Barnaclebutt

Marc and I have a tradition, as it were, of buying used cars that we can pay cash for and then drive for 100 years or until they die. This gives us the financial advantage of zero car payments and low insurance payments. It also gives our cars time to really become members of the family and develop their own personality, and by personality I  mean smell. Then, too, there is the custom pimping done by our children over time...fabric pealed off of the interior molding, numbers written in permanent marker on the back of the drivers seat, and dents and dings added by teenage drivers. I don't know why everyone doesn't do it like us.


Alas, just two weeks ago my trusty 12 year old mini-van was in for a small repair and the mechanic called Marc to let us know that it actually needed a big repair. Like, involving the air conditioning. And, you know, we can drive ages with dragging bumpers, missing tail lights, and check engine lights cheerfully glowing in the dash, but by golly we will not be without our air conditioning! It's called standards okay?


Unless it costs too much and that's how we decide it's time to shop.


Knowing it was time for my sweet Honda Odyssey to be made into glue traded in, we started talking about what kind of car we should buy. Marc was convinced of two things, one was that I didn't need another mini-van (*sniff*I am no longer the young mother of little children), and two, he wanted a car with enough engine power to tow our trailer to the dump. Me? I'm not too picky. I like cup holders and a car that is "pretty." He and Maddie spent a couple of days pouring over the adds online and from the local car magazines and decided that we wanted to look at Subarus, Volvos, and BMWs. Marc especially liked the BMW x5 because he said it is time for us to drive a car that is "fun."

Yum, right?

I, too, was taken in by the sexy sexiness of the BMW...nineteen years of driving mini-vans will do that to you. I guess we were both overwhelmed because you know that quality of being a discerning shopper you definitely need when you are shopping for a used car? Yeah, it totally left the building.


Imagine us leaving Katy's Kreek on a bright Saturday morning after a delicious eggs benedict breakfast with a list of cars we intend to look at. We are all shiny and eager to get going. Now imagine us spotting a BMW x5 in the parking lot of the Honda dealership across the street from the restaurant...it isn't on our list, but hey, let's go check it out anyway. Within moments of our setting foot on the lot, Tony the salesman comes out to see how we're doing. We consult with each other for a long .5 seconds and then gleefully throw all our money at him and drive away with a new car.


Okay, so, I am happy with the Beamer, Beemer, Beemmer...I don't really know how to spell that, but it does bug that we completely lost our wits when it was time to make this actually fairly large in the scope of our budget purchase. I keep wondering what were we thinking? Has this happened to anyone else?


And on a side note, while I am loving the leather power seats, moon roof, and fancy dashboard, I totally feel like a poser driving this large luxury automobile. In my head I call it my "too big for my britches car." And I am not comfortable referring to it either. As in "Hey kid, go get my fancy insulated diet coke cup from the beamer." It sounds pretentious. I am more of a "I left my phone in the van," kind of gal. 


But times, they are a-changing. And I guess I'm driving the change.

*Post Edit: Marc says I shouldn't indicate that buying the BMW wasn't a rational decision. He says he considered it carefully in the .5 seconds and decided it was an excellent investment. That's us, making excellent investments and taking names.

At her Amigos Training Graduation last Sunday

I'm calling this post "Proud, Pleased and Petrified" because it sums up how I feel about Katie's rapidly approaching trip to The Dominican Republic fairly accurately. I believe I cycle through all three emotions several times a day.


It is unbelievable that we sold all that grapefruit and she wrote all those letters and now she is actually going. By the way, if you bought that grapefruit and/or sent donations to AMIGOS I can't say "THANK YOU" enough! 


And if you are wondering what the heck I'm talking about here is a great video about her summer plans. She is volunteering for eight weeks in The DR, living with a host family, and working on humanitarian projects. 
Surprisingly, this was all her own idea. In fact, Marc and I tried to talk her out of it. I would look her dead in the eye and say, "You heard what they said about bucket baths didn't you?" But in true Katie fashion, she was able to talk us into it. And I'm happy for her, really I am...I'm just going to miss her so much. Eight days and counting; Aye Carumba!

I am swamped with end of the school year activities, open houses, concerts and field trips. My secret? I don't always love it. It feels like we are flying down the school highway, careening towards Summer. Frankly, it can't come soon enough for me; I am running out of gas!

Jonathan  with his buds Holden and Pete acting as bouncers before the festival. Scary!

Monday night though, was the film festival for Jonathan's film class. It was so great to watch those middle schoolers revel in their accomplishments! They were so impressed with themselves and excited to share what they had made.


Maybe my sense of humor is more middle school than it really should be, but I thought their movies were pretty darn funny, creative, and entertaining. This is Jonathan's film, he was the director. 


This is what they wrote for the synopsis:
In this romantic adventure, an overweight girl (Patty) stumbles upon a native Amazonian Indian tribe (The Wanahukaluka) while on a tour. An Indian (Poomba) falls in love with her. The arch-enemy Cannibal tribe however Kidnaps Patty. Poomba must save Patty from the Cannibal tribe.
Remember his classic short movie, The Hand? This is even better.

I did have a really great Mother's Day. There are times my friend, when having teenagers is challenging (IMPOSSIBLE), but at times like these (holidays that are made better with presents and cooking) it can be an advantage.


And boy can mine cook! Here's what they made for me because I am their favorite mom:

Fresh bruschetta on toasted french bread, bacon wrapped scallops, and pasta with parmesan, peas, and fresh parsley. It was so good! Better than many meals I have eaten in fancy restaurants. 

And for dessert, feast your eyeballs on this!

 Another thing I like about our house is that we have wild turkeys. It is pretty funny to hear them gobbling up a fuss out there.


Of course our dog goes crazy. A couple of times he has almost caught one, but it turns out turkeys can fly. The very best part about the turkeys is that Marc can stand outside and do his extremely realistic turkey call/song/cry and when he does the turkeys all gobble back at him.  


You can't pay to see something that great.

We bought our house. I am so happy.I love Springbrook Ranch and I have learned serious appreciation for many a previously unnoticed blessing by living here. In The Book of Mormon it says, "For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things," and in the Doctrine and Covenants (additional Mormon scripture) Eve says, "It is better for us to pass through sorrow, that we may know the good from the evil."


Yep, it is a true principle. Just think, if we hadn't lived for three years in a house that was for sale I would never have felt the tremendous joy I now feel knowing that NO ONE can call me to let me know they are coming in an hour to poke through the dirty secrets of my house otherwise known as the garage and laundry room.  

This is the mini orchard, two plum trees, two apricot and two apple.

And they can't make any stinking offers on it either leaving me frantically searching the internet for viable rental options that keep our kids in the same schools. Because we own it! And it is MY big project now! Ha!


Living here has also taught me to be happy when my kitchen sink has hot AND cold water, to feel satisfaction when I cook a meal with only two burners on the stove, to be grateful that I have my own room that I don't share with a nine year old daughter, and to absolutely love the cool California nights that blow through that room and allow me to sleep even though we don't have air conditioning.


Yes, Springbrook Ranch needs a lot of TLC, but I am dying to get to it.  After holding back on home projects for so long it will be fun to start putting all the things I have imagined into practice! Marc is so excited. I am not just saying that. Actually, we both agree that working on making our space beautiful feels like the rhythm of our life and we look forward to getting back into it. He just worries that I'm going to spend too much money.  When have I ever done that anyway? Luckily, there are a lot of things we can do that are inexpensive but will make a big difference in how the home looks, feels, and functions.  I get a big thrill out of making a beautiful improvement using more time, creativity and elbow grease than money.


And I'm excited to start sharing them here too.