This and That

It was an emotional week with a lot of surprises I am still trying to process. By last night, I was feeling less than happy. Once I realized I had typed "ba-humbug" twice and used it in conversation three additional times, I decided I needed to do something to turn my bad attitude ship around. I cut circles out of scrapbook paper, clipped dead branches off the trees out back and cleaned out my serving utensil vase to create a gratitude tree. Just writing down all the many blessings in my life helped. That and the warm sunshine on my face today.

The high school sent a letter notifying me of upcoming registration events for Makenna. No way. That is my baby and I have seen what happens to kids who go to high school. They grow up, talk about moving out and getting a life that doesn't need me so I am not having it. I teared up and Greg laughed. Greg is counting down the years until we are officially in empty nest season. Let's just say we don't see eye to eye on this particular subject. Rather than debate sending my baby to high school with Greg, I called my sister who confirmed that I need to call that school and let them know they can't have her. It's good to have a sister in moments like this.

Makenna dressed for Halloween fun with friends last weekend.  Perhaps I can convince her to dress like this for high school and keep the male attention toned down a bit? 

In other news, my poor old mini van is tired. Very tired. She needs coaxed up hills and no longer has it in her to accelerate. Christmas traveling is around the corner and we knew we were going to have to rent a van to attend. Rather than risk it breaking down in winter weather on top of the rental fees, we bit a very expensive bullet today. Our new Kia Sedona will be arriving in a week or so. It's on a truck. They had to locate one without all the bells and whistles I do not want to pay for. In the mean time, I am driving a top of the line model. Car salesmen are tricky that way. I will get fairly comfortable with the moon roof and leather interior before Miss Plain Jane arrives. We decided to keep the old van because believe it or not, an eleven year old van with 198,000 miles on it isn't worth much in trade. But there's good news! Lauren gets her license in three weeks and will need something that will not fly on the interstate. It's a temporary ride for her to get to work and school but it's available until it finally dies. I prefer to not hand her the keys to the new one anyway. I've seen what teenagers do to new cars. Overall, we are experiencing some mixed emotions. Yeah! We can drive something we know will make it to our destination. Boo! We have to pay for that! I did not miss car payments. I haven't made one in over seven years.

Greg and I enjoyed a cheap date at McDonald's last night. He had coffee and I had tea while we waited on Lauren to get off work. We are looking forward to her driver's license; however, returning home to this scene was an excellent way to end a relaxed evening. Makenna is good. She had them in pajamas and watching a movie until they both fell asleep. Of course, Brutus wasn't supposed to be on the couch but I don't know why I bother saying that anymore. That dog is really good when the kids aren't around!

Brutus is aging rather quickly. He's limping and favoring one leg. Greg was on vacation this week and noted the dog appears far more pathetic when he has an audience though.