying to pick up chicks er, house listings. We've got a favorites list going, but haven't been able to reach the realtor to find out how long they've had contracts on them. That's our theme. Here is the typical conversation:
ooohhh, a house we can afford that's larger than 10 square feet!
Quick, call the realtor!
...K, thanks, anyway.
Contract?
Yup.
Crap.
Yeah.
Wish us luck and send us some happy house hunting vibes, if you don't mind! We could sure use them.

Oh, and Zorak is back from his hunting trip. He caught some sweet and sour chicken for me (it's rare to find sweet and sour chicken in-season like this, you know). I'm going to go enjoy a quiet evening with my Love.

Have a wonderful Friday, enjoy those wonderful children, and as always, Kiss those babies!
~Dy