Roller Coaster

 

This week started out a bit of an emotional roller coaster with car mess, non-stop rain (for weeks) and baseball drama (dangerous COVID policies, very upsetting).  

The Beast had to be towed into the mechanic (again) on Monday, this time it was wheel bearings and brake pads.  As a result, we decided to purchase a new (to us) car on Tuesday from a local dealer.   Titus and I picked up the car to take to a mechanic to have it checked out.  The mechanic (Wes) was a local homeschooling dad, so when Titus showed interest he "went into homeschooling mode", showing and explaining everything he was doing and looking for to Titus.  Titus absorbed it all like a sponge and was quick to anticipate what tools Wes needed next; that really impressed him.  He is really great at remembering things, especially when he can touch and has an attentive teacher.  In the end, we didn't end up buying the car (an experience I won't relive here) but we had asked God for a clear signal about the car and he gave a clear "no" in a really unique manner.  The day would have been a loss if not for Titus learning so much from Wes and he and I getting some one on one time.  In the evening, we had fun celebrating Holly's birthday with a spaghetti dinner and her movie choice of "Secretariat"; an absolutely awesome movie even if you don't like horses and the best if you do.

Our chief mechanic Tim (who is also sick of seeing the Beast) got the beast up and running (again) on Tuesday and we picked it up on our way to "Shove Tuesday" or "Pancake Day" at church.  What a fun night of food, fellowship and worship.  Pastor went over the importance of properly attending to the church calendar to "number our days".  

Wednesday we were back to car hunting.  This time I wanted to go "peopless" and the best deal we could find was not at a dealership anyway but online at Carvana.  After we did all the paperwork with Carvana, Credit Union and Insurance; Jared and I salvaged what was left of the day at archery practice.  Chris and Lance went again to Redline and then to the first Storm practice of the season (in the gym since the rain won't stop).  Practice was productive, Chris said the team has potential, hopefully they'll get a chance to show it off to someone but at this point, but if they scrimmage all season because of the stupid that will be fine too.

Thursday, I thought would be smooth sailing and we could get back on schedule; until it wasn't.  My hope for a "peopless" process became me talking with both Carvana on one phone and Credit Union on another phone, at the same time, for a few hours so they could get on the same page.  Determined not to loose another day to nonsense not on my schedule, we did manage to complete the three most important things on my list; straighten out Amber's nightly prayer list, get caught up on our Art study (currently Mantega), and write letters.  Each month I have been trying to have the kids practice the old art of letter writing.  Last month we started with kids in Haiti.  This month, we wrote to Grandma Carol, since Jared had a DVD of his stop motions to send anyway (she doesn't have a computer or internet).  As a bonus, we did a little Spanish and I breathed a sigh of relief that despite the chaos we had reclaimed some of the week.

Friday, Lance spent the morning with his friend Dil.  Jared and I went to the range so he could practice before we headed to "Friend Friday" at the T Family.  After "Friend Friday" ended we shuttled six of their children to our house to watch "Perfect Game"and eat pizza; the T family knows little about baseball and we decided if they were going to be our friends (which they are) they needed to learn. LOL

Saturday:  Airsoft at the T Family home with lots of boys from church and the T girls watching by binocular.  Their property is very hilly, so it required different strategy from our yard, which was fun for all the boys.  Chris and I enjoyed some one on one time with Amber, reading, playing games, going for a walk and watching a new version of Emma with some tasty treats.

Sunday:  Chris got a call during church that our new/used car from Carvana that was suppose to arrive in the afternoon was damaged upon delivery.  UGHHHH So now we have to decide what to do next, hopefully Homer and the Beast will behave in the meantime.