Driving Across the Country

So as I mentioned before my mom and I took a "quick" ride across the USA to take my daughter a car. This is the reason she needed one.


She was just driving down the road in this car

When this white car tried to pass her and then got hit but the truck who was pulling a trailer

The trailer came off and took out Jessica's back wheel and side of her car

She was luckily not hurt but the car was totaled. The car actually belong to her girlfriend who would need to use the money that she would get for the car to put towards bills. Originally I bought the blue HHR we have for Jessica anyways so I figured she should have it. I had four days of vacation time I could take so I figured if I put that around  a weekend it just might be doable! My mom volunteered to come with me when I told her my crazy idea so we did it!



I was thinking we'd leave early in the morning on Wednesday but my mom had some landscaper guy coming to give her  a quote on her little side yard project she wants to do. The guy is supposed to come "somewhere from 9am to 11am". Yeah so you know what time he got there right?


As soon as he finally showed up I started packing all my mom's stuff in the car (she wanted to wait until we left to pull the stuff out of the refrigerator and put it in the cooler). So we were finally on the road at about 11:15 or so. Of course we had to stop and get ice and get gas before we were really on the freeway. Delay, delay, delay.

I was so glad when we were finally on I-5. We made it to Kettleman City before we stopped to stretch and have a late lunch early dinner. We were driving down the road when we spotted this Bravo Farms place. Sooo cute! We decided to eat there. We got out of the car and it was like 150 outside so we ate inside, but they had this cute area outside that would be great for kids when the weather is nicer.

 

 

 

 

I was like this could use a little bit of salt and my mom pulls this out of her purse. She cracks me up!

After lunch we were back on the road. I swear driving through California was the most boring part of the whole trip! I-5 is boring and everything is dead in August. There was a big fire down south and I was a bit worried about what we might run into. We did hit one section that had about an hour of barely crawling traffic but we never did really see what was causing it. The fire did make for a beautiful sunset in the rearview mirror though!

 

and we drove with the full moon ahead of us for the rest of the night.

The goal for day 1 was to get to Flagstaff, Arizona. I'm pretty sure my mom took a partial picture of the Arizona sign but I can't find it in my pictures. We stopped several times for potty breaks and to stretch. We got almost to Flagstaff and then started looking for somewhere to stay because we were exhausted. We pulled off a couple of times but there was nothing that looked nice enough that we wouldn't get murdered. We even went into a lobby of one place but it smells so much like mildew we just turned around and walked back out.

Eventually we ended up stopping at the Ramada Inn in William, Arizona. It was about the only thing non scary that was open. We went in and got a room. The woman at the counter was super weird and was telling us to make sure and check our bill so we don't get double and triple charged like some people. Well, that makes me feel awesome about staying here! I was super tired though so I was like hey mom make sure you check your bill ;)

Our room was on the 2nd floor closest to the stairs (elevator was in the middle of the place I think?) so we tromped up 2 flights of stairs with all our stuff at like 1 something in the morning. The room smelled weird but not as bad as that one dive we stopped at. We could see some mold or something but the vent in the room. I was hoping we wouldn't die of asthma attacks.

I woke up about 5am feeling like things were crawling on me and then looked at Yelp and then really couldn't sleep anymore lol. I think next time I go on a trip I'll just go ahead and book my hotels in advance.

This was the view in the hallway to our room, maybe an old laundry room or something? I was just glad I didn't have a little kid with me because you know they'd want to go pull on that.

When we were getting ready in the morning there was this guy on his cell phone walking up and down the hall way talking. I could hear every word he was saying and finally yelled it out and then he left lol. Like go pace outside on the phone you jerk wad!

This was the view out the window by the stairs, very pretty! There were a lot of signs to the Grand Canyon but my mom said she didn't have any desire to go there and we didn't really have time anyways.

Mom made sure to check out and get her bill and we were only charged one time so that was good! Onto day two of driving!

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Checking in!

Lots to catch up on but here's a little bit of what's going on here lately.

My mom and I went on a road trip across the US to take a car to my oldest. We left on Wednesday, got there on Sunday at 1:30 am and then flew out and arrived back home on Monday. Yes we are crazy! And yes it was fun! I wish I would have had more time to stop more often and see more things besides what was on I-40E, but I only had 4 vacation days and the weekend was only 2 days long. (I'll be posting more about this later).

So now we have two running vehicles at our house. My older (2007) HHR and our 97 Ford F-100 pick up. So far I've bought two new tires for the car and new windshield wipers (I was driving the car I gave to Jess before). I feel a bit safer now that I'm not driving on bald tires and can see out the windshield. I need to call my insurance and finally get the windshield replaces since I'm not into looking through a cracked windshield anymore. Scott put about $100 into the truck to get it drive-able (it mostly just went to the dumps before). I told him to sell it after he got it smogged last time but he didn't listen so I guess he gets to drive it for awhile.

I'm kind of looking for a new(er) car but not sure what I want. I really like this one, with these colors but not sure if I will like to drive it or that it will have enough "cargo" space. Part of me would be happy to just get another HHR lol.

I made up four days of work in 1 1/2 days after I got back. I like when I have a lot to do, it makes the time go by faster. I keep waiting for it to get super busy again but they have spaced things out in how they do things now so it's like a slow trickle of work instead of big deadline dates. It looks like things are in the works for getting my grade increase (raise) in November. I will be SO HAPPY to get my raise and make more than I was making before I took this new position (which is less). 

Scott went to the cardiologist and had a stress test done. They wanted to send him for an angiogram but he's allergic to iodine (they were booking the apt and I was talking to him through text and pointed that out) so now they are going to do a cardiolite stress test the second week in September. His main complaint is that when he tries to do anything strenuous his heart rate goes really high really fast. He doesn't have high blood pressure and does ok when they do EKG's though so I'm thinking it has something to do with his blood clots he's had damaging his veins. We'll find out soon I guess! 

Before the trip with my mom we went to court for her to get guardianship of little Robert. His mother showed up to court and was taken into custody while we were there since she had a warrant out for her arrest for not showing up to a previous court date unrelated to the guardianship. After they took her off in handcuffs (crazy) the judge gave my mom temporary custody until November when she will go back to court again. Hopefully his mother's other court case will be resolved by then. 

Trevor just asked me to help him with his math and I googled one of the words on the page and still didn't have any idea on what the hell it was talking about. Melissa was able to help a tiny bit. I hope he doesn't need anymore help on that one.

Well off to throw some dinner together. Trying to hold out until Saturday to go to the grocery store but not sure if we'll make it!

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Enough?

Have you guys heard all about these Yeti cups?


Apparently they are great, they can keep your drinks hot or cold for hours. They also come with a bit of a price tag.  I'm all for a good travel mug but here is my question. Why does your drink need to stay hot or cold for HOURS?? Like why aren't you drinking it?


I usually drink my tumbler full of coffee on the way to work. I might have a little bit left over when I get there but not too much. I drink almost a gallon of water a day, that first cup is going to be long gone in just a matter of an hour or so.


Am I the only one that just doesn't get it? Now if it's like really big, like a thermos maybe but otherwise I think it's just another big  hype.


One of my friends has one child, she lives in a house that is probably at LEAST twice as big as mine and she is really wanting to finish her basement so that they can make it a playroom. She says all the toys are taking over the living room.  I'm like well who are you having come over that can't see the toys? The Pope? 


Honestly I don't get the need to always want more and bigger. My house is small. I raised three kids in it. Yes it's a mess a lot and yes we used to have toys all over but we were all together in the living room and it's ok. I think we keep getting told we need to have separate rooms for this and that and MORE SPACE for MORE STUFF.


Yes, I'm a bit of a minimalist. Part of that is from having a small house and part of it is from the way I grew up. We didn't have any extra money. That meant we didn't have a lot of stuff. We also didn't use the dishwasher or the dryer because that would make the electricity bill more expensive.


Some people I know also grew up this way and it had the opposite affect on them. It's like they have to compensate for not having things growing up by HAVING IT ALL. I just feel like having it all isn't worth the extra stress of never being home because you are always chasing that dollar bill and you rarely get to enjoy all that stuff because even when you are off work you are still working in some way or another.


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What's Going On

I'm pretty sure I'm going to die of boredom this week at work. Pretty much nothing to work on. I already reorganized the supply cabinet and labeled all the little drawers a few weeks back. Not sure what else I can "find" to work on.


My blogger friend Sara went in to have her fourth baby this week. She was posting pictures on Facebook and Instagram and then it got quiet. We all know that after a few hours that's not a good sign. Turns out she ended up having an emergency C-section and had an amniotic fluid embolism, which sounds absolutely terrifying. She was in a medically induced coma for a couple days but is now of the ventilator and able to talk to her husband. I cannot wait to see her post something herself so we know that she is feeling better. In the meantime a friend of hers started a Go-Fund Me page for her. I think all of us blogger friends feel so helpless that it feels good to at last contribute a bit to her family. Sara is a type A super organizer and I can just imagine how pissed off she is going to be that this messed up her schedule :) This picture just makes me want to bawl.

I've been back on the counting calories and running/walking wagon this week. I upgraded my Lose it account to Premium so I feel guilty if I don't use it (although that's only partially working for the gym...). I made my menu and shopping list last week so I've been doing good cooking and staying on track. I am not allowed to buy those little coconut ice cream bars any more though. They are just too yummy.

I decided that I need to walk or run at least a mile for every day of August to get my ass out of the house. So far so good. I start by taking the dogs around the block since Rusty thinks he HAS to go when he sees me getting ready and Snookie is a fat pug and about has a heart attack going any farther than that.

After I drop them off I do a round of couch to 5k to hopefully get me back up to being able to run without dying again. When I'm done with that I've been close to a 5k and 10000 steps on my Fitbit so I just keep going until I have both. So far this whole thing is taking me about an hour. Once I'm running more I will be able to do that in 1/2 an hour-ish again. That will be nice.  I've been going out around 9 since that's when it cools off and my dinner is all settled (and my phone charged).


Last night I slept so well it took me a second to figure out what the noise of my alarm clock was.


Melissa starts her senior year of high school on Monday. So far I've shelled out $200 for the yearbook/sweatshirt/student body pass, $40 for school pictures (not the fancy ones we'll do later) and still need to do $180 for the bus and maybe some school shopping.


Trevor starts school Wednesday and definitely needs new shoes and probably some new t shirts and a pair or two of jeans.

Cha-ching.
Still looking forward to my raise in November....


Saturday Melissa is going to Warped Tour with some friends. The original girl she was going to go with wanted to do this elaborate plan on getting there. This plan included staying at a few different houses over a couple days, trains, etc. I was like uh how about I just drive you? So I will be driving her and her friend there Saturday. My Mom is going to go with me and we are just going to hang out all day. I need to find something to do in the area. I'm sure we'll have fun!

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Pool Time with friends

I missed pool time with my friends this week because I was sick. We got together several times over the summer for pool days (mine were always pool evenings since I had to work though). One day I took the day off to do something with my mom and then took Robert with me so he could have fun with the kids and go swimming.


This is Adalie, my friends granddaughter

weeeeeee

Robert is such a cutie

Robert and my friends twins, they are a year younger but slightly taller than Robert and they all play together great.

My friend goes back to work tomorrow (she works at a school) so that's the end of summer play dates! Bummer. We'll have to find some weekend time to meet up.

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Don't be buying steak.

Yesterday at book club someone brought up the whole thing about "those people" who are using "our money" to buy steaks with their six kids with their nails done and cell phones again.


OMG.


Nothing really pisses me off more than people who have way too much worrying about people who have way too little.


Like why would you be buying a steak if  you are using an EBT card. Like why is it your freaking business if they are buying a steak? Maybe they saved up for a special occasion. Why do you care!


Also, that woman with six kids, how do you know they are all hers? Maybe she's got a few extras she's taken in. Someone actually said at book club "I stopped after one because I knew that was all I could afford". REALLY NOW.


I pay for my daughter's cell phone so that I can keep in touch with her. How do you know someone isn't doing that for them? Maybe they painted their own nails. Are you supposed to look like shit because you are down on your luck?


It just amazes me how people are so quick to judge. As someone who has used a "government card" while my husband was on disability and I was on unemployment it just chaps my hide.


Like lucky you that nothing has ever happened in your life to knock you down.



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