History in the Making…

We have a Triple Crown winner!!!

We had the party yesterday so we could watch the horserace.  What a great day.

We got the pool and super slide out for the kids and Tommy brought out the corn hole boards.  It was a regular redneck paradise!

My sister and I waited patiently for the horserace to start.  Once it was about to happen we called everyone into the living room.  Lee brought hats for everyone so we all put our hats on.  I called the kids in from the playroom and they put on hats too.  My sister and I did our regular thing where we jump and holler and run in place rooting him on.  It was so exciting to actually see a horse do the impossible. 

The kids loved it too.  I think they may have been bitten by the horseracing bug.  They were cheering the loudest.  I like that they actually got to watch a Triple Crown race in their lifetime.  They may not ever remember it or they might recall the whole fun scene.  Just happy they experienced it.

Here are a couple of shots of the day…

   

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diz Will Be Our Biz…

We booked out trip to Disney this weekend.  I’m pretty excited. We’re going in August the week before school starts.  It’s going to be hot as blazes, but I don’t think we’ll mind it.  The weather there is almost exactly like the weather here.  Hot and humid.  We’re used to that.

It turned out to be Erin’s birthday present but it didn’t start out that way.  We just didn’t want to listen to the endless questions about Disney from now until August so we were just going to keep it a secret.  Then Tommy suggested we tell her for her birthday.  So, that’s what we’re going to do.  Perfect timing.

Craig and Annabel are going with us.  They’ve been a dozen times and know the ins and outs of Diz.  I’m really glad they’re going.  I got excited picking out our armbands.  Apparently that’s your room key and ticket to Disney.  They just send you the armbands in the mail and they load up everything that you’ve paid for on it.  Pretty ingenious.  I think we’ll have Erin unwrap them if they’re here before he b/day.  Craig said there’s a way to link all the armbands together.  Like I said, they know the ins and outs.

We’re staying on the resort in the Wilderness Lodge.  It’s a boat ride away from the park yet still on the park.  There are probably 25 hotels on the resort.  It’s crazy.  I can’t even imagine what this place looks like from the air or the billions they bring in from the resorts alone.

My plan is to get there early on Sunday by taking the 8:30 flight.  We’ll bring a swimsuits in our carry on.  We can change clothes and hit the pool since they don’t let you into the room until like 3:00 or 4:00.  We’ll have Monday and Tuesday at the Magic Kingdom and then come home on Wednesday.  We’re taking the 6:00 pm flight home so we’ll pretty much have all day Wednesday to play in the pool and relax.  I know Erin. She is a water baby and will be in the pool 24/7 if we let her.  That’s why we planned two pool days in addition to two park days.  We were hesitant to make the trip any longer until she’s older.  Maybe when/if we go back we’ll tackle more than one park and decide to stay longer.

Tommy isn’t that excited yet, but I know once we tell her about the trip he’ll come around.  He just thinks of the heat, the walking and the expense of it all.  Party pooper!  He said even has a kid he never had the desire to go to Disney.  I’ve been but it’s been like 30+ year ago and I really don’t remember too much about it.  I know it’s changed dramatically in that time. 

We sold our strollers because E didn’t need them anymore, then we turn around and book a trip where we’ll almost have to have a stroller.  They rent them there, but I don’t think you can leave the park with them.  I want one we can keep the whole time just in case we need it.  I’m looking for the ultra compact ones that fold up like an umbrella stroller but hold up to 50 lbs.  They’re not that expensive new, but I would be happy with a gently used one and have put Tommy on the mission to find one in our local online classifieds.  He loves to wheel and deal. 

I’m terrible at keeping a present a surprise.  I buy them then immediately want to give them to the person getting the present.  This secret will be super hard to keep!  Wish me luck!

Getting Easier…

I haven’t talked about work in a while.  It’s getting easier for me to climb the roofs.  I still get scared but not like I did before.  I’m sure I could get paralyzed with fear at any moment, but so far so good.

My trainer goes with me on a lot of estimates.  I’ve sort of outgrown him but I think he likes going with me.  He helps me when it’s time to measure the roof and he carries the ladder.  He helps out on things that make it easier with two people instead of one.  I appreciate his company and genuinely like him, so it’s easy to spend the time with him.

The guys on my team are still very good to me.  I looked at a house on Saturday that had damage that was excluded.  Before I made the denial I wanted to have someone else look at it.  One of my coworkers helped me out and we went back out there yesterday.  My instincts were correct, I have to make a partial denial.  But, he put his appointments on hold and drove to Navasota to meet with me.  He’s a great guy.

I’m starting to really enjoy what I do now.  It’s hot work, but it’s nice to be able to set my own schedule and most importantly to be helping people.

The Aged and Infirmed…

The Tahoe broke down on me and Erin the other night and left us stranded.  It started acting crazy and the oil and engine lights came on.  I immediately pulled over and called Tommy.

We had it towed to the shop and $1000 later, it’s the spark plugs and wires.  They are the originals so there is little doubt they needed to be changed.  It’s an 8 year old truck with only 120,000 on it.  That’s not high mileage for a truck of that year. 

Of course while it’s in the shop I started assuming the worst and went on line to price a new Suburban.  Tommy told me that it wouldn’t be something major wrong with it, but he thought whatever it was would be expensive.  He was right.

I wouldn’t say I have a terrible case of New Car Fever, but the spark is there (pun intended)!  The new Suburbans, Tahoes and Expedition XLs are really nice.  I’ve pretty much talked myself out of another Tahoe. I think I want something a little bigger.  So, it would come down to the Suburban and the Expedition XL.  I never thought the Ford would be in the running but our friend Bridgette got one and she loves it.  (And they were a Tahoe family too!)  They have most of the same features but they’re a lot less expensive.

So, maybe sometime before Christmas we’ll put our plan in motion and get me something new.  I think we’ll finally sell Old Blue and Tommy will get the Tahoe.  Who knows.  We have time since there isn’t a pressing need to go in debt to the tune of $60K!

It’s funny when I say it’s 8 years old because it really doesn’t seem like I’ve been driving it for that long, but I have!  We need another 8 and 120,000 out of him.  Anyone that knows Tommy knows that he demands at least 250,000 miles and 20 years out of a vehicle.  He keeps his trucks forever! 

Up and Running…

My blog writer has been down for a while.  It was driving me crazy.  I ended up getting another one online, but I couldn’t get it to upload correctly.  So, I was very frustrated and going bonkers because I’m usually pretty good on the computer.  I never got it to work.

But, my old one came back up so I was happy.