MS. VONDA'S WILD RIDE

It's been a full and busy -- BEAUTIFUL WEATHER -- week!  Full and busy because I am taking off a few days next week to get some things done here at home.  Everyone at my a.m. job is feeling the same - we're just pooped.  And believe me - MY job is a cake walk compared to some of theirs.  I mean even I know that. 

Throughout the week I was skampering around trying to get enough done that I could take the few days off without letting anyone down, or making myself come back to a pile of stuff that should have been done.  Still will, but you know what I mean.  Wanted AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE done before I left.

We have been talking about needing new carpet in our family room since Jaimee was born.  It's pretty gross actually.  We've been here 13 years and it was here when we came.  Not sure how long it had been here before us.  AND the hard surface floor (kitchen, small dining room, closet, laundry, bathroom area) had gouges and scuffs and was discoloring (I thought it was where I put rugs on it, but it was not just there ... weird!) and then our dishwasher started leaking and that got under the vinyl and darkened it -- in about a 3 1/2' x 1' area right in front of it. 

So after much store shopping and hunting for what we want (talk to 10 sales people and you get 10 reasons why you shouldn't buy any carpet except the one they are holding in their hand).  Finally after internet and internet SHOPPING - we got the best deal we could find (saving overall about 40% -- maybe 30% -- but still saving a lot) we ordered from the same place we ordered our carpet when we lived on 5th Street.  Straight from Dalton Georgia -- carpet capital of the USofA!

First they said 3 weeks for delivery.  Then they said - "it's been shipped" after only 1 week.  Then they said "it's sitting in a spot in St. Louis until the next delivery to your area NEXT WEEK".  Uff da!!  So it came last week on some day .. maybe Wednesday, no maybe Tuesday.  Not sure anymore.  The carpet layers came on Thursday and Friday and got the carpet all in.  They will be back on Monday to start the tiles.  That means this weekend we need to empty the laundry room, closet and pantries.  That's where they will start.

Right now it is almost impossible to SIT anywhere - all of our furniture is crowded into the front room and big dining room.  We did take our old chewed up (that's literal -- dog chewed it) sofa to the basement, so I guess I could go sit there.

I like the carpet so far -- hope we like the other hard surface floor (anything would be an improvement at this point!).

Friday my day off was not to watch the carpet layers, but to go to Des Moines for a regional gathering for Stampin' Up people.  Tammy P and I do the SU stuff to get our products discounted and to have fun.  Neither of us spend THAT much time doing any of it -- mostly it's a collecting thing.  All the stuff we have and don't use ... ahhhh though there is the POTENTIAL to make cool stuff!  And SOMETIMES we do.

Anyway Friday was the day. I was looking forward to it.  Before I left Randy checked the tires.  The back passenger one was a little low and he discovered a nail in it.  Even though I was already about 30 minutes later getting off than I wanted, I thought I better go get it plugged/patched or whatever.  It turned out to be whatever.  So about 40-45 minutes later I began my trek to Des Moines with a new tire.  Grrr!

Beautiful day.  Perfect driving weather.  There could have been a few less cars and trucks on the road to be GREAT traveling, but none-the-less it was good.  3/4 the way there-- I heard a clicking sound.  At first I thought it was something chinking together like maybe some coins in the coinholder, or ?? something like that.  But I noticed when I accelerated the clicking accelerated and got louder, when I let up the clicking wasn't as rapid or loud.  So I continued clicking along.

I was, at that point, glad I had replaced the tire and didn't have that AND the clicking to worry about.  I called Randy and he said it sounded to him (from the symptoms I described) like what it had done when we went to Lincoln awhile back.  At that time we discovered that the oil was TOO FULL.  (Even though the oil stick indicated that the oil was low-a little was added to bring it to FULL-and should have been okay.) 

So I clicked to a parking spot.  Went in (last one there I think) to the SU convention site.  Enjoyed what I saw and heard, but constantly thinking about the car and needing to get home.  And that Sabbath would start and ... so I left the thing an hour early.  Went to Walmart and had them change the oil (it was time anyway) and put a new filter, etc.  The clicking was gone and it ran perfectly all the way home.  It was STRESSFUL all day because of that.  I probably should have just stayed home.  But ... I didn't.  I'm so glad that God took care of me!