Happy Birthday Daniel!

Happy Birthday Big Boy! We can't believe you are a year old today. We have had a fun year with you!!

Busy Bees

I haven't had too much to blog about lately because I've been a busy bee getting ready for our big One Year Old celebration next weekend. The whole house needed a good cleaning, I've been gathering supplies for the making of The Fabulous Car Birthday Cake, and I've been trying to stay on top of everything else. Yesterday I flipped around the car seat- it's a one year old rite of passage, Daniel can now face forward in the car!! Daniel is quite the busy bee himself, walking everywhere and wanting to get into everything.

I've discovered there is nothing like a neighborhood crime to get you talking with your neighbors. I've met several I didn't already know (parents of one of the boy witnesses) and had good chats with several others I haven't caught up with in awhile. We are all united in our feelings toward my neighbors (over the mailbox murder and all of the other issues). Still no sign of the repair company or a confession from Eva.

Here's a few other things I've learned lately:
1) Whenever Dave is gone for the whole week, and I'm really wanting him home, he never gets home on time. He got home at 1:30am on Saturday morning.
2) Harry Potter is highly addictive. I finished #4 on CDs and I'm on the library wait list for #5. It's probably going to take a month, and I don't think I can wait that long. Please let me know if you have it on cd and I can borrow! I can't take it anymore!
3) Green beans (and lots of other food) tend to really stick to hardwood floors if you don't clean them up immediately.
4) Teenage Babysitter= Must Have Internet Filter. Ugh.
5) I'm actually really excited about Martha Stewart's new daily show starting Sept. 12th
6) If I keep my Brentwood library books that are overdue, there is really no incentive to pay the fines since I can't check out anything else any more. Anyone want to borrow Harry Potter book 4 on CD after Dave gets done with it?

At least we are still receiving mail.... 

The Crime Scene

Jim's response was "it's your problem", or something along those lines. Thanks for the help.

So last night I was out in the cul de sac interviewing the witnesses and nailing down the physical description to make sure I had the right "lady in the green truck". I talked to two of the four boys who saw the mailbox murder. Both of them identified Eva as the driver of the green truck. And yes, Eva is the one who came over Monday morning and asked "what happened to your mailbox?". We are either dealing with some serious deceit or Alzheimer's disease here. I'm going to watch Law & Order tonight so I can get psyched up for the confrontation with the suspect later this week.

I'll try to take some pictures of the crime scene tonight.

Not Today Part # 2/ Neighborhood Watch Update

A letter to our Property Manager:

Hi Jim!
This is Christina Stewart. I called you this morning about my mailbox being down. Tonight I had a visit from two boys who live on our street. They wanted to let me know that they were witnesses to our mailbox being knocked down yesterday afternoon when our neighbor at 1302 Fenner Court backed into it. The two boys said there was a group of 4-5 of them in the cul de sac playing on their skateboards and they saw the green truck from next door back into the mailbox and knock it off. Then they said the lady got out and looked at it. This is the same house where there are six cars and they park on the street and often block our mailbox.

This morning this neighbor (Ava) came over and acted concerned about the mailbox but she never admitted she hit it.

I have called Bozeman Sign and they are coming to fix it later this week. Is this something I am going to have to pay for (if so, I need to know so we can all prepare to confront the neighbor), or is it covered by the homeowner’s association? Or if you have any other input on how to handle, I would appreciate it. Thanks.

Not Today

The milk is sour.
The mailbox broke off its stand.
Dave forgot his ties for his trip this week.
Went to the store.
Called the mailbox fixers.
FedEx-ed the ties.
Is it only Monday?

I got something done

I went to Super Wal-mart twice yesterday (don't ask), and I did get refried beans and Daniel's picture made for $3.88. It's not the quality of the professional photographer, but hey, it's something. Oh, and the burritos were good. I made them quesadilla style. Daniel threw his on the floor.

Random Update #2

No parking sensors- when I showed up yesterday, they said they need the van for the entire day (no one told me this before).

No pictures today- photographer is involved in a code violation dispute with the city of Brentwood (even though she's been taking pictures in her home for years). The city of Brentwood needs to get back to their library card enforcement and leave my photographer alone.

I'm getting nothing done!

Random Updates

Daniel is walking quite a bit. He thinks he is "hot stuff" from the look on his face. Half the time he falls down while he is walking because he just gets so excited about the whole thing. Very cute.

We're trying to push new finger foods on him. If he doesn't like it, he throws it on the floor. So glad he already has such great communication skills.

Tomorrow is Daniel's one year picture. We took a cancellation spot tomorrow, otherwise the photographer is booked until October.

Do you ever keep buying the same thing because you think you are out of it when you are actually really out of something else? I currently have 4 cans of enchilada sauce, but no refried beans and an urge to make burritos for dinner the last few nights.

We're off to Darrell Waltrip Honda today to see if they can fix our parking sensors. I'm excited to think I might actually be able to finally test them out after a year!

Poor but Proud

CNN reports today that Architects have one of the worst pay rates for the investment. We're here to report, sadly it's true. We may never be rich, but we are sooooo happy, so who really cares? We're already planning to be taste test people at Sam's Club in our retirement, so we can get free food....

Pei Wei

Last night we ate dinner at Pei Wei, the faster version of P.F. Changs. It was very yummy, and we highly recommend it. My only problem is all of the waitresses only spoke Spanish, so no one could understand that I wanted a side of the honey sauce for my chicken. I asked two different waitresses and never got it, even though they nodded like they understood me. They both thought Daniel was cute though.

Grandma Thelma

We spent the last 36 hours traveling to Oklahoma, attending Grandma Thelma's funeral, visiting with family, and returning home. It was a quick trip but well worth the effort. Daniel did the best he's ever done, missing almost all of his naps for the last two days but remaining cute and happy the whole time.

The funeral service was very nice- all of us had an opportunity to speak of our memories. Here is what I said:

I have learned several things from my Grandma Thelma:

1) To be positive about growing older. She never complained, even during her many trips to the hospital. She always had a smile and she did not go on and on about her ailments.

2) She had a lifelong love of people. She wanted to meet new people and hear all about them and their stories. But she usually ended up sharing her own stories, because they were so much more interesting. She always remembered little details about people, even from events or stories from several years ago and asked about them.

3) She had a lifelong love of learning. She used the tv as an educational tool more than entertainment. She was always learning new things and keeping up on current events to discuss with friends and family. She used to ask me questions- what do I think about Bill Clinton, who did I think would win the presidential election, did I see the news special on the earthquake in China? I'm positive this is what helped to keep her mind so sharp to the very end.

4) She showed me what it's like to have a sweet Grandma. I never felt anything but love from her. She was always kind, generous and truly interested in me. She loved Dave so much, sometimes I felt she loved him more than me. She was always asking me about him- where he was, how was his job. And she loved Daniel so much!

What a celebration of her life. What an example she provided to all of us. She will be truly missed, but we will always have her with us in all of our happy memories.

Living on the right side of Memphis

We were checking in at American Airlines at 6am yesterday morning when I saw a familar face to my right- Trisha Yearwood was also checking in right next to us. I felt it was a little too early in the morning to offer my congratulations on her recent engagement to Garth Brooks, but I did get a good look at the rock- it is huge and beautiful!!
Poor Trisha and her manager got flagged for special search at security- it's nice to know that not even a famous face gets to move fast through the line.

Gun Shy

Last night Dave found a 9mm Luger bullet on our back deck. Anyone care to take a shot on how it got there? My # 1 suspect is the Bambi killer who lives in the house behind ours. He hung a dead deer on his kid's playset for the week after Thanksgiving last year. What a lovely reminder that yes, I actually do live in Tennessee, and obviously not in as nice of a neighborhood as I had previously thought.

In memory of Great Grandma Thelma McCune; 9/12/10-08/06/05; Loved meeting new people, telling cute stories and spending time with her family, now with Jesus and Grandpa Ed. 

Murder Mystery Quote

I went to the website of the "Nashville Scene" to get the exact quote from the 1997 contest (I want to be factually correct for my readers). Here it is:

You're So Nashville if...

1997 You've checked your flower bed for Janet March. —Terry Robertson

Here is the Hall of Fame from the "You're So Nashville" contest in past years if you are interested.

All right, and here are all of the 2004 Winners- this contest cracks me up and I hadn't seen it in a few years. I could use a good hee haw this morning.

Murder Mystery

Well, actually it's not much of a mystery, we know who dunnit. For those of you who used to live in Nashville, the big news this week is they have finally arrested Perry March for the murder of his wife Janet March nine years ago.

Here's the recap for those of you who are interested: Janet March "disappears" in 1996, Perry claims she just "left" him and the kids. Lots of things don't make sense, police investigate for months, no trace of Janet can be found. Eventually, Perry moves to Chicago, then Mexico, all the while fighting Janet's parents for custody of the kids. At one point the grandparents enforce a visitation order and steal the kids from Mexico (then they have to go back). Perry remarries in Mexico, and generally causes a lot of trouble down there. Janet's parents win a $13M civil suit against Perry for the death of their daughter. But no murder charges have ever been filed, until now.

The big mystery is where is the body of Janet March. We have a local paper in Nashville which sponsors a contest where people complete this sentence: "You're so Nashville if...". In 1997 the winning entry was "You're so Nashville if you believe Janet March might be buried under the cement patio in your backyard". The police are keeping a tight lid on any new evidence, but maybe they did figure it out after all of these years....

I am a Dinosaur!! 

Costume Party

After yesterday's trip to the Encores and More consignment sale on the North side of town, Daniel now has three choices for halloween costumes for the next two years.

Please submit your vote for:
A- Dinosaur
B- Elephant
C- Puppy Dog (24 months, may have to be next year's outfit)

Critique of Honda Dealerships

After yesterday, I feel officially qualified to give my review of the three Honda dealerships in Nashville. Pay attention, if you ever plan to visit the service departments of any of these:

1) Crest Honda- this is where we bought our van because they did not have a waiting list and could get it to us in 24 hours. After our first door collision, we took it to their body shop where they proceeded to hold it hostage for almost two weeks and told us various lies: so- and- so has the flu, it takes two days instead of one for paint to dry, the parts didn't come in, etc. We think the real truth is they ordered the wrong parts. We pointed out our parking sensors did not work and they said they would fix them while the other work was being done. Not fixed.

2) Trickett Honda- this is where the van was most recently after the tire incident. The body shop seemed to tell the truth a little more, and it only took a one week instead of two. I had to make one return trip to fix a cracked fog lamp they had not noticed until they were almost done with the repair. I also told them about the faulty parking sensors, for which they said they would order the part and fix it when I came in to fix the fog light. I talked to them two weeks ago, and was told they could fix both things when I came in yesterday. Somehow during that time, the parking sensor part was sent back to Honda. So they claimed they could not fix the sensor. Why would you send the part back to Honda after I set up an appointment to come in to get it fixed?

3) Darrell Waltrip Honda- this dealership is 2 miles from our house. It's where we wanted to buy our van, but they had a twenty person waiting list. Also, they do not have a body shop. I drove there yesterday after the incident at Trickett and they agreed to order the parking sensor for me. They say they can fix it next week. We'll see...

Gate 'em in

Yes, we finally ordered gates for the top and bottom of our stairs last night. None too soon, because Daniel has learned how to dismantle our cheapo gate and crawl underneath it to get up the stairs. Now I can't even go to the bathroom anymore, except when he is asleep.

I have two gripes about gates: 1) The selections are confusing, very limited and overpriced for what you get. 2) You pretty much have to buy over the internet, because most stores only carry 2-3 types and they are all the ugly plastic ones. The internet is cheaper but it's so hard to know what you are going to get- we read quite a few reviews of gates that people returned because they were not as advertised.

We ended up trying the Consumer Reports recommended choice and we (Dave) have resigned ourselves to a long and difficult installation sometime this week. Until then, I cannot take my eyes off the little guy.